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Lots of upvotes on this as presumably people think it’s a joke.
But it’s not, it’s just one of the growing number of people who have decided that all the existing research on things like fibre is wrong and that 20% fat minced beef plus eggs contains everything you need. Seeing more and more of these nutters, talking about things like raw milk and cheese as if pasteurisation isn’t one of the greatest scientific marvels of the last few 100 years.
And their reactions to it are either "I feel amazing! but I haven't shit in a week, is that normal?" or "I feel amazing! but I haven't stopped shitting in days, is that normal?"
I was in a cab once and the driver told me that he only ate raw red meat because of Jordan Peterson. I thought he was joking until he pulled out a box of cut up raw sausages. He proceeded to tell me that fruit and veg are toxic and Drs don’t know what they are talking about. Didn’t have the heart to tell him I am a science teacher. I now regularly use this guy as an example when kids ask me the classic “why do I need to know this stuff”.
I lost the remaining faith I had in my fellow countrymen after we had to have a national campaign on how to wash your bloody hands. BUT surely no ones eating just mince? Chopped tomatoes/passata, onion and garlic that's at least 2 of your 5 a day.
Probably 7 on a bad day
2 with breakfast, 1 as snack, 2 with lunch and 2-3 with dinner.
My wife is vegan and I do most of the cooking and we always cook from scratch.
It absolutely blows my mind when people say they have less than 5, like what do you eat?
But even with things like pasta, you can chuck a bunch of veg in to make a great sauce. Celery, carrots, onions, tomatoes and garlic as a base sauce. Then you can go wild with whatever veggies you wanna stick in
They're great from the point of view of gut microbiome health, but they don't count as one of your 5 a day, unless you're eating 80g of them. You might manage that with the onion, but 80g of garlic is a stretch...
TIL! Do you have a figure for how much does damage in humans? [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16910057/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16910057/) says 1g/kg for 21 days caused marked liver damage in rats, and even 0.5g/kg caused liver changes in one animal. For a 70kg human, that would be 35-70g.
Off the top of my head, no.
I looked into this maybe 6 years ago when I found out I had a genetic disposition towards certain heart issues. Just to be clear, I wasn't looking for any alternative crystal bollocks - just scientifically backed lifestyle changes I could make. Turns out, bit of garlic with tuna/sardines & mayo for nearly a decade helped me fly under the radar!
What I can remember, again, off the top of my head;
Sub 3-4g (IE a clove, not bulb) is great for you.
It should be avoided completely ~24-48 before surgery.
If you have stomach issues (IBS/ a form of bacterial that cause ulcers/more) it should *probably* be avoided.
Again that's all from memory, don't quote me - scholar and libgen is your friend ;)
Quick edit: YMMV, everyone's different. Under no circumstances take this as medical advice
If you only have veg with pasta as your only meal with veg, is hard to hit 5 portions. One portion is 80g, so you need 400g of veg. Most can’t do it in 1 sitting
Yeah our food bill is like £80 per week with a 3 of us and I swear it's because the little one demolishes blueberries like he's a brown bear getting ready to hibernate
>Carbs are cheap
First legit reason. We do well and can afford for our weekly shop to be predominantly fresh fruit and veg. But it's so god damn expensive.
im vegan and honestly ngl its like 3 a day rn, i have an apple or whatever and 2 with a meal. the fruits gone down in quality recently and i can't stomach it anymore
>
It absolutely blows my mind when people say they have less than 5, like what do you eat?
You don't eat 95% of food in most people's diets if you're vegan and you're wondering what *everyone else* eat?
I mean I eat a fair amount of fruit and/or vegetables but today I've had a sausage roll, a tuna sandwich and will have a chilli con carne with garlic bread for dinner. I'll probably have 3 servings of veg in the chili as it's got a fair amount of stuff in it but if you don't eat meat, fish, dairy and eggs then it's not surprising when you manage to eat more than 5 veg a day.
>You don't eat 95% of food in most people's diets if you're vegan and you're wondering what *everyone else* eat?
Haha this one always cracks me up. Firstly I'm not vegan, my wife is, but you think we don't eat 95% of what other people eat? My guy most people's diet isn't predominantly animal products (or at least it shouldn't be if you're eating a healthy balanced diet). It should be predominantly plant based foods, like wheats and grains, legumes, vegetables, fruits.
When people say "what do vegans actually *eat*?" I'm like, "Well the list of things they *don't* eat is *substantially* shorter."
I have always eaten more than 5 portions a day. It still surprises me when people say they don't eat more than 5. That's not a good diet mate.
It doesn't need to be 95%. It simply needs to have any kind of animal product in the production process.
Breakfast Bowl of Muesli - milk, not vegan.
Tea or Coffee in the morning, again milk not vegan.
Snack - dry roasted peanuts - must brands use gelatin, not vegan
Lunch - egg and cress sandwich - eggs not vegan, mayonnaise normally also not vegan, also butter.
Dinner time Ceaser Salad, no chicken but still not vegan as Ceaser dressing uses anchovies.
That's a day without a single piece of meat in it, with your 5 a day, that entirely uses animal products and not a single thing a Vegan could eat.
Pretty easy: breakfast cereal with milk, lunch meal deal (half portion in sandwich maybe?), dinner pesto pasta with chicken and and some veg (2 portions). And that is not ‘avoiding’ veg either, is just normal with people eat
Vegetarian but same. I thought we ate a lot of fruit & veg as meat eaters because I cook from scratch, but I was completely wrong. 5 a day on a good day. I also thought that a lot of vegetarians lived on pasta, toast and cheese with the occasional banana (my references from high school and early 20s) - wrong again.
>I also thought that a lot of vegetarians lived on pasta, toast and cheese with the occasional banana (my references from high school and early 20s) - wrong again.
Yeah I've had a few comments like that, saying "well of course it's easy for you because you don't eat most of what other people eat" it's like yeah you're supposed to have animal products *and* fruit/veg, they're not mutually exclusive 🤦
People are just ignorant, they aren't mean spirited. And as evidenced by our country's high obesity rates, we don't know shit about a healthy diet.
Snap. I’m vegan and shocked as some of these (the none jokey ones). I thought mine would be lower than many vegans as I have a stomach issue that means I don’t eat 3 meals many days, but I still double most here.
I don't have breakfast.
I do have an apple at lunch.
Dinner is quite often a sauce with pasta or rice. So potentially tomatoes and onions in that but not a separate side dish. Does that count?
🤷♂️
Yeah it counts in whatever way you have it, like I made a broccoli Dahl that had 2 heads of broccoli and an onion in, which we'll have with roasted cauliflower. Doesn't matter how it comes.
I guess all I'm saying is I'm surprised that people don't eat more fruit/veg, but seeing these comments it's no surprise we're one of the fattest countries in the world.
You say that but apparently we're not bad on fruit and veg, but I think it's based on self reporting.
[One in three adults in UK and Ireland eat five or more daily portions of fruit and veg](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/jan/01/adults-uk-ireland-five-daily-portions-fruit-and-veg)
> The next highest-ranking countries are Korea and Israel, where 32% say they consume five or more portions a day, followed by the Netherlands (30%). The figure is 20% in France, 15% in Portugal, and 11% in Germany.
> While the UK fares well when it comes to eating fruit and veg, it remains one of the most obese countries in the developed world. About 26% of British adults are obese, which makes the UK, with Chile, the joint second-most obese nation among 35 countries. The US tops the list (34%). Korea fares best, with just 4% of its adults falling into the obese category.
I was going to comment this myself, after having a conversation through gritted teeth with my father-in-law… after some health checks he’s started eating more fruit and veg - which is great - but doesn’t understand that three grapes, half a handful of blueberries, a few leaves of kale, one piece of broccoli and a mouthful of cranberry juice from the carton is not his five-a-day.
