Here’s what one portion of your five-a-day actually looks like
These nifty colour charts show how different fruit and veg compare.
You may think that you’re a pro at ensuring you eat your 5 a day, but it turns out what counts as a portion varies widely depending on the colour of the fruit or veg you’re chomping on.
BBC Good Food magazine have released six nifty info graphics – yellow, purple, red, white, orange and green – to show just how much you need to eat of different foods to reach your goal.
The healthy eating target, set by the World Health Organisation, is key for making sure you’ve got a balanced diet. So check you’ve been eating enough of your favourite healthy foods with these colour-coded charts…
Green
Good news for avocado fans – just half of one counts as a portion, whereas you need a whole apple or a pear for it to be one of your 5 a day. And if you’re partial to a kiwi as an afternoon snack, you should have two to notch up a portion.
Meanwhile, when it comes to green veggies, you need three whole sticks of celery to reach one portion, whereas a single 5cm slice of cucumber will do the trick.
Purple
One of the surprises on the purple chart is the amount of passion fruit that counts as one of your 5 a day – you need to consume an impressive six to make up a portion. That’s a lot of seeds to be spooning out…
Go for an easier 10 blackberries to meet one of your 5-a-day goals, or only 1/2 an aubergine is enough.
Red
Tomato puree has to be one of the most versatile ingredients and you only need one tablespoon of the stuff to make up a portion. Compared to seven cherry tomatoes, that’s quite significant…
Chopping up just half a pepper also counts as one of your 5 a day. And, yes, that’s even if you’re using it to scoop up hummus.
White
Next time you’re chopping up an onion, it’s worth bearing in mind you need to use a whole one for it to count as a portion. That’s a lot of trying not to cry…While they tend to be a bit less tear-inducing, you also need 8 spring onions to be eating one of your 5 a day.
When it comes to mushrooms, it varies quite a lot – you can either go for 14 button mushrooms or 2 tablespoons of dried mushrooms.
Orange
Satsumas, tangerines and clementines must come as a pair for you to be on track with a serving of fruit, whereas just one glass of fruit juice will do it.
You need to have a whole sweet potato but three tablespoons of baked beans on your toast will swiftly get you to a portion.
Yellow
One slice of pineapple is all you need but you’ll require a whole banana.
When it comes to sweetcorn, yellow lentils and chickpeas – it’s three tablespoons of each for one serving of veg.
So overall, every colour (except white) offers some fast 5-a-day fixes.
But the speediest option of all, we reckon, is purple’s 10 blackberries. Or maybe we just eat berries far too quickly….
The Press Association
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