Portion sizes of fruit and vegetables

The UK government advises everyone to consume a minimum of 5 portions of fruit and vegetables per day. What does this mean in practice?

Fruit – one portion is, for example

• Half a large grapefruit
• A slice of melon
• 2 satsumas
• One portion of dried fruit counts
  •3 dried apricots
  •1 tablespoon of raisins
  •other types of fruit and vegetables should be eaten to meet the rest of the 5 A DAY target
• A glass of 100% juice (fruit or vegetable juice) counts as 1 portion
  •But you can only count juice as 1 portion a day , however much you drink. This is because it has very little fibre. Also, the juicing process 'squashes' the natural sugars out of the cells that normally contain them, which means that drinking juice in between meals isn't good for your teeth.

Vegetables – one portion is, for example

• 3 tablespoonfuls of cooked carrots (6-7 baby carrots) or peas or sweetcorn, 6 asparagus spears
• 1 cereal bowl of mixed salad
• Beans and other pulse vegetables - such as kidney beans, lentils and chick peas - count only once a day, however much you eat
• While pulses contain fibre, they don't give the same mixture of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients as fruit and vegetables
• Because they are considered a 'starchy' food, potatoes don't count towards 5 A DAY.
• However, starchy foods are also an important part of a balanced diet.
• These portion sizes are for adults. Children should also eat at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables each day, but the portion sizes may be smaller.

For further information on ideal portion sizes of different foods and how to incorporate them in your diet, please come along to a Cooking for Health course, held throughout the year in Somerset, UK.