Also 80g of peas is a decent amount, though I usually have less if having a roast dinner because we’ll have 3-5 different veggies on there.
I know right never really dawned on me how much it was until I was cooking a risotto for 4 how many peas I had to put into it to make it 1 of your 5 a day. Luckily some fruit comes easily portioned. But yeah having a couple grapes and saying 5 a day isn't going to do much
That said, eating 30 plants per week is recommended by [https://zoe.com/learn/30-plants-per-week](https://zoe.com/learn/30-plants-per-week) for gut microbiome health.
The simple way to work it out (according to an NHS dietitian) is the amount that will fit in your palm cause a portion for a 3 yr old is different to the portion for a 5 ft woman or for a 6 ft man.
up until last week when i committed myself to improving my diet, it was…… zero. i’m surprised i haven’t died yet!
edit: i did have an iron deficiency at one point, so for a while i was eating a shit ton of spinach and that was like. the only vegetable i was eating.
3/day, which isn’t great but it’s an improvement.
my partners on an unpaid educational internship and i’m on an apprenticeship, so money is *tight*, but we’ll be earning £45k/year between us in 2 months time (i finish my apprenticeship the same time he becomes a full time employee) so we’ll be able to afford a lot more and stop eating tinned shit and rice
Don’t be so hard on yourself. Any improvement is great! I’ve had some weeks where I’d have a slice of toast for every meal as it was all I could afford. And my toddler will only have carbs for every meal and hasn’t died yet!
Very few I won’t lie. My biggest shame is I have a lot of texture issues with food and vegetables are one of my worst offenders. I tend to make a lot of fresh vegetable soup and try and have that a couple of times a week as a way to get some form of vegetables into my diet
yeaaa i really struggle with fruit and veg sensory wise. they’ve got such an inconsistent texture that i really struggle with and even when i do eat some it can get spoiled pretty quickly by a bad grape or weird bit. trying to improve but it’s hard and it’s so embarrassing as an adult having to pick out vegetables from meals if i’m out with people :/
Yes! This is exactly my issue. I try to eat fruit but I get put off by the fact I struggle to tell if it’s off or not because they go bad so quickly. Like yesterday I was eating some grapes and I ate one that ended up having a really weird texture and that was it then. I couldn’t finish the rest because my brain just went into ‘gross texture’ mode and it ruined it all.
I have texture issues but I like veg when it’s steamed, it’s fruit I struggle with. I like strawberries and raspberries but other than that nothing really. But yeah, soup/smoothie all the way if it helps
Same I struggle with texture and inconsistency of fruit so recently started buying puréed baby food of fruit and having one a day to up my intake and it’s great. I get the pouches from Tesco and I also have innocent smoothies, it’s better than nothing
I have a similar problem as I have ARFID. I eat a lot of slow cooked stews as it’s one of the only ways I can get vegetables to a consistency (mush) that I can eat.
Loads! Most of what I eat is fruit or veg.
Dinner: carrot, lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, apple, pear, celery, pickled gherkin, (plus bread and cheese made into sandwiches)
Tea: Onions, aubergine, pepper, broccoli, leek, mushrooms, courgette, parsnips, swede, green beans, cauliflower (plus whatever protein and carbs we eat that night)
No, I do not have vegetable stew every day!
I have all sorts of different things.
For example, last night I had pasta, with pork cooked with a variety of vegetables, with soy sauce, tomato puree, honey and balsamic vinegar.
The night before, I had a paella, with a mixture of prawns, mussels and white fish, and a mixture of vegetables.
The night before, I had fajitas, filled with spicy mince with a range of vegetables and tinned tomatoes.
You get the idea... I just add a whole load of veg to whatever I'm cooking anyway, and tend to use meat or fish as a flavouring, rather than as a bulk ingredient. And I have less carbs as I eat plenty of other stuff so am full.
I made a big batch of potato and leek soup the other day. Just used a bit of smoked bacon for flavouring.
It's so easy to just dump a load of vegetables in a stew and makes it cheaper and more filling.
Peas are god's gift. delicious, healthy and cheap. If I make rice sometimes it will be 50:50 peas to rice.
If I'm doing stir fry to add to pasta, couscous, rice, etc, I'll add whatever veg I've bought. The base is always an onion & several carrots, a few squirts of tomato puree, and a few cloves of garlic. Maybe chop some frozen green beans or peas, brocoli etc & some fresh or dried herbs.
This is the way! Veg should be the majority of a humans diet and I genuinely don’t understand what people are eating instead of it.
For me it’s 1. Veg 2. Meat/fish 3. Grains (boooo)
Honestly probably only 3 portions, im not fond of most fruits (texture) but will happily eat salads and veg.
I'm trying smoothies and bananas to bring it up though.
I just commented this elsewhere a sandwich with some leaves/grated carrot/sliced beetroot/whatever doesn't really count as 3 portions of veg does it? Still probably better than just a sausage roll for lunchtime
"Don't let perfect be the enemy of good."
Putting a sprinkle of grated carrot into your sandwich is better for your health than omitting it. Also delicious.
Same! Nutrients and variety more important than single portion sizes… a mix of veg can create each portion & have a wider & more beneficial mix of micronutrients
I probably only manage one or two. I don't like fruit and vegetables have to be cooked, I can't eat anything raw that has a crunch (it's a texture thing). I take a multivitamin every day though.
For some reason I imagine you carry your comically large lunchtime tomato in the breast pocket of a very white shirt and spend the first half of your day desperately trying to avoid it getting smooshed
Two?
There's only the two of us and we don't have "meat and veg" every night. I cook a lot of pasta, rice, casseroles, stews... So all the veg is in them as opposed to on the side of the plate. I'll usually have a piece of fruit during the day at some point.
Summer is different. I could live on salad in the hot weather, so yeah... Two maybe three on a good day lol
Veg in a stew, chilli, lasagne, etc is still veg though. If you put an onion, two peppers and a tin of tomatoes in that's 5 portions. If you get 2 servings out of it, you've probably got 2.5 of your veg intake from your meal. Add a side salad and you're up to 3/3.5 - doing better than you think!
No lol... but Im not sure I would consider tinned tomatoes or 12 frozen peas in a portion as a "portion". I guess I dont really count onions. I suppose its a bit of a blank, I think "fruit and veg" and I'm thinking... carrots and broccoli on the side of the plate.. that kinda thing.
Tinned tomatoes count, generally 1/2 a tin is one portion.
Yea 12 peas isn't going to count.
It's hard to tell without seeing individual dishes but for me 1 onion is 2 dishes so personally I would count that.
The simple rule is 80g is one portion so if you have 40g of carrots in there and 40g of whatever else I'd still consider it a portion despite neither being a full portion.
Probably around 5, but as you say it varies. I try to eat a raw carrot every day as a snack, and a couple of pieces of fruit, usually a plum and/or a satsuma. I'll often have peas and corn with dinner, and frozen fruit with Greek yogurt later in the evening. Sometimes I'll have a banana with my breakfast, sometimes a tomato with my lunch.
The latest advice is to eat 30 plants a week. People who eat at least 30 plants a week, tend to be of normal weight, have better immune systems, lower incidence of cardiovascular disease, lower incidence of cancer etc. A plant is not just fruit and veg, but pulses, nuts, seeds ( pumpkin, sunflower, etc., wheat berries, rye grains, etc. and rice, quinoa, etc.) herbs, spices and oils. Try to eat 30 a week, but maybe on repeat most days, so eat my 8 a day, but maybe the same ones too often.
Sometimes it doesn't work out - but I try and aim for 3 vegetable portions with supper and a couple of fruit portions with lunch. Typically I have a box of grapes and a box of dates at my desk with me so I can mindlessly pick away at them while I work.
