The health benefits of eating 5 potions of fruit and veg have been floored as a campaign by World Health Organization called as 5 A Day. The campaign established in the early of 2018 encourages people to eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables or nearly 400 grams every day.
The campaign was based on the previous analysis that the consumption of fruit and veg in most people were far under the minimum recommendation of 800 grams a day. Therefore, it is happening in some developed countries such United States, United Kingdom, France, and German. They establish some action to succeed the campaign. The actions at least show us that this world is eager to have the health benefits of eating 5 portions of fruit and veg. and what about you?
Nutrition Value from Eating 5 Portions of Fruit and Veg
Eating at least 5 portions of fruit and veg in a day is equal with eating 400 grams of foods and veg. it will provide us with many beneficial values which sometime we can’t help but skip them as we only eat the filling and taste good but miss the nutritional value we can get from fruit and vegetable.
As we know, fruit and veg can supply us with dietary fiber, which is significant for our digestion and contribute many thing to prevent chronic diseases. In addition, fruit and veg also provide us with vitamins, mainly vitamin A, C, and E.
But some fruit and vegetable can also provide us with some types of B vitamins such B6 and folate. Fruit and veg also the potential source of minerals which is significant for our health, just like potassium. Some vegetables can also provide us with the mineral most people know only exist in dairy product, such calcium.
Well, the dark green vegetables such broccoli and kale contain good amount of calcium for our bones. So, we can see that those beneficial values come as the health benefits of eating 5 portions of fruit and veg in a day.
The Health Benefits of Eating 5 Portions of Fruit and Veg
Knowing the beneficial value contained in fruit and veg are vital for our health, we have no better option than maintain the sufficient consumption of fruit and veg while grabbing the health benefits of fruit and veg as listed below.
- Control weight
There’s no successful weight loss effort without the intervention of fruit and veg. in this case, eating at least 5 portions of fruit and veg is essential. In addition, the diet occupying recommended portion of fruit and veg will also enable you to constantly control your weight even when you have the normal eat pattern.
- Prevent cancer
A study revealed that one of the contributors of cancer in adult was mainly the nutrition deficiency as we skip eating fruit and vegetable. Eating at least 5 portions of fruit and veg is able to prevent you from developing some types of cancers such stomach cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, and lung cancer. This benefit is supported by some scientific study from all over the world.
- Lower cholesterol level
One of the health benefits of eating 5 portions of fruit and veg is reduce the high cholesterol level. A research proved that eating 2 portions of carrot a day can significantly reduce 11% of the cholesterol level in a week.
- Prevent coronary heart disease
You might have heard the idiom goes “one apple a day keep the doctor away”. For your information, that’s not merely an idiomatic expression. A research from Cambridge University proved that eating just one apple a day cut your risk of premature death because of coronary heart disease. Not only apple, 1 portion of banana or orange can also lower the risk in developing coronary heart.
- Boost immunity
To boost the immune system, you can add the intake of fruit and veg with high vitamin C content just like kiwi, orange, berries, and even peppers. As we know, even pepper flakes can supply us with vitamin C and the other Health Benefits of Pepper Flakes. Eating 5 portions of fruit and veg is able to avoid you from getting some minor infections which often attack our immune system such cold and flu.
- Prevent memory deterioration
As we aging, we may develop the age-related memory loss. But a research in early 2000 proved that consuming a half portion of berries is able to actively stimulate the growth of brain cell and slower the memory deterioration. So, what about daily 5 portions of fruit and veg if consistent half portion can help you prevent the memory loss?
- Strengthen bone
Some of you might think that foods which support your bone health mainly come from the dairy product such milk and cheese as they are high in calcium. But don’t you know that vegetable can also aid your bone health? Well, the dark green leafy vegetables are surprisingly the potential source of calcium.
In addition, a research from Switzerland also revealed that onion can support your bone strength. So, you’ll get the health benefit by adding some green leafy vegetables and onion on your menu.
- Improve skin health
A research from Arizona proved that eating 5 to 10 portions of red, yellow, or orange fruits and vegetables aid the health of skin. it can also prevent the development of skin cancer as the fruit and veg form a layer to protect our skin from the bad UV ray.
- Improve eyes health
Eating 5 portions of fruit and veg in a day is evidently excellent to maintain and improve the health of our eyes. A study revealed that the biggest contributors to cataract is the deficiency of vitamins and minerals from fruit and veg. therefore, taking action in 5 a day campaign enable us to have the health benefits of eating 5 portions of fruit and veg to prevent cataract and macular degeneration problem.
- Prevent infection
Ensuring to have at least 5 portions of fruit and veg is effective to prevent infections, especially the infection in urinary tract. The most effective ingredient to handle with this problem is blueberry and cranberry. Having cranberry juice or cranberry and green tea with its Health Benefits of Green Tea and Cranberry may eliminate the destructive bacteria in urinary tract.
- Avoid stress
Fulfilling your need of vitamin B6 is able to significantly reduce your stress level. In order to do so, you can have the health benefits of eating 5 portions of fruit and veg, especially the banana and avocado. There are so many things you can do with these fruits. You should try soft boiled egg with avocado, and have the Health Benefits of Eggs and Avocado.
The other health benefits of eating 5 portions of fruit and veg are:
- Reduce the risk of stokes
- Improve digestion
- Aid body detoxification
- Improve nervous system
- Prevent anemia
- Prevent inflammation
- Improve sleep quality
- Reduce the risk of diabetes
- Avoid premature death
Recommendation in Eating 5 Portions of Fruit and Veg in a Day
Some of you might wonder about how we can fulfill at least 5 portions a day if we don’t know the real measurement of a single portion. Well, let’s make it simple. Here is the guidance of getting one portion of fruit or veg:
- 1 large slice of a very large fruit such melon, watermelon, and pineapple.
- Half a fruit of large fruit such mango or papaya.
- A whole fruit of medium sized fruit such avocado, pear, apple, banana, orange.
- 2 whole fruits of small fruit such kiwi, passion fruit, or tomatoes.
- 1 cup of berries
- 1 tablespoon of dried fruits
- 1 medium glass or about 150 ml fruit juice from any kind of fruit.
- 1 dessert bowlful of mixed salad vegetable
- 2 tablespoons of diced green leafy vegetables such green cabbage, kale, pak choi, spinach, or romaine lettuce.
You can easily include those fruit and vegetable in your everyday meal to get the health benefits of eating 5 portions of fruit and veg in a day. For example, you can sprinkle a cup of berries on your cereal or eat your toast with mashed banana instead of jam or butter.
You can also replace your morning coffee with fruit and veggie smoothie with 2 tablespoons of green vegetable and some slices of fruits to have the Health Benefits of Fruit and Veggie Smoothies . For lunch, grab some sandwich with avocado, lettuce, tomato, and onion as fillings. And instead of your fancy iced Americano or diet coke, have a glass of juice from a portion of fruit.
Well, including 5 portions of fruit and veg in your daily diet doesn’t mean that it turn you into a vegetarian. You can even having pizza for dinner by adding vegetable stir fry with extra tomatoes on it. You can also enjoy the healthy desert by adding more apple on you cake or apple pie and pouring more raisins and other dried fruit on your favorite dessert. This way, you can also have the Health Benefits of Dried Fruits.