Now Experts Say You Should Eat Ten Portions of Fruit and Veg a Day

From childhood, health professionals, parents, and teachers drill into us the importance of eating five portions of fruit and vegetables every day. But long gone are the dinner times when your mum would spike the spag Bol with broccoli and hide carrots in casseroles. Nowadays, your kitchen fruit bowl is more likely to be used for crisps and you make up for not having anything green in the fridge by grabbing a sugary smoothie on the way into work.

You're not alone: two thirds of the population don't get the NHS-recommended five-a-day. And now, according to new research from scientists at Imperial College London (ICL), even those over-achievers who do get their fruit and veg fix at breakfast, lunch, and dinner aren't eating enough.

Researchers analysed 95 international studies on fruit and vegetable intake—including cases relating to cancer, heart disease, stroke, and premature death—and concluded that while eating five-a-day was good, we should actually be eating ten portions. Every day.

Under current UK Government guidelines, 80 grams of fruit or veg is considered a portion, which equates roughly to a couple of satsumas, an apple, or three heaped tablespoons of carrots or peas. (Sorry, that once-a-week Saturday brunch kale and apple power juice ain't gonna to cut it.)

The ICL's findings, which were published in the International Journal of Epidemiology yesterday, estimate that 7.8 million premature deaths could be avoided if everyone doubled their intake to 800 grams of fruit and veg per day. And even a small increase in the amount consumed daily could make a huge difference to overall health. The researchers found that eating 200 grams more fruit and veg per day (2.5 portions) was linked to a reduction in the risk of heart disease by 16 percent, of a stroke by 18 percent, and of cardiovascular disease by 13 percent.

Dr. Dagfinn Aune, nutrition scientist and lead author of the study, explained in a press release the reason why fruit and veg have such a positive effect on health. He said: "Fruit and vegetables have been shown to reduce cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and to boost the health of our blood vessels and immune system. This may be due to the complex network of nutrients they hold. For instance they contain many antioxidants, which may reduce DNA damage, and lead to a reduction in cancer risk."

But not everyone is convinced that the new study sends out the right message.

Last year, Dr. Helen Stokes-Lampard, the chair of the Royal College of GPs, spoke out against the current five-a-day guidelines. She suggested that for some families, buying the recommended amount of fruit and veg is not financially achievable. MUNCHIES reached out to Stokes-Lampard to find out what she thought about the new ten-a-day recommendations.

She told us: "We'd love to see all our patients eating more fruit and veg—and reaping the potential health benefits as a result—and this research supports other work suggesting that we probably should all be aiming for more than the 'five-a-day' initiative suggests. But we also need to be realistic. For some patients, we know that even five portions of fruit or veg a day might not currently be achievable or affordable, saying ten to them might be overwhelming and switch them off completely."

"This study emphasises the real need to make this easier and more affordable because at the moment cheaper, unhealthier snacks are simply too commonplace."

She has a point—those office chocolate digestives probably aren't going to be replaced with carrot batons any time soon.