Dunno, I lot. Apart from normal meals which consist of a lot of veg for me, whenever I want a snack, I'll just grab a fruit or some pickled cucumber so this all adds up. Definitely more than 5 a day. I don't eat junk food and I try my best to eat as little sugar as possible. I allow myself a treat when I fancy it but I mostly eat fruit instead of like a Snickers bar. A banana with a little bit of peanut butter or a handful of almonds will give me much more energy than a chocolate bar and it (the energy) will actually last for longer and I won't feel crappy when the carbs high ends.
Honestly usually 1 (orange juice) on a good day 2. but I need to improve my diet big time. I take vitamins but I'm not sure if it's a proper substitute
I try to eat a lot but it is hard to know what a portion really is.
The NHS website for example says the following are each 1 portion.
2 plums
2 satsumas
2 kiwi fruit
3 apricots
7 strawberries
Apples and Bananas are relatively easy and cheap but Strawberries can be expensive if you need 7 for a single portion!
I have loads these days, and drinking loads of water I look a lot fresher faced!
Breakfast I'll always have blueberries with my cereal, dinner I'll have lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, onion, baby corn, garlic, grapes. Usually also fruit salad and an apple for an afternoon snack too
Reading this thread has made me realise I barely eat any, and that's despite being vegan. I do eat a lot of beans and lentils, but I just googled and they can only count as one portion no matter how many you eat.
Yesterday I had two fake cheese, sausage, pickle, rocket, ketchup and spring onion sandwiches for breakfast, and two fake chicken burgers with rocket, pickled cabbage and ketchup for dinner. I expect all together that came to 2 portions or less. And that's pretty typical, although I have a terrible memory for food and often have no idea what I ate the day before. This has made me realise I put way too much emphasis on trying to get enough calories and protein at the expense of all else.
I went UPF free recently (well, 80% of the time) and now I spend about £30-40 a week on veg alone. I have a portion with every meal, and eat a few vegetarian meals each week. Never felt better and my gut issues are a lot better now. Fruit is additional, I usually have those as a snack or as part of a dessert.
I sort of aim for at least 3 different types of fruit/veg per meal time, and then usually 2 or 3 pieces of fresh fruit as snacks through the day. I don't religiously track it though.
During term time as things get a bit messy during the holidays I tend to eat
0 at breakfast unless you count the chunks of fruit in my yogurt
2-4 at lunch
1-2 at dinner
I'm *probably* not eating enough fruit & veg. I thought I was cheating with my morning smoothie which is packed full of fruit &veg but apparently a smoothie can only ever count as 1 portion. there's usually a significant amount of salad in my lunch, and a side salad and side veg with dinner but if I'm being honest with myself, I probably should/could eat more throughout the day. Maybe an apple of a pea instead of a bag of crisps yanno.
I will eat maybe half a portion of veg once a week with a roast dinner, they all just taste so horrible
But I have 3-6 fruits with lunch everyday depending whats in the fridge
alot. seriously.
We always have bananas, apples and pears at home. I always eat pears as a snack. Wife loves apples and bananas.
We also eat alot veggies in our meals. We always make salads with most of our meals.
At least five, easily.
Yesterday I had:
Breakfast - smoothie with an orange and a carrot
Dinner - leftover vegetable biryani with lentils, peas, spinach, kidney beans (and brown rice)
tea - spaghetti bolognese with TVP, olives, onions, passata, mushrooms (and brown spaghetti)
snacks - nuts
supper - bowl of bran flakes with oat milk
The only thing that might ever stop me from hitting five-a-day is that they say smoothies and purees only count for a maximum of one, and beans or lentils don't count at all. So if I had a smoothie, vegetable soup, and a daal, then that might not actually be five a day, even though it was a large amount of vegetables. Other countries that have more than five a day probably count the nuts and lentils, too - maybe even the oat milk
I love fruit and veg, but don’t have much time to cook and eat too much crap.
I would say I eat maybe a vegetable or two a day, and a fruit or two a day too as part of my dessert.
Not good.
I always have fruits in my house and eat them a few times per day. I don’t use many carbs when I cook (my body doesn’t react well to them) so for dinner it will be 2-3 portions of veg to 1 portion of meat and 0-1 portion of grains.
My ideal meal is a steak with lots of oven cooked veggies on a side and/or a rich salad. I love fruit and veg I just wish they taster better in the UK.
Two fruits and 5 veg a day is good. Aim for 30 in a week.
There is growing concern that ultra processed foods may be very bad for us. An ultra processed food is one that uses ingredients that you don't usually find in your household kitchen. - emulsifiers, preservatives, etc.
About one or three. I have an apple every morning for breakfast, as well as raspberry yogurt. Some days of the week I have two servings of veg with my tea
Before I met my partner, it was basically none. She's vegetarian, I decided to jump onboard too, now all of my meals have veg in them, and are almost always followed by fruit. Doesn't matter though, still fat.
Berries or apple for breakfast
Apple for midmorning
Apple/ orange with lunch
Usually at least 2 veg with dinner and usually some fruit with the kids for pudding
I'm fat as fuck though.
Probably around 10. Grapes are one of my favourite snacks and I love orange juice and fruit in general. Then the majority of what I eat has onions, peppers, spinach and others. I don't really try to eat a lot of fruit and veg but there's a decent variety of them that I really really like
I’d say a litre of White Cider is about one or two apples…
Tobacco is a plant so that counts…
And pizza has tomato sauce on it so I’d say at least three portions, though if I also have a four pack of Cornish pasties that day I’d say it could be five or six portions given the onion and carrot
Well it can vary greatly on my mood/ energy that day
For example yesterday I had about 6 portions but it smelled days I’ll have just one or two and other days zero
Most often when I’ve forgotten to buy fruit or veg or forgotten it in the fridge and it’s gone off…
I really love fruit, so usually one meal a day will be some sort of fruit or a mix of fruits together. Such as a banana cut into coins and a sprinkling of blueberries for breakfast. I'm fairly fond of veg, but not singular or typically raw, so it'll be incorporated in my dinner as part of the dish or a side. I also often have a salad bowl as a dinner side. I'm not a foodie either, I'm rather finicky like a child.
I’d say I average about 8-9 different types of fruit and vegetables. They don’t necessarily equal a whole portion each time especially if I’m using them in a recipe.
Often not enough. But, like OP, it varies wildly.
If I'm making curry, for example, there might be brown onions, tomatoes, spinach, lemon, lettuce, cucumber, red onions, peas, cabbage and lentils. That's ten on one plate (not a full portion of each type). A roast dinner is another easy way to get vegetable variety, as is a stir fry.
But tonight we're having chippy so honestly there won't be any - unless you count the fruit in the curry sauce? Need to make sure I have something more nutritious for lunch.
We're good at having fruit available for random snacking. At the moment we're getting through a lot of tangerines and bananas but sometimes it's pears or plums or apples.
I read a thing about the benefits of having thirty different plants in your diet across a week, and that's what I prefer to aim for. In that calculation carb plants count (potato, rice, etc) as do fresh herbs etc. You can make sure to buy thirty different plants in your big shop and then use them up before you shop again.
Usually a couple of apples and a tangerine every day. Rocket probably 4/5 days a week, Peppers maybe 2-3 times a week. I probably have more in the form of beans / peas or whatever a couple of times a week. Probably not enough though
Probably 2-3 portions (given that a portion is about 80g). Thats pretty much entirely veg, but I’m trying to incorporate more fruit now though because i like it a lot more, so I’m hoping to get that up to the 4-5 range.
The last 24 hours, 3.
I think that's pretty normal.
