5 Tips for Your 5-a-Day Without Overdoing Sugar”

1. Prioritise vegetables over fruit 🥦Aim for at least 3 veg + 2 fruit, not the other way around. Veg are much lower in sugar and often more filling.

Think: broccoli, spinach, peppers, carrots.

2. Watch fruit portions 🍎One portion isn’t “as much as you like.”

1 medium apple/banana

2 small fruits (plums, satsumas)

A handful of berries

Dried fruit? Keep it small—about a tablespoon max. It’s easy to overdo.

3. Go easy on fruit juice & smoothies 🧃Even 100% juice counts as just ONE portion, no matter how much you drink. It’s high in sugar and low in fibre compared to whole fruit.

4. Be mindful with beans & pulses 🫘Beans, lentils, chickpeas = great for fibre and protein—but they only count as ONE portion total per day, even if you eat loads.

Also, they can add calories quickly if you’re having big servings or sugary sauces (like baked beans).

👉 80g cooked weight

That includes things like:

• baked beans

• chickpeas

• lentils

• kidney beans

• mixed beans

• It’s usually about 3 heaped tablespoons of cooked beans/pulses.

5. Fill half your plate with veg at meals 🍽️The easiest hack:

• Half plate = veg

• Quarter = protein

• Quarter = carbs

  This naturally gets your portions right without needing to track every item.