Eating five portions of fruit and veg a day has been a mantra many Brits have tried to live by for years. The idea is that five portions of fruit and vegetables daily will provide you with all the vitamins and nutrients you need for a healthy life. However, you may have noticed that message is gradually being replaced by a new target - eating 30 different plants a week.
If you found five portions of fruit and veg a day difficult, then 30 different plants a week sounds positively daunting. However, the good news is that, as well as fruit and vegetables, it also includes whole grains like oats and brown rice, legumes such as lentils and beans, nuts, seeds, herbs and spices. The idea is that the more variety in your diet, the better chance of consuming all of the nutrients you need.
It also means there are some curious items on the list, such as coffee and dark chocolate which has 70 per cent cocoa solids or more as they are technically derived from seeds. Tofu – made with soya – counts too. Eating the same food twice does not count, although eating the same food but a different colour does.
So, red and green peppers count as two different foods. Studies still suggest that eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day can have a significant positive impact on your long-term health. The 30 plants a week challenge is backed by Tim Spector, professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London and scientific co-founder at ZOE , which says that eating wide variety of.