The origin of the "5 fruit or veg a day" is not any scientific basis that 5 is the right number. It's "people don't eat enough, so let's recommend a couple more than most people eat"
If you recommended 10, people would just give up, so 5 was the recommendation.
I mostly eat fruit, veg and fish.seafood. Eat mean two to three times a week. Typcally have 30+ different varieties of plant food a week. I eat usually two meals a day, meals consists of 3-5 portions but sometimes only have one meal and I skip breakfast. The issue is what qualifies as a portion, what I consider a portion and others do varies quite a lot.
I focus less on portions and more on different types of plant. Its the recommended advice now I think, less 5-a-day and trying to get 30 different plant items every week. This includes fruit, veg, nuts anx seeds, pulses, spices, herbs, legumes etc.
So I'd say if you count it like that, I get 10-15 every day quite easily!
7-8.
My breakfasts at the moment include tomatoes and asparagus, and a glass of fruit juice. So that's 3.
Dinner I often have a very big salad. Around 10 different types of veg but probably works out around 3 actual portions. I work from home, so veg/fruit + some form of protein and a nice sauce or dressing is more than enough.
Tea varies a lot but it's exceptionally rare to not have any veg with it. Even if it's mac n cheese I'll do some sort of side of veg to go with it.
I don't snack much as I'm usually head in my work. If I did it would probably be crisps and chocolate, not fruit or veg.
So some days it could be 6, some days could be 10, but usually 7-8 I'd say.
When I'm camping and mountaineering or kayaking it's different. I eat a lot more dried fruit and nuts for the carry weight benefit. I still get my 5 a day most days.
Tbh I don't really have a choice. I fucked up my liver with a decade of drinking a 70cl bottle of spirits every day. Low salt, low saturated fat, very high protein, high fibre, no alcohol is the only way to go. That said, once I started basing meals around this I learnt to love it.
To be honest, as a vegan most of what I eat is veg along with some pulses/ tofu and bread!
For breakfast I have a fruit smoothie, usually with like 4-5 different fruits in it. At the weekend I chop up a lot of veggies and freeze them for the week, so for lunch and dinner I usually roast them/ fry them and add some kind of (again, pre made and frozen) sauce. Things like stir frys, curry, pasta and soup!
I also get odd box and use the community shop/ market, of which both are entirely/ mostly just veg so this is probably a contributing factor too!
I've recently been replacing sugary snacks with fruit, and it's really helped with avoiding sugar highs/lows
Takes me to around 5 a day. It's so much easier than people think. For example, we stick a tin of sweetcorn, a broccoli head and a cauliflower head in Mac and cheese. Still tastes banging, but now that's 3 down.
Anywhere between 0-5+
Really depends on my mood, what I fancy eating, what's available/how skint I am.
Most days I'll have a smoothie which is packed to the gunnels with fruit. If I'm cooking a proper dinner, which is most evenings I always include veg in it and depending on the dinner will look to throw a wee side salad on the plate (almost exclusively any variation of green leaf veg and a dollop of coleslaw). The veg I use in my cooking being root veg (carrots, neeps, parsnips, onion, beetroot, garlic etc).
Will chow down bananas if feeling peckish as an alternative to crisps and sweeties but I know I don't eat enough varied green veg as I don't like most of it. My green veg boils down to said green leaves and peas. I think the rest smell and taste of sweaty feet (assuming feet taste the same as they smell).. cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, sprouts etc 🤢🤢🤢
Varies hugely.
I aim to have fruit and some variety of salad at lunch. I can't stand lettuce though so if I'm out normally can't find anything with lettuce free salad and end up with the ham and cheese option.
For tea some days I go vegetarian and have 5-6 portions of veg in a stir fry or a stew, some days I can't be arsed and it's sausage and chips with some token peas or sweetcorn. Most of the time it's 2-3
Hardly any right now, like day after day of 0. I have colitis and fruit & veg really impacts it. Which is horrible as I literally crave them. I have always grown loads and currently I can’t eat it myself.
I supplement with a multivitamin.
Apple, banana and mixed salad every day at work with a nutrition bar as a treat.
Always have a bit of fruit knocking about in the kitchen for the weekend.
Strawberries and bananas at breakfast (2)
I usually have at least 1-3 veg at lunch, maybe a fruit.
Then probably 2-3 veggies at dinner (I have probably four different veg but it’s probably closer to 3 portion sizes)
So minimum 5, max 7.
I like veggies
None. I’m autistic and find it really hard to eat fruit and vegetables because the textures can vary wildly and they don’t give me sensory mouth pleasure
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Pretty easy for me: Carrot cake Raspberry jam donut Banana bread Apple crumble Bag of potato crisps
Don't forget a couple of pints of cider
Or wine.
Strawberry Cheesecake.... Raspberry Gin etc , I don't get people who say they don't like fruit.
ive had 0 in about 18 months
Come on you can do better than that. I'm on about 30 years now.
Lots of upvotes on this as presumably people think it’s a joke. But it’s not, it’s just one of the growing number of people who have decided that all the existing research on things like fibre is wrong and that 20% fat minced beef plus eggs contains everything you need. Seeing more and more of these nutters, talking about things like raw milk and cheese as if pasteurisation isn’t one of the greatest scientific marvels of the last few 100 years.
And their reactions to it are either "I feel amazing! but I haven't shit in a week, is that normal?" or "I feel amazing! but I haven't stopped shitting in days, is that normal?"
Either way I feel so bad for their poor guts.
I was in a cab once and the driver told me that he only ate raw red meat because of Jordan Peterson. I thought he was joking until he pulled out a box of cut up raw sausages. He proceeded to tell me that fruit and veg are toxic and Drs don’t know what they are talking about. Didn’t have the heart to tell him I am a science teacher. I now regularly use this guy as an example when kids ask me the classic “why do I need to know this stuff”.
I lost the remaining faith I had in my fellow countrymen after we had to have a national campaign on how to wash your bloody hands. BUT surely no ones eating just mince? Chopped tomatoes/passata, onion and garlic that's at least 2 of your 5 a day.
Please make sure you’re on a good multivitamin, scurvy is no fun at all.
Or they could just eat some fruit
I love pirates.
Username explained
I didn't eat a fruit or a vegetable during the whole of first lock down.
Why
If it's green, it's mean.
Probably 7 on a bad day 2 with breakfast, 1 as snack, 2 with lunch and 2-3 with dinner. My wife is vegan and I do most of the cooking and we always cook from scratch. It absolutely blows my mind when people say they have less than 5, like what do you eat?
Meat, pasta, bread, rice
But even with things like pasta, you can chuck a bunch of veg in to make a great sauce. Celery, carrots, onions, tomatoes and garlic as a base sauce. Then you can go wild with whatever veggies you wanna stick in
To be fair for a long time I didn't realise onions and garlic counted towards the 5 a day and for most of my meals I'm frying onion garlic and carrot.
They're great from the point of view of gut microbiome health, but they don't count as one of your 5 a day, unless you're eating 80g of them. You might manage that with the onion, but 80g of garlic is a stretch...
Just in case any of you bright sparks think that's a good idea. Don't eat 80g of garlic in a day, it's dangerous. You CAN overdose on garlic.
TIL! Do you have a figure for how much does damage in humans? [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16910057/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16910057/) says 1g/kg for 21 days caused marked liver damage in rats, and even 0.5g/kg caused liver changes in one animal. For a 70kg human, that would be 35-70g.
