We have all heard the importance of taking 5 pieces of fruit and/or vegetables up to date to keep our health in shape. Not all of us do it as regularly as we should, but we know the recommendation. What is not so well known is that, in reality, a random selection of 5 fruits or vegetables is not the best way to achieve those desired health standards. At least, that is the conclusion he has reached with your investigations Professor of Nutrition at the University of Reading Gunther Kuhnle.
The case of flavanols. If it is recommended to take 5 pieces of fruit or vegetables a day, it is because they are foods that contain a large amount of bioactives. That is, substances that exert a biological effect on our body that contributes to improving our health. There are many bioactives, but, without a doubt, one of the most important in the plant world are flavanols. For this reason, Kuhnle’s team carried out a study aimed at checking whether we normally consume an adequate amount of flavanols and, if positive, if it can be correlated with the consumption of 5 pieces of fruit or vegetables a day.
The recommended amount of flavanols to experience their positive effects on health is 500 milligrams daily. In the study it was seen that, indeed, it is something that can be managed with a normal diet. It is not necessary to resort to supplements or anything like that. However, it was also concluded that very few people actually reach that level of consumption. Even if they religiously eat their 5 pieces of fruit and/or vegetables.
Neither surveys nor diaries. Diet studies are often conducted by asking participants to keep a food diary. On other occasions, they are surveyed about their eating habits. However, these types of methods are not the most reliable, since we do not always remember everything we have eaten. For this reason, these scientists chose to analyze urine in search of markers that indicate the bioactives that have been absorbed by the body from the diet. The study involved 30,000 people who had provided their urine samples for studies carried out in the United Kingdom and the United States.
Amazing results. In this study it was seen that less than 1 in 5 participants reached the dose of 500 milligrams per day of flavanols. Even if they ate the recommended amount of vegetables. They also noted that the results were quite different in the two participating countries. In the United States, if they followed the 5-piece recommendation, 20% reached 500 mg of flavanols. In the United Kingdom, only 10% of those who followed the recommendations reached it. However, very curiously, there were many who did reach the recommended dose without taking the 5 pieces of fruits and/or vegetables a day.
The key is in the tea. Tea is one of the foods richest in flavanols.. In countries like the United States, tea consumption can be related to leading a healthy life and, therefore, eating a lot of fruits and vegetables. However, in the United Kingdom it is more of a cultural thing. For this reason, many people who do not actually eat the recommended amount of vegetables do reach 500 mg of flavanols per day.
Consumption of green tea is a great option
Not everything is going to be infusions. After this study, Kuhnle concludes that “a random selection of 5 fruits and vegetables each day is unlikely to provide significant amounts of bioactives.” Therefore, he recommends choosing them wisely. In the case of flavanols, there are vegetables such as carrots, cauliflower or cucumbers, which have very little. However, cherries, berries, grapes and apples are very rich in these compounds. So is cocoa.
You don’t have to get obsessed either.. Eating 5 pieces of vegetables a day is better than not eating fruit or vegetables. With that we are already helping our health. What this scientist proposes is, once this is achieved, go one step further and inform ourselves about the nutritional content of the vegetables we are eating. Carrots do not have flavanols, but they are very rich in carotenoids, which are also very necessary for health. The ideal is to look for a good contribution of the greatest amount of bioactives.
a good example. To optimize the benefits, you can combine berries such as blueberries with artichoke, kale, carrot and pomegranate. Thus, flavanols are obtained, but also other polyphenols (flavanols are flavonoids and flavonoids are polyphenols), vitamin C, carotenoids, folate, calcium, potassium or fiber. Granda’s ellagitanninsfor example, are very interesting polyphenols due to their benefits related to intestinal health.
On the other hand, although it is important to make it clear that all fruits and vegetables are healthy (as long as they are edible), it is true that there are some that are somewhat nutritionally poorer. This is, for example, the case of lettuce or cucumber. They also provide some benefits, but we should not focus all our vegetable contributions to the diet on them. In short, if you can, try to choose your five pieces of fruit and vegetables wisely. And if you top it off with tea, all the better.
The five pieces are indicative. In fact, there are several studies that They aim more accurately at a consumption of 400 grams of fruits and vegetables per day. The five pieces is an indicative calculation so that we can do accounting without the need for a scale. Be that as it may, the important thing, more than the numbers, is that we have a balanced diet, with the greatest possible amount of nutrients. And of course, for that, information is power.
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