Five a day - how big is a portion?

Everyone knows we're supposed to eat five portions of fruit and veg a day, but how big does a portion have to be to count towards your daily total?

Here's a simple guide to how much fruit and veg equals one portion, and which count and which don't. The good news is: you don't need to eat a faceful of lettuce...

 

Points to remember

Eat a variety of fruit and veg to maximise your potential nutrient intake.

 

Potatoes don't count as a vegetable, because their carbohydrate content is too high, so they're classed as a starchy food. Which means you can't count those chips.

 

Only one portion of juice counts towards the total, mainly because it contains very little fibre. Also, the juicing process 'squashes' all the natural sugars out of the cells, which can be harmful for teeth - especially if you drink a lot of juice between meals.

 

 

(These portion sizes, from the Department of Health, are for adults. Children under five should also eat at least five portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables a day, but the sizes may be smaller.)

 

 

Fruit

Each of these counts as one portion.

 

Small fruit: 2 or more, for example 2 plums, 2 satsumas, 3 apricots, 2 kiwi fruit, 7 strawberries, 14 cherries, 6 lychees

 

Medium fruit: 1 medium fruit, such as 1 apple, banana, pear, orange, nectarine, or 1 sharon fruit

 

Large fruit: half a grapefruit, 1 slice of papaya, 1 slice of melon (2-inch slice), 1 large slice of pineapple, 2 slices of mango (2-inch slices)

 

Dried fruit: 1 tablespoon of raisins, currants, sultanas, 1 tablespoon of mixed fruit, 2 figs, 3 prunes, 1 handful of banana chips

 

Tinned fruit: Roughly the same quantity as a fresh portion, so: 2 pear or peach halves, 6 apricot halves, 8 segments of tinned grapefruit

 

Juices: A glass (150ml) of 100% juice (fruit or vegetable juice or smoothie) counts as 1 portion, but you can only count juice as 1 portion per day, however much you drink

 

 

Vegetables

 

Green vegetables: 2 broccoli spears, 8 cauliflower florets, 4 heaped tablespoons of kale, spring greens or green beans

 

Cooked vegetables: 3 heaped tablespoons of cooked vegetables such as carrots, peas or sweetcorn

 

Salad vegetables: 3 sticks of celery, 2 inch piece of cucumber, 1 medium tomato, 7 cherry tomatoes

 

Tinned and frozen vegetables: Roughly the same quantity as a fresh portion, so: 3 heaped tablespoons of tinned or frozen carrots, peas or sweetcorn

 

Pulses and beans: 3 heaped tablespoons of baked beans, haricot beans, kidney beans, cannellini beans, butter beans or chick peas. Remember that beans and pulses do count, but only as 1 of the 5 portions, no matter how much you eat

 

Potatoes

Because they are considered a 'starchy' food, potatoes don't count towards your five a day. (Starchy foods are foods like potatoes, rice, pasta and bread.) We're not suggesting you don't eat them, but they should form the ‘starchy carbohydrate' part of your meal.