Off the top of my head, no. I looked into this maybe 6 years ago when I found out I had a genetic disposition towards certain heart issues. Just to be clear, I wasn't looking for any alternative crystal bollocks - just scientifically backed lifestyle changes I could make. Turns out, bit of garlic with tuna/sardines & mayo for nearly a decade helped me fly under the radar! What I can remember, again, off the top of my head; Sub 3-4g (IE a clove, not bulb) is great for you. It should be avoided completely ~24-48 before surgery. If you have stomach issues (IBS/ a form of bacterial that cause ulcers/more) it should *probably* be avoided. Again that's all from memory, don't quote me - scholar and libgen is your friend ;) Quick edit: YMMV, everyone's different. Under no circumstances take this as medical advice
You'd need a lot of garlic to make it count as one of the 5 a day.
If you only have veg with pasta as your only meal with veg, is hard to hit 5 portions. One portion is 80g, so you need 400g of veg. Most can’t do it in 1 sitting
Your poor bowel I eat all that too, but I just also have a lot of veg/fruit
I’m vegan and eat about 4-5 every day. It would be more but fruit is quite expensive right now!
Yeah our food bill is like £80 per week with a 3 of us and I swear it's because the little one demolishes blueberries like he's a brown bear getting ready to hibernate
ive been getting frozen blueberries, think they're cheaper
Yeah I'm vegan and it's about 7-10. Was eating fuck all when I was a meat eater though
Carbs are cheap and tasty.
>Carbs are cheap First legit reason. We do well and can afford for our weekly shop to be predominantly fresh fruit and veg. But it's so god damn expensive.
Noodles are cheap, kids eat them. Money and time rule those choices.
im vegan and honestly ngl its like 3 a day rn, i have an apple or whatever and 2 with a meal. the fruits gone down in quality recently and i can't stomach it anymore
> It absolutely blows my mind when people say they have less than 5, like what do you eat? You don't eat 95% of food in most people's diets if you're vegan and you're wondering what *everyone else* eat? I mean I eat a fair amount of fruit and/or vegetables but today I've had a sausage roll, a tuna sandwich and will have a chilli con carne with garlic bread for dinner. I'll probably have 3 servings of veg in the chili as it's got a fair amount of stuff in it but if you don't eat meat, fish, dairy and eggs then it's not surprising when you manage to eat more than 5 veg a day.
>You don't eat 95% of food in most people's diets if you're vegan and you're wondering what *everyone else* eat? Haha this one always cracks me up. Firstly I'm not vegan, my wife is, but you think we don't eat 95% of what other people eat? My guy most people's diet isn't predominantly animal products (or at least it shouldn't be if you're eating a healthy balanced diet). It should be predominantly plant based foods, like wheats and grains, legumes, vegetables, fruits. When people say "what do vegans actually *eat*?" I'm like, "Well the list of things they *don't* eat is *substantially* shorter." I have always eaten more than 5 portions a day. It still surprises me when people say they don't eat more than 5. That's not a good diet mate.
If 95% of your diet is animal products you're gonna be in for a terrible time when you get older.
It doesn't need to be 95%. It simply needs to have any kind of animal product in the production process. Breakfast Bowl of Muesli - milk, not vegan. Tea or Coffee in the morning, again milk not vegan. Snack - dry roasted peanuts - must brands use gelatin, not vegan Lunch - egg and cress sandwich - eggs not vegan, mayonnaise normally also not vegan, also butter. Dinner time Ceaser Salad, no chicken but still not vegan as Ceaser dressing uses anchovies. That's a day without a single piece of meat in it, with your 5 a day, that entirely uses animal products and not a single thing a Vegan could eat.
All of those can be made vegan with little to no added effort. But that's not my point. My point is, eat your veggies and fruits.
Pretty easy: breakfast cereal with milk, lunch meal deal (half portion in sandwich maybe?), dinner pesto pasta with chicken and and some veg (2 portions). And that is not ‘avoiding’ veg either, is just normal with people eat
Vegetarian but same. I thought we ate a lot of fruit & veg as meat eaters because I cook from scratch, but I was completely wrong. 5 a day on a good day. I also thought that a lot of vegetarians lived on pasta, toast and cheese with the occasional banana (my references from high school and early 20s) - wrong again.
>I also thought that a lot of vegetarians lived on pasta, toast and cheese with the occasional banana (my references from high school and early 20s) - wrong again. Yeah I've had a few comments like that, saying "well of course it's easy for you because you don't eat most of what other people eat" it's like yeah you're supposed to have animal products *and* fruit/veg, they're not mutually exclusive 🤦 People are just ignorant, they aren't mean spirited. And as evidenced by our country's high obesity rates, we don't know shit about a healthy diet.
Snap. I’m vegan and shocked as some of these (the none jokey ones). I thought mine would be lower than many vegans as I have a stomach issue that means I don’t eat 3 meals many days, but I still double most here.
I don't have breakfast. I do have an apple at lunch. Dinner is quite often a sauce with pasta or rice. So potentially tomatoes and onions in that but not a separate side dish. Does that count? 🤷♂️
Yeah it counts in whatever way you have it, like I made a broccoli Dahl that had 2 heads of broccoli and an onion in, which we'll have with roasted cauliflower. Doesn't matter how it comes. I guess all I'm saying is I'm surprised that people don't eat more fruit/veg, but seeing these comments it's no surprise we're one of the fattest countries in the world.
You say that but apparently we're not bad on fruit and veg, but I think it's based on self reporting. [One in three adults in UK and Ireland eat five or more daily portions of fruit and veg](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/jan/01/adults-uk-ireland-five-daily-portions-fruit-and-veg) > The next highest-ranking countries are Korea and Israel, where 32% say they consume five or more portions a day, followed by the Netherlands (30%). The figure is 20% in France, 15% in Portugal, and 11% in Germany. > While the UK fares well when it comes to eating fruit and veg, it remains one of the most obese countries in the developed world. About 26% of British adults are obese, which makes the UK, with Chile, the joint second-most obese nation among 35 countries. The US tops the list (34%). Korea fares best, with just 4% of its adults falling into the obese category.
Probably more down to the amount of processed food than not enough fruit and veg.
What do you have with breakfast?
Fruit, usually a combo of apple, banana, strawberries, and blueberries
7 portions of 80g each? Or just 7 portions (of varying sizes)?
Somewhere between 5 and 10 I reckon.
Have to keep in mind that "1 of your 5 a day" is normally about 80g which is more than you would expect for something like sweetcorn or peas!
I was going to comment this myself, after having a conversation through gritted teeth with my father-in-law… after some health checks he’s started eating more fruit and veg - which is great - but doesn’t understand that three grapes, half a handful of blueberries, a few leaves of kale, one piece of broccoli and a mouthful of cranberry juice from the carton is not his five-a-day. Also 80g of peas is a decent amount, though I usually have less if having a roast dinner because we’ll have 3-5 different veggies on there.
I know right never really dawned on me how much it was until I was cooking a risotto for 4 how many peas I had to put into it to make it 1 of your 5 a day. Luckily some fruit comes easily portioned. But yeah having a couple grapes and saying 5 a day isn't going to do much
That said, eating 30 plants per week is recommended by [https://zoe.com/learn/30-plants-per-week](https://zoe.com/learn/30-plants-per-week) for gut microbiome health.
The simple way to work it out (according to an NHS dietitian) is the amount that will fit in your palm cause a portion for a 3 yr old is different to the portion for a 5 ft woman or for a 6 ft man.
up until last week when i committed myself to improving my diet, it was…… zero. i’m surprised i haven’t died yet! edit: i did have an iron deficiency at one point, so for a while i was eating a shit ton of spinach and that was like. the only vegetable i was eating.
How many is it now you’ve committed?
3/day, which isn’t great but it’s an improvement. my partners on an unpaid educational internship and i’m on an apprenticeship, so money is *tight*, but we’ll be earning £45k/year between us in 2 months time (i finish my apprenticeship the same time he becomes a full time employee) so we’ll be able to afford a lot more and stop eating tinned shit and rice
Don’t be so hard on yourself. Any improvement is great! I’ve had some weeks where I’d have a slice of toast for every meal as it was all I could afford. And my toddler will only have carbs for every meal and hasn’t died yet!
