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What are 5 serves of vegetables and 2 serves of fruit?

We’ve all heard that we should be consuming 5 serves of vegetables and two serves of fruit every day. What does that actually look like? What is a serve? And does a serve differ from vegie to vegie and from fruit to fruit? Let us break it down for you.

According to the Australian government initiative ‘Go for 2 & 5” a serve is different for fruit and vegetables. For vegetables a serve is 75 grams. So that’s ½ cup of cooked vegetables or cooked legumes such as beans, peas and lentils, 1 medium potato or 1 cup of salad vegetables.

For fruit, one serve is 150 grams. 1 medium sized piece such as an apple, 2 small pieces of fruit like apricots, 1 cup of chopped or tinned fruit, ½ cup of 100% fruit juice or 1 ½ tablespoons of dried fruit such as sultanas

But what serves are recommended for children? The same government initiative recommends, while the serving sizes stay the same the number of serves should be adjusted according to the child’s age. The recommended minimum serves, per day for children are:

1 fruit and 2 vegetable       4 -7 years of age

1 fruit and 3 vegetable       8-11 years of age

3 fruit and 4 vegetable       12-18 years of age

When it comes to vegetables fresh contains more nutrients as long as they are eaten as soon as possible after harvest. Fresh vegetable will be affected by time in transport and storage as well as temperature. The longer they are stored and the more they are exposed to air and light, the more vitamins and nutrients they will lose. Frozen vegetables offer a fantastic alternative. Due to the snap-freezing process they are fairly equal to fresh in terms of nutrients and even contain more Vitamin C and carotene. Canned vegetables suffer the harshest treatment due to the heat sealing process which reduces the nutritional content. They can also be between 5 -10 higher in salt than fresh vegetables. Tomatoes, beetroot, chickpeas and kidney beans are good canned vegetable options.

For fruit – fresh is best. Many fruit do not freeze well and canned varieties are pre-cooked and often high in sugar.

Overall for your daily vegetable serves, aim for a combination of raw and cooked vegetables and salad vegetables for the best nutritional intake. When cooking, cook for the shortest time possible to retain as many vitamins and nutrients as you can. Within your 5 serves of vegetables and 2 serves of fruit every day try for a variety of types and colours to get the most benefit.

Quite simply berries are a wonder fruit. They are so small and yet so full of essential vitamins and minerals. And really don’t require that much preparation at all.

The main varieties found in Australia are:
• Blackberry – early summer to mid-autumn
• Blueberry – September to March
• Blackcurrant – Briefly in December
• Gooseberry – December to January
• Mulberry – October to February
• Raspberry – November to February and again in March to April
• Strawberry – Peak season is September to January but now available all year round
• Cranberry – October to December

Luckily for us although the berry seasons are quite short we now have access to most berries in either a frozen, dried or tinned option. While fresh is always best these other alternatives are great as all as you choose the varieties with no added sugar or syrup.
All of these types of berries are low in fat, carbohydrates and calories while being high in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fibre. They all contain flavonoids and phytonutrients (or phytochemicals) such as anthocyanins, quercetin and ellagic acid. Why are they important? Studies have shown that they produce an antioxidant effect which can prevent cancer and even heart disease. Cranberries and Blueberries have been credited with preventing bladder infections and the lutein in Blueberries and Raspberries is important for healthy vision. Berries are considered to have antibacterial and anticarcinogenic qualities. They are effective at combating E.coli bacteria, urinary infections, aid iron absorption, promote a healthy nervous system, protect against infection and prevent digestive complaints. Berries help your body to fight free radicals to prevent colds and viral infections, protect your white blood cells from unwanted pathogens and are essential for the production of antibodies. Again – amazing for something so compact and all natural.

Strawberry Vitamin C, Vitamin E Magnesium, Calcium Folate Potassium
Blueberry Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Vitamin E, Lutein, Manganese
Cranberry Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Manganese
Raspberry Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Potassium, Niacin, Lutein

Some berries can be quite tart if eaten raw but avoid adding sugar – try to team them up with another, natural product to add the required sweetness such as yoghurt and banana in the recipe below.

Quick Berry Smoothie:
1 ½ cups of your favourite berries, fresh or frozen
1 banana
½ cup of yoghurt
½ cup of ice
Blend together until smooth. Enjoy!
Berries are easy way to add more fruit to your diet. Just pop some on your cereal, in pancakes or even muffins.

