Wednesday 2 November 2011

5-a-day: Portion Sizes

I was really wondering what qualifies as a "portion" of fruit or veg for the "5-a-day". So I googled it (duh):

Net Doc (http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/health_advice/fiveportionsfruitveg.htm) says:

Fruit and vegetables do not all contain the same amount of health promoting ingredients. Listed below is an approximate calculation of the amount needed to count as one portion.

  • One tomato, pepper or a large onion.
  • A quarter of a cauliflower or cucumber. 
  • One bowl of lettuce.
  • Three heaped tablespoons of any vegetable, eg peas, carrots, sweetcorn.
  • Half an avocado.
  • One apple, pear, banana, orange, nectarine or peach.
  • One slice of melon.
  • Half a grapefruit.
  • Two plums.
  • One glass (150ml) of pure fruit juice. No matter how many glasses you drink a day, it only counts as one portion.
  • Three heaped tablespoons of beans or pulses. Again, no matter how much you eat, it will only count as one portion.
Mmm... I wouldn't have thought that cucumber or onion would even count! These portions seem manageable!

NHS has more detail, I'm taking from both (plus I need to quote a source other than the NHS)

Fruit Portions
Small-sized fruit
One portion is two or more small fruit, for example two plums, two satsumas, two kiwi fruit, three apricots, six lychees, seven strawberries or 14 cherries.

Medium-sized fruit
One portion is one piece of fruit, such as one apple, banana, pear, orange, nectarine or sharon fruit.

Large fruit
One portion is half a grapefruit, one slice of papaya, one slice of melon (5cm slice), one large slice of pineapple or two slices of mango (5cm slices).

Dried fruit
A portion of dried fruit is around 30g. This is about one heaped tablespoon of raisins, currants or sultanas, one tablespoon of mixed fruit, two figs, three prunes or one handful of dried banana chips.

Tinned fruit in natural juice
One portion is roughly the same quantity of fruit that you would eat for a fresh portion, such as two pear or peach halves, six apricot halves or eight segments of tinned grapefruit.


Vegetable portions

Green vegetables
Two broccoli spears or four heaped tablespoons of kale, spinach, spring greens or green beans.

Cooked vegetables
Three heaped tablespoons of cooked vegetables, such as carrots, peas or sweetcorn, or eight cauliflower florets.

Salad vegetables
Three sticks of celery, a 5cm piece of cucumber, one medium tomato or seven cherry tomatoes.

Tinned and frozen vegetables
Roughly the same quantity as you would eat for a fresh portion. For example, three heaped tablespoons of tinned or frozen carrots, peas or sweetcorn.

Pulses and beans
Three heaped tablespoons of baked beans, haricot beans, kidney beans, cannellini beans, butter beans or chickpeas. However much you eat, beans and pulses count as a maximum of one portion a day.

Potatoes
Potatoes don't count towards your 5 A DAY. They are classified nutritionally as a starchy food, because when eaten as part of a meal they are usually used in place of other sources of starch such as bread, rice or pasta. Although they don't count towards your 5 A DAY, potatoes do play an important role in your diet as a starchy food.

Juices and smoothies
One 150ml glass of unsweetened 100% fruit or vegetable juice can count as a portion. But only one glass counts, further glasses of juice don’t count toward your total 5 A DAY portions.

One smoothie containing all the edible pulped fruit or vegetable may count as more than one 5 A DAY portion, but this depends on the quantity of fruits or vegetables and/or juice used, as well as how the smoothie has been made.

For a single smoothie to qualify as being two portions, it must contain either:
at least 80g of one variety of whole fruit and/or vegetable and at least 150ml of a different variety of 100% fruit and/or vegetable juice, or
at least 80g of one variety of whole fruit and/or vegetable and at least 80g of another variety of whole fruit and/or vegetable.

Smoothies count as a maximum of two of your 5 A DAY, however much you drink.

Challenge starts on 3 November!

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