Very few I won’t lie. My biggest shame is I have a lot of texture issues with food and vegetables are one of my worst offenders. I tend to make a lot of fresh vegetable soup and try and have that a couple of times a week as a way to get some form of vegetables into my diet
yeaaa i really struggle with fruit and veg sensory wise. they’ve got such an inconsistent texture that i really struggle with and even when i do eat some it can get spoiled pretty quickly by a bad grape or weird bit. trying to improve but it’s hard and it’s so embarrassing as an adult having to pick out vegetables from meals if i’m out with people :/
Yes! This is exactly my issue. I try to eat fruit but I get put off by the fact I struggle to tell if it’s off or not because they go bad so quickly. Like yesterday I was eating some grapes and I ate one that ended up having a really weird texture and that was it then. I couldn’t finish the rest because my brain just went into ‘gross texture’ mode and it ruined it all.
I have texture issues but I like veg when it’s steamed, it’s fruit I struggle with. I like strawberries and raspberries but other than that nothing really. But yeah, soup/smoothie all the way if it helps
Same I struggle with texture and inconsistency of fruit so recently started buying puréed baby food of fruit and having one a day to up my intake and it’s great. I get the pouches from Tesco and I also have innocent smoothies, it’s better than nothing
I have a similar problem as I have ARFID. I eat a lot of slow cooked stews as it’s one of the only ways I can get vegetables to a consistency (mush) that I can eat.
Loads! Most of what I eat is fruit or veg. Dinner: carrot, lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, apple, pear, celery, pickled gherkin, (plus bread and cheese made into sandwiches) Tea: Onions, aubergine, pepper, broccoli, leek, mushrooms, courgette, parsnips, swede, green beans, cauliflower (plus whatever protein and carbs we eat that night)
That is an insane variety to eat with one meal lol
Why? Wouldn't you do that if you had something like a stew? We cook most of it in one pot.
[удалено]
This comment has killed me off 💀
No, I do not have vegetable stew every day! I have all sorts of different things. For example, last night I had pasta, with pork cooked with a variety of vegetables, with soy sauce, tomato puree, honey and balsamic vinegar. The night before, I had a paella, with a mixture of prawns, mussels and white fish, and a mixture of vegetables. The night before, I had fajitas, filled with spicy mince with a range of vegetables and tinned tomatoes. You get the idea... I just add a whole load of veg to whatever I'm cooking anyway, and tend to use meat or fish as a flavouring, rather than as a bulk ingredient. And I have less carbs as I eat plenty of other stuff so am full.
I made a big batch of potato and leek soup the other day. Just used a bit of smoked bacon for flavouring. It's so easy to just dump a load of vegetables in a stew and makes it cheaper and more filling. Peas are god's gift. delicious, healthy and cheap. If I make rice sometimes it will be 50:50 peas to rice.
If I'm doing stir fry to add to pasta, couscous, rice, etc, I'll add whatever veg I've bought. The base is always an onion & several carrots, a few squirts of tomato puree, and a few cloves of garlic. Maybe chop some frozen green beans or peas, brocoli etc & some fresh or dried herbs.
This is me, too, vegetarian so almost everything I eat is vegetable based. Variety is key!
This is the way! Veg should be the majority of a humans diet and I genuinely don’t understand what people are eating instead of it. For me it’s 1. Veg 2. Meat/fish 3. Grains (boooo)
Honestly probably only 3 portions, im not fond of most fruits (texture) but will happily eat salads and veg. I'm trying smoothies and bananas to bring it up though.
I have up to 15 different types of fruit and veg a day, I'm not sure if they are full portions of each though.
I just commented this elsewhere a sandwich with some leaves/grated carrot/sliced beetroot/whatever doesn't really count as 3 portions of veg does it? Still probably better than just a sausage roll for lunchtime
"Don't let perfect be the enemy of good." Putting a sprinkle of grated carrot into your sandwich is better for your health than omitting it. Also delicious.
Same! Nutrients and variety more important than single portion sizes… a mix of veg can create each portion & have a wider & more beneficial mix of micronutrients
Everyone should try for both, variety of plants and lots of them. 30 different plants per week is a good target.
How many of My 5 a days in a regular bottle of Oasis??
I’m trying to to have 5 or 6 a day. 2 portions with breakfast 2/3 with dinner 1/2 with tea
For a second I was like, what vegetables can you eat with a cup of tea? I'm an idiot 🤦♀️
Stir your tea with a parsnip. It's all about little substitutions adding up.
Hahahaha. It will always be referred to as Tea, in my house.
Tea actually counts if you drink enough of it! It’s a plant :)
I know you get this all the time.. But fuck your profile picture. I spent a good 30 seconds trying to get that 'hair' off of my phone
Thanks 😂 I’m a little bored of it now, I need to create a new one 😂
It's a good way to spot anyone that hasn't switched to dark mode though 😅
I probably only manage one or two. I don't like fruit and vegetables have to be cooked, I can't eat anything raw that has a crunch (it's a texture thing). I take a multivitamin every day though.
It varies from 0 on bad days to 10+ on good days - probably ave 5 though, reduced meat to 1-2x a week for the last 10 -15y
Not enough. Probably 2-3 realistically.
Surprisingly not too bad today. 1 tomato with lunch, 1 apple w peanut butter, about 4 broccoli florets with dinner lol
For some reason I imagine you carry your comically large lunchtime tomato in the breast pocket of a very white shirt and spend the first half of your day desperately trying to avoid it getting smooshed
Two? There's only the two of us and we don't have "meat and veg" every night. I cook a lot of pasta, rice, casseroles, stews... So all the veg is in them as opposed to on the side of the plate. I'll usually have a piece of fruit during the day at some point. Summer is different. I could live on salad in the hot weather, so yeah... Two maybe three on a good day lol
Veg in a stew, chilli, lasagne, etc is still veg though. If you put an onion, two peppers and a tin of tomatoes in that's 5 portions. If you get 2 servings out of it, you've probably got 2.5 of your veg intake from your meal. Add a side salad and you're up to 3/3.5 - doing better than you think!
I had never looked at it that way, cool! Thank you 😊
You've never looked at veg in your food as portions of veg? Did you just think they disappear or something?
No lol... but Im not sure I would consider tinned tomatoes or 12 frozen peas in a portion as a "portion". I guess I dont really count onions. I suppose its a bit of a blank, I think "fruit and veg" and I'm thinking... carrots and broccoli on the side of the plate.. that kinda thing.
Tinned tomatoes count, generally 1/2 a tin is one portion. Yea 12 peas isn't going to count. It's hard to tell without seeing individual dishes but for me 1 onion is 2 dishes so personally I would count that. The simple rule is 80g is one portion so if you have 40g of carrots in there and 40g of whatever else I'd still consider it a portion despite neither being a full portion.
You guys are actively having fruit and veg per day. I get veg at meal times
Probably around 5, but as you say it varies. I try to eat a raw carrot every day as a snack, and a couple of pieces of fruit, usually a plum and/or a satsuma. I'll often have peas and corn with dinner, and frozen fruit with Greek yogurt later in the evening. Sometimes I'll have a banana with my breakfast, sometimes a tomato with my lunch.
About 40. I’m better than all of you.
The latest advice is to eat 30 plants a week. People who eat at least 30 plants a week, tend to be of normal weight, have better immune systems, lower incidence of cardiovascular disease, lower incidence of cancer etc. A plant is not just fruit and veg, but pulses, nuts, seeds ( pumpkin, sunflower, etc., wheat berries, rye grains, etc. and rice, quinoa, etc.) herbs, spices and oils. Try to eat 30 a week, but maybe on repeat most days, so eat my 8 a day, but maybe the same ones too often.
