With so much conflicting advice about exactly how much fruit and vegetables we should eat a day to maintain good health, Rachel Mainwaring asked two experts whether the five-a-day mantra really is a myth or something worth following
Dr Joanna Longstaffe is clinical director of the Independent General Practice in Cardiff and says we should be eating a rainbow of fruit every day – and even tomato ketchup and smoothies count!
She says: “A good mix of fruit and vegetables is a vital component of a healthy diet and should ideally be incorporated in some form into every meal.
We’re all familiar with the classic ‘five-a-day’ and while I wouldn’t want to discourage anybody from aiming for five portions as this is a great start, medical opinion now veers towards 10 as the recommended intake of a variety of different fruits and vegetables per day.
When you consider that one portion equates to just one medium-sized fruit such as an apple, banana or orange, a small glass of fruit or vegetable juice or a tablespoon of dried fruit for example, it really shouldn’t be that difficult.
Obviously, your age will play a part in dictating your recommended quota but the average ideal amount for a typical adult would now be said to be 10.
Children between the ages of two and six should be aiming for five.
Older children and teens should hit around seven portions on a daily basis.
‘Eating a rainbow’ is the phrase of the moment and by that I mean trying to choose fruits and vegetables of every colour of the rainbow – eating the full rainbow of foods will really help to ensure the body is getting the complete range of nutrients it needs.
The key vitamins and minerals associated with specific fruit and veg will vary and have different benefits, which is why the more variety you incorporate, the better.
Fruits felt to have good cancer fighting properties include those of the citrus variety, red fruit and vegetables which contain lycopene (which helps in the fight against prostate cancer), as well as all types of berries and dried fruits such as prunes and raisins.
Leafy green vegetables such as broccoli, spinach and cabbage would also be on the list – important for heart health also.
When it comes to the heart, the real positives associated with vegetables are that they are rich in antioxidants which help to reduce the free radicals in the body that can cause heart disease and strokes.
A good indicator of some of the best to choose would be colour.
The brighter in colour they are, the more antioxidants they contain – so again we’re back to the rainbow!
White fruit and veg do also count in this spectrum though and have been linked to a lowering of cholesterol and helping to maintain healthy blood pressure – examples would include garlic, cauliflower, mushrooms and turnips.
As well as all these positives, focusing on getting your 10 (or as close to) a day will help to build strong bones and teeth, improve eye health (orange and yellow varieties in particular as they contain beta-carotene which converts to the eye-protecting Vitamin A) and prevent other diseases such as type 2 diabetes.
To me, the rainbow analogy just makes things simpler as it opens up choices and really allows you to experiment with food.
It really shouldn’t be that difficult to change a few habits and make sure you’re getting the right amount.
It’s just a case of looking at your diet and finding ways to incorporate what you need.
Add some fresh fruit to your breakfast cereal and enjoy a glass of fresh juice.
I’d suggest snacking on dried fruit and nuts through the day if you’re feeling a little peckish.
And if you’re thinking of a sandwich option, why not try banana?
Smoothies are also a good way to incorporate a few portions in one hit.
A favourite in our house is tomato ketchup and yes, this does count. It is tomato concentrate and counts as one portion in a varied intake.
Just be aware of the high salt and sugar content but there are low salt / sugar versions available.
You can also use vegetables such as carrots and celery as the crudités of choice instead of crisps.
When it comes to cooking, I would also suggest steaming, microwaving or poaching are the best cooking methods – although fruit and vegetables are jam-packed with vitamins and minerals, many of these can be lost during the preparation and cooking process.
If you do prefer to boil, try to limit the amount of cooking time and actually, if it’s a suitable meal within which to eat them raw – carrots and peppers for example – then that’s a great way to make sure you’re getting the absolute most out of what you’re consuming.
There is absolutely no doubt that a diet high in fruit and vegetable content is a good one (this also includes tinned and frozen varieties) – combined with other factors of course.
The more you include, the more interesting it will be.
I think that following the rainbow is definitely the way forward.”
Zoe Harcombe says it's fiction - next page
Nutrition expert Zoe Harcombe is author of the Obesity Epidemic and firmly believes we have all been duped.
She says: “Ask the next person who tells you to eat five-a-day where this slogan comes from. I bet they won’t know.
Five-a-day was invented by the American National Cancer Institute and a bunch of fruit and veg companies in 1991. These companies clearly stood to profit from any increase in consumption of their products. The National Cancer Institute has since trademarked the term.
This myth has become the key ‘nutritional’ message across 25 countries and three continents, although, as often happens with things that are not based on fact, it has mutated and become four-a-day in Ireland, six-a-day in Denmark and Australia has gone for seven-a-day.
There was no evidence at the time that any number a day would help cancer, let alone any other health condition. There has been none since.
In April 2010, a study was published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, which sought to quantify if cancer risk were inversely associated with intake of fruit and vegetables. This review of data from the EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer) study, involving almost half a million people, found that eating five portions of fruit and veg a day had little effect on cancer risk and the very small difference observed could be explained by other factors.
The study also grouped participants into five categories from the lowest intake of fruits and vegetables (0 to 226g a day) to the highest intake (more than 647g a day).
Significantly, the cancer risk did not vary between the five groups.
In November 2010, the UK part of the EPIC study published their findings in the British Journal of Cancer.
Professor Tim Key concluded that: ‘The possibility that fruit and vegetables may help to reduce the risk of cancer has been studied for over 30 years, but no protective effects have been firmly established.’
Even in the absence of evidence, is there still some benefit for consuming pick-a-number-a-day?
This is where we must distinguish between fruit and veg and they should never appear together in the same sentence.
Some vegetables, especially dark green varieties, can be very useful for vitamins and minerals.
These need to be served with butter so that the fat soluble vitamins can be optimised by the body. We still need animal foods (meat, fish, eggs, dairy) for retinol (the correct form of vitamin A), B12 and K2, but certain vegetables can be helpful.
Fructose is implicated in non-alcoholic-fatty-liver-disease and Alzheimer’s (now being called Diabetes Type 3). Fructose goes straight to the liver to be metabolised, where it is nicely turned to fat.
Fruit is not even nutritionally worth its fattening properties – it is good for one out of 13 vitamins (vitamin C) – meat, fish and eggs clean up on the other 12. It is good for one out of 16 minerals (potassium) – rarely a mineral we are deficient in – animal foods, again, are abundant sources of all essential minerals.
Working exclusively in the field of obesity as I do, I am horrified by well-intentioned parents trying to get five fruit-a-day into their children (fruit being an easier ‘sell’ than veg) when this is merely fuelling the obesity epidemic.
Table sugar is sucrose – one molecule of glucose and one of fructose.
Fruit varies in its balance of glucose and fructose, but it’s the same sugar to the body – fruit just has some nutrition and sucrose none.
Fresh fruit is way too high in sugar for anyone concerned about their weight. As for dried fruit and fruit juice – don’t even go there. But don’t just take my word for it. As scientist Dr Robert Lustig says, ‘You wouldn’t dream of giving your child beer or cola’ but fruit juice is metabolised by the body in the same way.
If only public health officials had promoted the five most nutritious foods on the planet, we may not have epidemics of obesity and ill health. An optimally nutritious five-a-day would be meat (ideally liver); fish (ideally sardines); eggs; sunflower seeds and spinach. However, this was never about optimal health.
Rarely is health ever prioritised above big business.”
Medical opinion now veers towards 10 as the recommended intake per day