Am I eating enough fruit and vegetables?

Fruit and veg are tasty and nutritious and we should all be aiming to eat at least five servings a day.

What counts as a serving of fruit and veg?

The following is one serving of fruit or veg:

• One small bowl of cooked or tinned fruit
• Two tablespoons of cooked vegetables or salad
• One small bowl of homemade vegetable soup
• One medium sized piece of fruit
• ½ a glass of fruit juice

Ways to eat more fruit and veg

Breakfast

• Have a glass (125ml) of pure, unsweetened fruit juice
• Add chopped banana, raisins or apple to your cereal
• Mashed banana on toast makes a great breakfast
• Finish breakfast with some fruit – whatever type tickles your fancy
• Fruit smoothies: make your own by mixing fruit, a banana and yoghurt together in a blender
• Remember, no matter how many smoothies or fruit juices you have in a day, it only counts for one of the five servings of fruit and veg recommended per day. This is because you lose some of the vitamins and the fibre in juicing

Lunch

• Pizza or pasta with added vegetables (try adding corn, peppers, extra chopped tomato or having a salad on the side)
• Have a side salad (of whatever veg you like: cucumber, tomato, lettuce, peppers, celery, cucumber…) along with your lunch
• Fruit
• Choose a vegetarian option if you’re eating out: that could be a big salad, vegetarian lasagne, vegetarian burger, etc. Or you could make the same stuff at home
• Try lettuce, tomato and onion in a sandwich

Snack

• Fruit
• Try raw vegetables chopped into bite size pieces and chopped fruit with cottage cheese or yoghurt
• Try small portions of dried fruit, seeds and nuts. Check out your local shops for special offers. Remember to watch out for salty or chocolate coatings
• Hummus dip with crackers or vegetable sticks

Dinner

• Have a side salad (of whatever veg you like: cucumber, tomato, lettuce, peppers, celery, cucumbr) along with your dinner
• Add vegetables to every meal you cook: in soups, on pizzas, in casseroles and stews, along with meat or fish
• Keep lots of different veg and fruit options in your kitchen. Stock up on fresh, tinned and frozen varieties every time you go shopping
• Finish dinner off with a fruit based dessert. For example, try stewed fruit with low fat custard

Find out more about sticking to a balanced diet.

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• Find out more about our text message support service

If you are a customer of the 48 or An Post network or cannot get through using the ‘50808’ short code please text HELLO to 086 1800 280 (standard message rates may apply). Some smaller networks do not support short codes like ‘50808’.