It’s great to see parents encouraging their children to develop healthy eating habits by growing their own fruit and vegetables.

While at a friends dinner party, we started talking about nutrition and the current crisis confronting our youngest generation with increased rates of childhood obesity and diabetes. At their local primary school, one of the parents created a blog that documented the transformation of their inner suburban backyard into a thriving vegetable patch.

The great thing about creating this awareness for children from a young age is not the quality time spent with their children but the association and connection between freshly grown produce through to the preparation and consumption of this yummy food.

Oscars Little garden

Oscar’s little garden shows no matter how small your backyard there is ample opportunities to help educate your kids in growing their own fruit and vegetables. With Oscars little garden, he could see the development of the vegetables; carrots, spinach, garlic and beetroot from a tiny seed to sprouting life.

Like any habit in life, the more senses that are touched and stimulated during a particular process leads to greater engagement and the creation of neurological pathways that are set for life. Just as we can develop poor eating habits from an early age we can also create lifelong healthy eating patterns that shape the way we think and appreciate food.

With Oscar, he was able to experience the many senses involved in the growing and harvesting of his fruit and vegetables from the feeling of the dirt in his hands, planting the seeds, the smell of the garden, the emotion felt of seeing the living plant growing, through to the taste and sight of the harvest.

A big advocate and pioneer in moving this concept to the school yard is Stephanie Alexander who has helped 180 schools with educating children about growing their own vegetables which has had wonderful results.

While modern life may be running at a crazy pace, this is great opportunity to take an active role in helping the children develop healthy eating habits for life.

Anything is possible in our large cities, even growing grapes. While enjoying the local neighbourhood during an evening walk, I came across some grapes growing in this urban environment.

The trees were bearing plentiful supplies of fresh fruit ready for harvesting by the owner. Ultimately the healthiest form of nutrition is straight from the grower or where possible from your own garden.

There is something special about the taste of freshly grown fruit and vegetables that are unadulterated from the various chemicals and fertilizers used commercially. The color, texture and vibrancy of taste is overwhelming when compared to the anesthetized variety of mass-produced fruit and vegetables adorning our supermarket shelves.

Even in this urban environment in the middle of a major city, there are still opportunities to grow your own fruit and vegetable in small planter boxes depending on the size of your backyard/front garden to even growing a small allotment of herbs.

There is a growing trend amongst restaurants to source their fruit and vegetables directly from the growers and have specialist producers for particular herbs, vegetables and fruit. Finally there is a realisation that there is no substitute for fresh organically grown fruit and vegetables and naturally they are best source directly from the growers.

I did ask the owner if it was okay to pick the grapes and they informed me that the owner of the property was coming to pick up the grapes sometime this week and as they were the tenants of the property they weren’t entitled to pick any grapes. Maybe next time they will need to include some grapes picking options in their lease.

While we focus on maintaining our physical health through exercise and nutrition, we sometimes forget to maintain our mental health.

According to a recent government report entitled “Australia’s health 2010“, 20% of Australians suffer from some form of mental disorder every year. More disturbing is that this statistic increases to 25% for those aged 16 to 24 years old.

Anxiety based disorders such as panic disorders, agoraphobia and social phobias account for 72% of this number, with affective disorders like depression and bi-polar accounting for 31%.

These numbers are based on the Australian Bureau of Statistics’s 2007 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing (SMHWB). Even more alarming was the discovery that 7,286,600 Australians, or 45% of the population, will suffer from a mental disorder during their lifetime

So what can we do to improve our mental health?

1. Change your negative thoughts
We need to identify those negative notions swirling around our mind and replace them with positive thoughts.

2. Get a good nights sleep
Achieving 7 to 8 hours of quality sleep will go a long way to improving how you feel.

3. Healthy eating
A diet of fresh fruit, vegetables and less processed food will enrich your body with good nutrients.
This leads to improved alertness, increased energy and general wellbeing.

4. Maintaining quality relationships with friends and family.
As a society we are becoming more isolated from the world around us. Having good friends and family members to talk things through is very therapeutic. Spending quality time with those you care about can be as simple as catching up for coffee or going for a walk.

5. Keep exercising
Regular exercise helps reduce muscular tension and improve the flow of oxygen, chemicals and nutrients through the body.

For further information contact your local GP or Beyond Blue
www.beyondblue.org.au