Why ‘5 a Day?’
We’ve all heard the mantra about trying to eat ‘five a day of fruit and vegetables’, but have you ever stopped and wondered where this figure came from?
It is not a random number that a bunch of scientists thought sounded about right. Rather, it is a figure decided upon by The World Health Organization and the UK’s Committee on Medical Aspects of Food and Nutrition.
They policy recommends that we should all be aiming to eat at least 400g of fruit and vegetables combined each day, because this is the level at which population studies suggest various aspects of our health are protected. This figure is then divided into five, 80g portions. Hence ‘5 a day’.
Why are fruits and vegetables so good for us?
In addition to adding lots of wonderful colours and an amazing variety of textures and flavours to our daily meals, fruits and vegetables are packed with a wide range of vitamins and minerals along with a plethora of phytochemicals or ‘super nutrients’.
While vitamins and minerals are essential for good health, super nutrients often act as powerful antioxidants, which help to protect our bodies from harmful free radicals generated for example from exposure to fumes, sunlight and various environment pollutants.
Research reveals that people who eat plenty of fruit and vegetables have a lower risk of everything from raised blood pressure and obesity to lower chances of being struck by heart disease and stroke as well as certain cancers including for example cancer of the mouth, throat, stomach, colon and lungs.
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