Forget 5-A-Day... You Need To Be Eating 10!

For years we’ve been told that to make our diet as healthy as possible, we need to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. Many of us struggle to manage that many – especially if you also have chocolate biscuits stashed in the cupboard – but it seems that we might have to start fitting even more onto our plates.

Rather than five portions a day, experts are now saying that ten is the magic number and could help us to live longer. A study performed by researchers at the Imperial College London found that upping your intake of fruit and veggies could help to prevent a whopping 7.8 million premature deaths a year.

On top of this, the researchers also discovered that certain types of vegetables and fruit could help to stave off serious diseases. In fact, even eating small amounts of these specific foods on a regular basis had positive impacts on health.

Lower cancer rates were linked to green, yellow and cruciferous vegetables, such as lettuce, bell peppers and brussels sprouts. Fruits and veggies like pears, apples, leafy green vegetables and citrus fruits were all linked to a lower risk of strokes and heart disease.

But exactly how do you know what a portion of fruit and vegetables is? One portion is around 80g, which can be fresh, frozen (although it’s the defrosted weight that counts) or tinned. When you think of it, this actually isn’t all that much and you could easily include several portions in one meal.

Not only can you serve up dishes with baked, roasted, steamed or boiled vegetables, you can also add them to sauces to increase your family’s vegetable intake. Throwing extra vegetables into curries, pasta sauces or casseroles ensures every meal contains vegetables while also helping to hide them from fussy eaters.

As well as eating fruit and vegetables with every meal, it’s easy to have them as snacks throughout the day. Rather than reaching for a packet of crisps or another unhealthy food when you get hungry during meals, picking up a banana, apple or even carrot sticks and houmous can help you reach ten portions.

It isn’t just the usual fruit and vegetables you might think of either, as pulses like kidney beans, lentils and chickpeas also count. These can be used instead of meat in meals or added to dishes alongside meat – such as using lentils in shepherd’s pie – and are really filling.

Using these tips will help you slowly add more fruit and vegetables to your diet, allowing you to get closer to ten, which could help you be healthier.