Fruit and Vegetables: An Easy Read Guide
It’s important to eat Fruit and Vegetables every day. We’ve put together this Easy Read guide for Fruit and Vegetables.
How many portions should I eat in a day?
You should try to eat at least 5 portions of different fruit and vegetables each day.
It can help to eat fruit and vegetables that are different colours.
This helps get lots of nutrients for your body to be healthy.
So one day might be:
Yellow banana for breakfast
Green cucumber for a snack.
Orange carrots with your lunch.
Purple aubergine with your tea.
Red strawberries for dessert.
What is a portion?
A portion is 80 grams.
But it is not easy to weigh all of your food.
An apple is one portion.
A banana is a portion.
A handful of grapes is a portion.
1 Handful is the easiest way to measure your portions.
Your portion might be bigger or smaller than 80g but it will be the right size for you!
How many meals should I have a day?
Most people have 3 meals a day.
Some people have 5 or 6 small meals. Some only have 2 meals.
Everybody is different.
Listen to your body and do what is right for you.
It is important to have different fruit or vegetables with all your meals.
Do Sauces, Juice and Smoothies count?
Sauces like ketchup do not count for your 5 a day because they are full of sugar, salt and fat.
It does not matter how many fruit or vegetables are in the drink.
1 glass of juice or smoothie counts as 1 portion of your 5 a day.
Juice and smoothies have less nutrients than fresh food and are full of sugar.
This means drinking too many is bad for your teeth.
What fruit and vegetables do for you
Eating different fruit and vegetables gives our bodies lots of nutrients.
Those nutrients keep us a healthy.
Those nutrients help us sleep.
Those nutrients help protect us from illness.
If you need help with eating healthily, you can ask your doctor.
They will help you find the right advice.