As you probably guessed from our ‘Veg of the week’ Instagram series last year, here at Link Nutrition we can’t get enough of our fruit and veggies! So with the latest headlines suggesting that we should up the original ‘5-a-day’ target to up to 10-a-day, we certainly wanted to find out more!

The evidence suggests that increasing the number of different fruits and vegetables that we eat each day could do wonders for our health, but not only that, it has been shown to reduce the risk of the development of certain diseases, including CVD, diabetes and certain cancers, sounds intriguing doesn’t it?  Don’t worry though, getting your 10-a-day doesn’t need to be complicated. We want to make it EASY and DELICIOUS so we’ll give you some of our favourite ways to get in your extra fruits and veggies and let you know what actually counts within your daily intake! 

The research is suggesting that in order to reap the health benefits of the extra fruits and veggies, we should be aiming to up our daily intake at least (hopefully more than) 600g per day. This works out at just over 7 portions a day as a minimum, and we should be aiming to include a wide variety of different fruits and veggies, so it’s important to try and mix things up!

Ever wondered what counts towards your daily intake? 

A very common question we get asked is what actually counts towards your daily intake? Good news...it’s more than just fresh fruits and vegetables! We’ve listed all the different things that count towards your daily fruit and vegetable intake - easy! 

If you want to find out more about everything that counts towards your daily intake then you can find it all on the NHS fruit and vegetable website here. 

Let’s talk about the sciency stuff!

Now you know exactly what counts toward your daily intake, it’s important to know how much you actually need to be eating. It's not too tricky, so don’t panic! We’ve put together a list of how much you need to be having each day: 

• Generally, 1 portion is 80g - to make it simple, think of it as about a handful
• Although dried fruit counts as a portion, it’s only 30g -  It’s also recommended that you have it at mealtimes rather than as a snack as it can be a little high in sugar!
• 80g of beans or pulses counts - but only once - They certainly count, but only one portion per day contributes. 

Our favourite ways to get 10-a-day!

You’ll often find us in the kitchen experimenting and finding new ways to include more fruits and veggies, it can be really exciting! It gives us the opportunity to try different things and more importantly get creative in the kitchen. There are plenty of ways that you can incorporate more fruits and vegetables into your diet, and it certainly helps you to eat the rainbow! Trying new fruits and vegetables goes hand in hand with eating seasonally and adapting all of the different things that come in and out of season. Below are some of our favourite ways to top-up our daily quota, as well as some top tips for some sneaky ways you can get all the family on board!