5-a-Day Plan goes for a Burton!
- 10 April 2010 06:3946699In the midst of all the high powered electioneering, which is completely dominating the airwaves at the moment, you may have missed this one. Yes for years now it has been HMGovernment policy to get us all eating five fruits per day or five veggies per day, all for our own health benefits. The government naively but with well meaning intent, pushed this on to us. "It keeps cancer away!" screamed the headlines. The Supermarkets loved the idea as it was even better for them... in the shape of a great marketing idea. Wow! Flogging off very expensive fruit to the hapless punter... well it saves him from himself dont ye know!
However a major study reported this week and found that the benefits of consuming all this fruit and vegetation were neglible, or restricted to just a relative few. So..What will happen now to the great 5-a-day marketing idea on the supermarket shelf, will it quietly fade away. The whole idea has turned out to be only a shade better than worthless.
Late last year, if memory serves me well, that other study which said drinking 8 pints of water a day was also worthless. The female of the species embraced that one and guzzled the boring liquid like mad, and who would blame them, it purified our innards and made our skin glow with dazzling purity...ermm well no. In the end that idea was also knocked on its proverbial asspidistra.
The Jamie Oliver notion of better school meals, where kids should eat more vegetables, has also limped into the long grass with fewer and fewer kids opting for school dinners.
While on the other hand...that well known high street foodie, yes McDonalds, have sold more burgers than ever, yes theyre selling at record levels! I did a feature or a thread on that one before...so there you have it, our food ideas are in disarray.
However, rather a McDonalds I guess, than having to drink 8 pints of water and gobble down five plates of geen beans ..per day....yuK!email: dover7@msn.com - 10 April 2010 07:2046700Paul,I will keep to my beans .
- 10 April 2010 09:1346712that 5 portions of fruit and veg thing was never going to work.
from personal experience i was full up halfway through my 4th bag of chips, didn't feel any healthier either.
on the subject of water, i seem to remember some years ago, a lot of health and fitness types were doing their internal organs damage by drinking excessive amounts.
i think our body tells us when and how much we should eat and drink. - 10 April 2010 10:2546719Beans are good for you Vic, give you plenty of roughage in your daily diet. Thats a word you dont hear much of anymore...roughage..the marketing people didnt like it so it was re-invented as 'high fibre'. Much nicer. The thoughts and visions of a bit of roughage on a saturday night didnt go down well in the squeeeeky clean boardrooms of the nations food manufacturers. Roughage was common...Mrs Cameron wouldnt have roughage, heavens no, but would certainly do high fibre. So its essentially upper middle class terminology to accommodate the organic generation.
But yes a bit of roughage or high fibre is essential. However you must have a fully balanced option..with added greens and the like. But what would I know...I fall for all this 5 a day baloney meself.
Howard you made me laugh there after the fourth bag of chips. Tell me about it...I love a good chip! But all advice is currently in no mans land, so you have to invent your own..keep it sensible and dont overdo the Big Macs or the chips..but certainly have some.email: dover7@msn.com - 10 April 2010 10:3046723PaulB
I am trying to ensure that all chippies restaurants etc make it clear whether they are flogging frozen chips or home made hand cut potato chips.It hisses me off that I queue up in a chippy only to be sold frozen chips...maybe I should start a facebook site...???? homemade chips served here..Marek
I think therefore I am (not a Tory supporter) - 10 April 2010 11:1646732I think the evidence of healthy or unhealthy eating is before our very eyes. Pro-burger/anti healthy diet lard arses are everywhere, anti-burger/5 a day slim Jim's can be found too, but a little harder to find. I think the UK is on the cusp and we will either become another form of the US with oversized slobs all around us and heart attacks kicking off every 5 minutes, or, we will go the opposite way with our young ladies starting to look as glamorous and glorious as some of those Swedish types you hear so much about. And who knows, maybe the blokes will begin to look more like Beckham or Johhny Depp types.
Seriously though, only a fool or an organisation with a hug vested interest would suggest eating processed fatty meat is better for us than fruit and veg. Have a burger by all means, but don't ditch the healthy food. - 10 April 2010 16:3446771About time too! Some can`t afford a few fruit and veg a week, never mind 5 a day. I hope this idea is now dead and buried along with it`s inventor.Tell them that I came, and no one answered.
- Alec Sheldon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 18 Aug 2008
- Posts: 1,037
10 April 2010 17:5646789I think that this bit of rhyme should be Vic's motto.
"Beans, beans are good for the heart,
the more you eat, the more you fart,
the more you fart the better you feel,
so we'll have beans for every meal."
Anon. - 10 April 2010 22:3346840"More beans Mr Taggart?"
"I'd say you've had enough".