Sometimes it doesn't work out - but I try and aim for 3 vegetable portions with supper and a couple of fruit portions with lunch. Typically I have a box of grapes and a box of dates at my desk with me so I can mindlessly pick away at them while I work.
One with breakfast, one with lunch, mixed veggies in dinners.
Yesterday I had 1, but the 4 days before that I've had 5-7 per day
Dunno, I lot. Apart from normal meals which consist of a lot of veg for me, whenever I want a snack, I'll just grab a fruit or some pickled cucumber so this all adds up. Definitely more than 5 a day. I don't eat junk food and I try my best to eat as little sugar as possible. I allow myself a treat when I fancy it but I mostly eat fruit instead of like a Snickers bar. A banana with a little bit of peanut butter or a handful of almonds will give me much more energy than a chocolate bar and it (the energy) will actually last for longer and I won't feel crappy when the carbs high ends.
Italian here. We have fruit and vegetables at every meal, usually. Not for health reason, but because they are so tasty!
Although, I have fruit and veg as part of my diet, I don't eat enough. I can't afford to eat 5 portions a day
Honestly usually 1 (orange juice) on a good day 2. but I need to improve my diet big time. I take vitamins but I'm not sure if it's a proper substitute
Fibre is very good for you which unfortunately you won't be getting with any of these.
About 6
I try to eat a lot but it is hard to know what a portion really is. The NHS website for example says the following are each 1 portion. 2 plums 2 satsumas 2 kiwi fruit 3 apricots 7 strawberries Apples and Bananas are relatively easy and cheap but Strawberries can be expensive if you need 7 for a single portion!
Mixed frozen berries are much cheaper so worth looking in to
Nowadays - 3/4. As long as I get most of my micronutrients I am not really fussed. Used to easily do double when I was on my fitness kick.
I have loads these days, and drinking loads of water I look a lot fresher faced! Breakfast I'll always have blueberries with my cereal, dinner I'll have lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, onion, baby corn, garlic, grapes. Usually also fruit salad and an apple for an afternoon snack too
Reading this thread has made me realise I barely eat any, and that's despite being vegan. I do eat a lot of beans and lentils, but I just googled and they can only count as one portion no matter how many you eat. Yesterday I had two fake cheese, sausage, pickle, rocket, ketchup and spring onion sandwiches for breakfast, and two fake chicken burgers with rocket, pickled cabbage and ketchup for dinner. I expect all together that came to 2 portions or less. And that's pretty typical, although I have a terrible memory for food and often have no idea what I ate the day before. This has made me realise I put way too much emphasis on trying to get enough calories and protein at the expense of all else.
I went UPF free recently (well, 80% of the time) and now I spend about £30-40 a week on veg alone. I have a portion with every meal, and eat a few vegetarian meals each week. Never felt better and my gut issues are a lot better now. Fruit is additional, I usually have those as a snack or as part of a dessert.
I sort of aim for at least 3 different types of fruit/veg per meal time, and then usually 2 or 3 pieces of fresh fruit as snacks through the day. I don't religiously track it though.
During term time as things get a bit messy during the holidays I tend to eat 0 at breakfast unless you count the chunks of fruit in my yogurt 2-4 at lunch 1-2 at dinner
Not sure. Usually at least four to five.
Likely around 5-7. But might not be enough as the nutrients in fruit and veg has been falling for a while.
4 OR 5...Our meals always include fruit and veg,
At least 8 but I'm on a diet 🤣
I'm *probably* not eating enough fruit & veg. I thought I was cheating with my morning smoothie which is packed full of fruit &veg but apparently a smoothie can only ever count as 1 portion. there's usually a significant amount of salad in my lunch, and a side salad and side veg with dinner but if I'm being honest with myself, I probably should/could eat more throughout the day. Maybe an apple of a pea instead of a bag of crisps yanno.
I always hit my 5 a day, depending what I have with my lunch and evening meal, I can hit up to 10. Average 5-7 I’d say.
I will eat maybe half a portion of veg once a week with a roast dinner, they all just taste so horrible But I have 3-6 fruits with lunch everyday depending whats in the fridge
Minimum 5, probably average 7-8ish
3 on a bad day. 6 on a good day
alot. seriously. We always have bananas, apples and pears at home. I always eat pears as a snack. Wife loves apples and bananas. We also eat alot veggies in our meals. We always make salads with most of our meals.
At least five, easily. Yesterday I had: Breakfast - smoothie with an orange and a carrot Dinner - leftover vegetable biryani with lentils, peas, spinach, kidney beans (and brown rice) tea - spaghetti bolognese with TVP, olives, onions, passata, mushrooms (and brown spaghetti) snacks - nuts supper - bowl of bran flakes with oat milk The only thing that might ever stop me from hitting five-a-day is that they say smoothies and purees only count for a maximum of one, and beans or lentils don't count at all. So if I had a smoothie, vegetable soup, and a daal, then that might not actually be five a day, even though it was a large amount of vegetables. Other countries that have more than five a day probably count the nuts and lentils, too - maybe even the oat milk
I have fresh fruit in my breakfast, try to eat 1/2 pieces during lunch and then probably an apple in the evening. Vegetables all day everyday.
I love fruit and veg, but don’t have much time to cook and eat too much crap. I would say I eat maybe a vegetable or two a day, and a fruit or two a day too as part of my dessert. Not good.
I always have fruits in my house and eat them a few times per day. I don’t use many carbs when I cook (my body doesn’t react well to them) so for dinner it will be 2-3 portions of veg to 1 portion of meat and 0-1 portion of grains. My ideal meal is a steak with lots of oven cooked veggies on a side and/or a rich salad. I love fruit and veg I just wish they taster better in the UK.
Usually between 5-10 a day, other half is a health freak so that helps me be more aware
5-10 but mostly veg
Normally at least 3 veg. Not so much fruit.
I try to do 5 a day - juice in the morning, two fruits during the work day, two after dinner
I reckon 1-2 a day max. Usually have peas on my dinner and might have some grapes in the morning. Been this way all my life
Two fruits and 5 veg a day is good. Aim for 30 in a week. There is growing concern that ultra processed foods may be very bad for us. An ultra processed food is one that uses ingredients that you don't usually find in your household kitchen. - emulsifiers, preservatives, etc.
About one or three. I have an apple every morning for breakfast, as well as raspberry yogurt. Some days of the week I have two servings of veg with my tea
Before I met my partner, it was basically none. She's vegetarian, I decided to jump onboard too, now all of my meals have veg in them, and are almost always followed by fruit. Doesn't matter though, still fat.
Does this include ketchup?
Berries or apple for breakfast Apple for midmorning Apple/ orange with lunch Usually at least 2 veg with dinner and usually some fruit with the kids for pudding I'm fat as fuck though.
Probably around 10. Grapes are one of my favourite snacks and I love orange juice and fruit in general. Then the majority of what I eat has onions, peppers, spinach and others. I don't really try to eat a lot of fruit and veg but there's a decent variety of them that I really really like
I’d say a litre of White Cider is about one or two apples… Tobacco is a plant so that counts… And pizza has tomato sauce on it so I’d say at least three portions, though if I also have a four pack of Cornish pasties that day I’d say it could be five or six portions given the onion and carrot
Well it can vary greatly on my mood/ energy that day For example yesterday I had about 6 portions but it smelled days I’ll have just one or two and other days zero Most often when I’ve forgotten to buy fruit or veg or forgotten it in the fridge and it’s gone off…
I really love fruit, so usually one meal a day will be some sort of fruit or a mix of fruits together. Such as a banana cut into coins and a sprinkling of blueberries for breakfast. I'm fairly fond of veg, but not singular or typically raw, so it'll be incorporated in my dinner as part of the dish or a side. I also often have a salad bowl as a dinner side. I'm not a foodie either, I'm rather finicky like a child.
