Eating your 5-a-day: Easy ways to eat more fruits and vegetables - Vegan Food and Living

Is 5-a-day enough, or should it now be 7-a-day?

Consuming five portions of fruits and vegetables per day offers a variety of health benefits, but should we stop there?

Research by Imperial College London in 2017 found that increasing our intake beyond five each day may provide additional benefits to our health. The study was a meta-analysis, meaning that it analysed the results of many studies that had already been done.

The team concluded that if everyone ate 10 portions, or 800g, of fruits and vegetable per day, we could potentially save up to 7.8 million premature deaths globally.

Having said this, the latest evidence from 2019 tells us that only 27% of adults and 8% of children achieve five portions of fruits and vegetables every day. This comes down to a variety of factors including taste, cooking skills, affordability, habit, and education.

As most of the population don't reach the minimum target of 5-a-day, the first step is to simply increase fruit and vegetables, even if just by one or two portions each day. For anyone who can increase their intake higher than five as part of a balanced diet, then go for it, because the evidence suggests that you may well be improving your health even further.

Based on research by the American Gut Project, another way to think about getting enough fibre, phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals from plants is to look at how many different plant foods you are consuming each week.

This research found that consuming thirty different plant foods a week supports gut microbial health and production of important substances called short chain fatty acids. Thirty may sound like a lot, but it extends to all plant foods including nuts, seeds, grains, herbs and spices.

This way of eating promotes the diversity of plants across a week, further increasing the diversity of nutrients and fibre to support our overall health and wellness.