How much fruit do you eat?

[Kezzer]

It's funny how my diet has suddenly changed to fit the needs of my body. Before last December I ate so much crap, and I was about a stone heavier. Then, as many of you know, I had my near-death experience which for some reason also changed the way I eat. Today I have eight pieces of fruit at work with me. Two apples, three clementines, and three bananas. That's what I eat whilst at work, and it's steadily increasing. I haven't even brought any sandwiches with me.

Now I know a few nurses, and dieticians also whom I speak to about food intake and what's good etcetera. I've been informed a few times by this health type people about the reality of fruit and vegetable intake. Apparently the adverts which inform you "five-a-day!" actually don't match the intake your body should be getting. According to these people, your recommended daily intake of fruit alone is around eight pieces of fruit per day, and an equivocal amount of vegetables too.

There's only one other person I see eating a lot of fruit, but he substitutes it with home-made fruit smoothies, and has roughly three pieces of fruit during the day when I see him.

The only thing I don't get a lot of is vegetables. I'm not sure how I can fit it into my diet because usually they have to be cooked or something like that.

What do you think? And also, I'd be interested to see if anyone eats around the same amount of fruit as I do so give me some insight as to how much you eat

[dave87]

Not as much as I should do.

[99Flake]

I do it fruit when I remember (I love fruit) but I don't eat veg at all. Hate the stuff. Doesn't seem to be harming me though.

[RDL]

I rarely eat fruit anymore, maybe once a week. Eat veg most nights though.

[chriswood_7]

I try to eat a few bits of fruit, but having just finished a bacon and sausage bap I cant fit any more in

Im more of a veg man, personally

[ikonia]

I'm increased my fuit intake a lot, but to be honest 8 bits of fuit per day is a tall ask and unrealistic to maintain as your body benifits from other "evil" foods in small ammounts.

If you interested on how to get more veg in your diet try suplimenting spuds with veg, I know this sounds obvious but supliment it with appropriate veg.

eg: have something like fish or chicken as "the meal" and instead of a pile of spuds replace it with brocolli as replacing it with a plate of peas does nothing for your appriate and as everyone always says the first bite is in the eyes.

Its all very well being mega fruity but at the same time balance is great, enjoy food too.

[kickstart 1]

I eat some fruit most days , but nothing like the amount you eat , maybe an apple or orange or grapes. You say you cant fit veg into your mealtimes ? What about a stir fry , tasty and quick.

[Slick]

I'm sure to have my 5 fruit and veg a day but be careful not to have more than that as I'm dieting. Although it's easy to think fruit is calorie free, sadly it's not and if you snack on it constantly throughout the day it soon adds up.

[htid]

I have one piece of fruit a day and vegetables twice a week. The thing is when you're a student and trying to save every bit of money you can, buying lots of fruit is an expensive task. I've finished uni next week so then I'll probably start having more as my parents will be paying then

[chriswood_7]

I have one piece of fruit a day and vegetables twice a week. The thing is when you're a student and trying to save every bit of money you can, buying lots of fruit is an expensive task. I've finished uni next week so then I'll probably start having more as my parents will be paying then

I agree. In Norway, they tax all food that is processed at 25% but fruit and veg etc is all at 14%. I say, less tax for healthy foods, for the benefit of people with low income

[Howard]

Not as much as I should do.

Same, usually just a couple of bananas a day or something. I'm more of a veg man myself, too

[Kezzer]

ikonia, spuds are a vegetable though but yes, I get what you mean. Substituting things is probably the best way, but I want some meal plans which incorporate a lot of vegetables. Boiling them is not so good because it gets rid of a lot of the nutrients, and I'd like to fit some veg in during the day too.

I'm not going overboard, I just really like fruit. I'll eat bad food too, and once a week I'll have a bar of chocolate, and recently I eat a lot of the desserts at work in the afternoon.

The only thing I hear is fruit is high in sugar content, but I've spoken to dieticians and they say that it's the good kind of sugars as opposed to the bad ones from sweets and chocolate so it's not actually doing you any harm.

[Lee H]

I know for a fact I eat nowhere near what I need in regards to my fruit allowance and keep meaning to do something about it but then it slips back to the back of my mind and gets put off again and again.

I eat however lots of nuts as I cannot get enough of these, but apples, dragonfruit etc just don't "do it" for me at all.

Anyway, does anyone know if Cider count towards the total figures?

[rox0r]

I tend to have at least two pieces of fresh fruit with my lunch every day but I also bang a load of dried fruit in a plastic tub to pick at through the day when I'm feeling peckish. Stuff like dried apples, prunes, apricots, berries, dried bananas and all that sort of thing. Stops me snacking on crap if it's there to dip into and it boosts my healthy intake without bloating up on too much fresh fruit.

[ponolops]

Gosh! This thread could have come out of Woman's Weekly.

I have been eating more than '5 a day' all my adult life, well before it became the done thing.


I am now so 'healthy' that if I were a horse, the knackers yard would have claimed me years ago.

But please don't let me put you off your greens!

[Funkstar]

I know i don't eat enough, and that the 5-a-day isn't enough either. But at least with 5-a-day it's better than most people eat.

I eat quite a bit of dried fruit and nuts etc. Two dried figs is equal to one portion apparently. So thats easy to do.

I actually prefer veg to fruit a lot of the time. Although i'm still a pit picky as to what i eat in that regard.