Is fruit the frenemy?

Continuing on with my theme of 'New Year, New You', I thought I'd approach the topic of our 5-a-day. We all know that we should be eating at least 5 different types of fruit and vegetables a day, and in general I manage that, but the problem is that intake for me comes mainly in the form of fruit. I had never considered this to be a problem until I began to read articles suggesting that our 5-a-day should come mainly in the form of vegetables, as fruit can be very acidic and sugar-filled. Of course, I am talking about natural sugar, but it is claimed that too much fruit can be harmful to our teeth and, if you believe in the theory of the alkaline diet, potentially harmful to the natural pH of our bodies.

Do not, for one second, think that this blogpost is demonising fruit or saying it is bad for you - it isn't! Fruit is packed full of vitamins and crucial in our diets - I am simply examining claims that fruit can cause acid erosion to our teeth, and that a larger variety of vegetables in our diet is more important that a variety of fruit. Whilst I think that we should eat an equal amount of colourful fruit and vegetables (colour denotes lots of vitamins and nutrients), I do agree with the dental adverts that are cautioning us to drink fruit juice in moderation. Although some juices are completely natural, be sure to always check to nutritional information on the back of the carton as some can be full of sugar! The emphasis here is on getting your 5-a-day from fresh, natural sources and not in a packet/packaging.

This may be a very quick blogpost while I take a break from work, but my point here is to consider including more vegetables in your diet, rather than just eating 3 apples and thinking that you've had your 5-a-day. As I mentioned above, most of my 5-a-day come from fruit, and I'm slowly trying to change that, but I thought I would show you how I manage to fit in roughly 5 fruit and veg a day. These aren't my full meals, just when I eat the fruit or veg:

Breakfast - 1 Kiwi

1 apple

Mid-morning snack - Banana

Lunch - 1 salad (with my sandwich or as my main meal)

Tea-time - More banana on my Ryvita

Dinner - 2 different types of vegetable, e.g broccoli and spinach

Now, you may be thinking 'Oh look at her all high and mighty on her throne of fruit and vegetables!', but of course there are days when I don't manage this. The main goal is to have a generally healthy diet, and if this blog has taught you just one thing through my posts, I hope it's that you can allow yourself to have treats without it being the end of the world! So keep trying to include fruit and veg whenever you can in your daily diet, and I promise you will start to feel the health benefits - clearer skin, fewer colds...and just generally a happier body!

Until next time,

Nati xXx