Now that we are being advised to eat 7 portions of fruit & vegetables per day, we are more in line with many other countries around the world. In Canada it is between 7 and 10 portions per day, whilst America’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends between 5 and 13 portions per day, depending who we are and how much exercise we do. Australia are more specific with regards to the balance, recommending 2 portions of fruit and 5 portions of vegetables per day. So, it sees as though 7 a day is a minimum rather than a maximum target! However don’t take anyone else’s word for it – use the online food diary Nourish free for 7 days from your mobile, tablet, laptop or desktop and see how many portions you need per day to make you feel healthier & happier.
What is a portion?
The rough guide is that one portion is about the size of the palm of your hand. So, if you are a large adult your palm and therefore a portion is larger than a portion for a young child.
How can we eat so many fruit and vegetables?
A good general principle is to have half your plate vegetables at every meal:
You can download this image as a free pdf by clicking here: Soul Nutrition Food Plate
Here are some practical examples of how
you can achieve your 7 a day:
At least 2 portions at breakfast:
- A handful of berries and a piece of fruit chopped up, either added to breakfast cereal or yoghurt. Frozen berries defrost really quickly if you add them to porridge
- Add vegetables to your scrambled eggs or change the emphasis and add egg to your vegetables
- Tomatoes & mushrooms alongside your usual cooked breakfast
- Instead of poached egg on toast, have the egg on a large mushroom
- Traditional kedgeree or Asian style fish and rice with two different types of added vegetables (frozen peas & sweetcorn are incredibly quick to cook in with your rice)
- Hot sausage salad (don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!)
1-3 portions mid morning:
- A palm sized portion of nuts and/or seeds with a piece of fruit or a portion of berries
- A couple of dates, dried figs or organic apricots if you fancy something really sweet
- A happy snack would be bananas, walnuts and kiwi fruit – a combination of foods containing nutrients to support happiness
- A cup of real fruit tea – if you then eat the fruit afterwards!
2-4 portions at lunchtime:
- Any kind of vegetarian dish based on beans, pulses, lentils or chickpeas with lots of vegetables in it too
- Vegetable and bean based soup
- Any type of mixed salad for lunch. Don’t forget to add some protein such as beans, pulses, lentils, cottage cheese, chicken, turkey or fish to give yourself a balanced meal
- A wholegrain sandwich with at least two types of salad vegetable in it as well as some protein.
1 -3 portions mid – late afternoon:
- Carrot, celery or sweet peppers with hummus, guacamole, tzatziki, bean or aubergine dip
- A palmful of olives or marinated vegetables (deli shops or deli sections of supermarkets have a good selection)
Evening meal: lots of opportunities for more portions!
- Load up half your plate with a selection of vegetables before adding the rest of your meal
- Choose sauces which are based on tomatoes or any other type of vegetable
- Add extra vegetables to your favourite recipes: double up your usual quota of onions, peppers, courgettes, peas, sweetcorn, spinach (chopped frozen spinach works well) and other vegetables to bulk out the dish with all those extra nutrients
- Put your hot pasta meal on a base of salad rather than just have a few leaves on the side
- or even replace pasta with sprouted vegetables
- Make a steam-fried vegetable dish, and then add some protein to keep you feeling fuller for longer
1 – 3 portions as dessert / late night snack:
- Berries or chopped fruit mixed into natural yoghurt
- Pre-soaked dried fruits with linseeds and nuts (fantastic for easing constipation!)
- Homemade fruit ice lolly
- Banana with milk or kefir – both bananas and milk are high in tryptophan which converts to serotonin, the neurotransmitter that keeps us happy, and also converts on to melatonin to support relaxed sleep 🙂
For more information about foods to support Happiness, check out Edible Building Blocks of Happiness
Looking for some vegetable based recipe books?
These are some of my favourites:
Super Salads by Michael Van Straten