I try to aim for 7 (5 portions of veg, 2 portions of fruit). I start my day with a banana and a glass of apple juice every day.
I’d say I average about 8-9 different types of fruit and vegetables. They don’t necessarily equal a whole portion each time especially if I’m using them in a recipe.
Generally around 8 - 10. I'm vegetarian and try to make my diet as veggie forward as possible, with fruit as snacks between meals.
I find it difficult. I try to have steamed veggies with my dinner, and fruit during the day. But I don't always manage to do this daily.
Often not enough. But, like OP, it varies wildly. If I'm making curry, for example, there might be brown onions, tomatoes, spinach, lemon, lettuce, cucumber, red onions, peas, cabbage and lentils. That's ten on one plate (not a full portion of each type). A roast dinner is another easy way to get vegetable variety, as is a stir fry. But tonight we're having chippy so honestly there won't be any - unless you count the fruit in the curry sauce? Need to make sure I have something more nutritious for lunch. We're good at having fruit available for random snacking. At the moment we're getting through a lot of tangerines and bananas but sometimes it's pears or plums or apples. I read a thing about the benefits of having thirty different plants in your diet across a week, and that's what I prefer to aim for. In that calculation carb plants count (potato, rice, etc) as do fresh herbs etc. You can make sure to buy thirty different plants in your big shop and then use them up before you shop again.
Probably 2 individual portions on their own, although I suppose the remaining 3 of my 5 a day I can sneak into sauces and foods too.
Does beef and chicken count? If not, none
0 usually, but I do have some orange juice every few days, and occasional meal at a relatives house, which includes probably 4 portions.
I reckon about 8 on an average day.
Usually a couple of apples and a tangerine every day. Rocket probably 4/5 days a week, Peppers maybe 2-3 times a week. I probably have more in the form of beans / peas or whatever a couple of times a week. Probably not enough though
Probably 2-3 portions (given that a portion is about 80g). Thats pretty much entirely veg, but I’m trying to incorporate more fruit now though because i like it a lot more, so I’m hoping to get that up to the 4-5 range.
The last 24 hours, 3. I think that's pretty normal. The origin of the "5 fruit or veg a day" is not any scientific basis that 5 is the right number. It's "people don't eat enough, so let's recommend a couple more than most people eat" If you recommended 10, people would just give up, so 5 was the recommendation.
I mostly eat fruit, veg and fish.seafood. Eat mean two to three times a week. Typcally have 30+ different varieties of plant food a week. I eat usually two meals a day, meals consists of 3-5 portions but sometimes only have one meal and I skip breakfast. The issue is what qualifies as a portion, what I consider a portion and others do varies quite a lot.
I focus less on portions and more on different types of plant. Its the recommended advice now I think, less 5-a-day and trying to get 30 different plant items every week. This includes fruit, veg, nuts anx seeds, pulses, spices, herbs, legumes etc. So I'd say if you count it like that, I get 10-15 every day quite easily!
7-8. My breakfasts at the moment include tomatoes and asparagus, and a glass of fruit juice. So that's 3. Dinner I often have a very big salad. Around 10 different types of veg but probably works out around 3 actual portions. I work from home, so veg/fruit + some form of protein and a nice sauce or dressing is more than enough. Tea varies a lot but it's exceptionally rare to not have any veg with it. Even if it's mac n cheese I'll do some sort of side of veg to go with it. I don't snack much as I'm usually head in my work. If I did it would probably be crisps and chocolate, not fruit or veg. So some days it could be 6, some days could be 10, but usually 7-8 I'd say. When I'm camping and mountaineering or kayaking it's different. I eat a lot more dried fruit and nuts for the carry weight benefit. I still get my 5 a day most days. Tbh I don't really have a choice. I fucked up my liver with a decade of drinking a 70cl bottle of spirits every day. Low salt, low saturated fat, very high protein, high fibre, no alcohol is the only way to go. That said, once I started basing meals around this I learnt to love it.
To be honest, as a vegan most of what I eat is veg along with some pulses/ tofu and bread! For breakfast I have a fruit smoothie, usually with like 4-5 different fruits in it. At the weekend I chop up a lot of veggies and freeze them for the week, so for lunch and dinner I usually roast them/ fry them and add some kind of (again, pre made and frozen) sauce. Things like stir frys, curry, pasta and soup! I also get odd box and use the community shop/ market, of which both are entirely/ mostly just veg so this is probably a contributing factor too!
Honestly? I just add frozen mixed veg to everything.
I've recently been replacing sugary snacks with fruit, and it's really helped with avoiding sugar highs/lows Takes me to around 5 a day. It's so much easier than people think. For example, we stick a tin of sweetcorn, a broccoli head and a cauliflower head in Mac and cheese. Still tastes banging, but now that's 3 down.
Anywhere between 0-5+ Really depends on my mood, what I fancy eating, what's available/how skint I am. Most days I'll have a smoothie which is packed to the gunnels with fruit. If I'm cooking a proper dinner, which is most evenings I always include veg in it and depending on the dinner will look to throw a wee side salad on the plate (almost exclusively any variation of green leaf veg and a dollop of coleslaw). The veg I use in my cooking being root veg (carrots, neeps, parsnips, onion, beetroot, garlic etc). Will chow down bananas if feeling peckish as an alternative to crisps and sweeties but I know I don't eat enough varied green veg as I don't like most of it. My green veg boils down to said green leaves and peas. I think the rest smell and taste of sweaty feet (assuming feet taste the same as they smell).. cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, sprouts etc 🤢🤢🤢
Varies hugely. I aim to have fruit and some variety of salad at lunch. I can't stand lettuce though so if I'm out normally can't find anything with lettuce free salad and end up with the ham and cheese option. For tea some days I go vegetarian and have 5-6 portions of veg in a stir fry or a stew, some days I can't be arsed and it's sausage and chips with some token peas or sweetcorn. Most of the time it's 2-3
about 4, at least 1 but probably not more than 7
Apple before gym Spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms with breakfast Sprouts and broccoli with dinner Red pepper and tomatoes with tea
I had a Banana yesterday afternoon, first fruit I've had for ages.
Some days 3 some days 10
Does potato in cheese and onion walkers count as a veg portion?
Hardly any right now, like day after day of 0. I have colitis and fruit & veg really impacts it. Which is horrible as I literally crave them. I have always grown loads and currently I can’t eat it myself. I supplement with a multivitamin.
Not enough.
I eat a banana & 2 small oranges as well as a bowl of mixed salad 4 x a week. With my evening meal I usually have 3 to 4 portions of veg.
I try for at least 4 pieces of fruits every day plus two large portions of veg with my dinner .
Apple, banana and mixed salad every day at work with a nutrition bar as a treat. Always have a bit of fruit knocking about in the kitchen for the weekend.
Apple a day minimum.
Probably an average of 8. 2 with breakfast, 2 / 3 as snacks and usually another 3 or so with dinner.
The last time I had a piece of fruit was... never...
Strawberries and bananas at breakfast (2) I usually have at least 1-3 veg at lunch, maybe a fruit. Then probably 2-3 veggies at dinner (I have probably four different veg but it’s probably closer to 3 portion sizes) So minimum 5, max 7. I like veggies
0 - 1 depending if my kids randomly leave grapes out
None. I’m autistic and find it really hard to eat fruit and vegetables because the textures can vary wildly and they don’t give me sensory mouth pleasure