5-a-day
was a campaign created in the late 80's in the USA and some claim it was a
mutually beneficial marketing campaign to improve health and boost the fruit
and veg industry.
With
a campaign that originated in California and was so popular that it has spread
around the world in various forms, how is it that after 20+ years of being told
to eat 5 portions of fruit and veg, the average Brit is still only eating 3 and
a half portions a day?
When
I set out to write this post, I thought it would be easy to prove that eating
more vegetables is one of the most important things we can do for ourselves but
there is actually a lot of conflicting evidence. Seeing as I am not a
nutritionist and don't have access to any evidence based articles, I make my
dietary decisions (as most of us probably do) on what I see in the media - and
my common sense. As someone who is interested in nutrition and obesity I watch
a lot of documentaries too.
Unfortunately,
as is always the case - for one article proclaiming the health benefits of, say
eggs, for example... You can find another declaring the detrimental effects of
them. We're constantly being sent different messages and now the definition of
'healthy' is so subjective and in my opinion, the standard of health is too low
for a huge proportion of the population.
One
of the things that upsets me the most is people negatively judging others for
living a healthy lifestyle. If you go to the gym too often you're considered
extreme. If you decide to avoid processed foods people think you're on some fad
diet. In both cases people tend to think you're obsessive and think they're
giving your good advice by telling you patronising things like 'why don't you
try enjoying yourself' and of course 'loosen up'. Whenever people say either of
these to me it makes me want to throw a banana at their faces. And not a brown
smooshy one either, a hard, green one.
When
you really think about it, how much of the food you eat today existed 100 years
ago?
Things
like chocolate can be good for you, if you're eating the right type, not the
type that has been sweetened using corn syrup and blended with a bunch of stuff
you can't even pronounce. How is it that it is now extreme to eat fruit &
veg as a snack but acceptable to eat crisps and chocolate bars everyday?
What
I'm trying to get at is that the bar has been set too low. 5-a-day has existed
for over 20 years and yet, we still aren't eating the recommended amount. Isn't
it wrong to make someone feel awkward about the fact that they are eating REAL
food? Or that they take pleasure in exercising their body and pushing
themselves? Please think before you make comments to someone
about the way they live, it's hard enough trying to do what we think is best
for us when we're surrounded my those who make negative remarks and make you
feel like you're the one that's missing out. Trust me. You're not.
As
I mentioned in my last post, I recently gave up when I moved into my boyfriends
family home and was no longer in charge of what I was eating for dinner and I
100% succumbed to processed foods. At work, I was started eating whatever junk
food was brought in whereas in my old job I would have objected. My skin got
really bad and I felt bloated again all the time. But one thing that I didn't
let slip, was my 5-a-day. That is my bottom standard. And you know what? I
haven't been struck by so much as a cold this entire year.
From
here on out I'm going to do what's right for me and try to ignore any negative
comments that come my way about the way I choose to live my life, because it is
my life after all. Not anyone else's.
So
what do you think about 5-a-day? It's been in the news that we should be eating
7 portions (5 veggies & 2 fruits) which I believe is what they advocate in
Australia with their 5 & 2 campaign.
Other
says we don't need this many as long as we're getting the right vitamins and
minerals which are available from other sources. Also promoting the fact that
there is no evidence to suggest that eating 5 a day will reduce your risk of
cancer. (Recently a huge study of 500,000 who ate 5 a day concluded that it
made no difference on whether you would develop cancer or not)
Now
I can happily argue that last point because I have read several studies which
evidently show that certain vegetables can in fact reduce your risk - they are
however, very specific. For example, eating a certain number of servings of
both soy and tomato can greatly reduce the risk of prostate cancer. We
don't know how the 500,000 people lived their lives and I think that more
studies need to be done looking into certain vegetables and certain cancers as
opposed to a wide spread study.
The
other thing which I think most people know about is that from the recommend 5
portions - 3 of them should be vegetables and only 2 fruit. This is because of
the high level of fructose in some fruits which our body struggles to break
down - hence, leading to weight gain.
I
haven't counted a single calorie all year, or weighed myself and nor do I
intend to. What I know is that when I am eating real food and doing crossfit, I
feel so good about myself that I often wonder why I falter when I do. I think
in this case that the changes occurring in my life left me pretty exhausted and
not wanting to make the effort to ensure I was looking after myself - luckily
im settled now and back into the swing of things. I'm doing what I can and I
started back at crossfit this week as I promised myself. I was so happy after
not having done any form of weight lifting in over 2 months that I got my 1 rep
max front squat at 40kg (I weigh somewhere around 50kg). This has just spurred
me on more because I thought I was going to have to start from scratch but my
strength has amazingly remained.
As
for food, I'm doing what I can. I still have my spinach protein shakes for
breakfast, I try to have something like an innocent veg pot for lunch, snack on
nakd bars, nuts, hummus and my graze boxes. As for dinner, I'll eat what I'm
given but I try to make a swap where possible - couscous for pasta or brown
rice instead of white.
I've
only been doing this for a week and I almost already feel back to normal! My
skin has cleared up and my bloating has gone down.
(Food DR pitta with hummus, peppers and mozerella)
If
you have access to netflix and are interested in watching some interesting food
related documentaries relating to fruit and veg intake I really recommend
'forks over knifes' and 'ted talks, chew on this' which are also probably
available on YouTube.
