Articles - Lifestyle
5 Easy Ways to Reach Your 5-a-Day
(At least 5 servings of vegetables and fruit everyday)
- Add a glass (200ml) fresh or 100% pure unsweetened fruit juice , a piece of fruit or a fruit smoothie at breakfast.
- Mid-morning – choose a piece of fruit or a handful of dried fruit as a snack.
- At lunchtime make sure you add a significant portion of vegetables, in the form of soup (1 cup) or salad (1 cup) or a serving of cooked vegetables (1/2 cup), to your meal.
- For your mid-afternoon snack repeat the fruit or try carrot sticks, cucumber wedges, baby tomatoes and celery sticks with hummus or fat free cottage cheese.
- At dinner include two more vegetables (at least 1/2 cup each) or add a dessert of fruit salad with sorbet or low fat yoghurt or try baked banana or baked apple with a little custard or low fat yoghurt.
Remember that frozen vegetables and fruit also count so keep a stock in the freezer for those times when you just don't have time to pick up fresh or when you need ready-to-cook-and-serve.
Fresh fruit/vegetable juice or 100% pure unsweetened
fruit/vegetable juice also counts but only as one of your 5-a-Day. More good news for South Africans is that potatoes (ordinary and sweet) and mushrooms count towards your 5-a-Day.
Don't get too hung up on the amount that makes a serving, as it is all about eating plenty, however just a little lettuce and a slice of tomato doesn't count! An easy way to determine if you are doing it correctly is that at least half of your plate, every time you eat a meal, should be vegetables and fruit.
Go for it and strive for 5-a-Day for optimal health.
