5-a-day is too expensive

Don't be fooled, you could find healthy eating better for your budget. Fruit and vegetables (excluding exotic imported ones) are surprisingly cheap. An average banana costs 20p-less than most bars of chocolate / crisps from the vending machine and provides more in the way of nourishment for less calories.

Choose fresh fruit and vegetables in season, not only are they cheaper they will also be most flavoursome and at their best.

Markets also tend to be cheaper than supermarkets, particularly if you catch them when they packing up for the day.
Alternatively opt for supermarket branded tinned or frozen fruit and vegetables.

Lack of time for healthy shopping

Look out for canned, frozen and juiced fruit and vegetables. They are just as nutritious. Buying your fruit and vegetables in this way also means you have plenty to hand when you need it without having to spend time stocking up with fresh produce every few days. Healthy eating doesn't mean you can't make use of convenience foods.

5 A DAY Fruit and Vegetables

The Health BenefitsFor the last eight years the Dept. of Health has been trying to drive home the "5-ADay" message. Research proves that eating at least 5 portons of fruit and vegtables each day has very real health benefits. It can help to prevent heart diseases and some cancers. Evidence shows however, that many of us are not listening to this healthy eating advice. Recent research shows that only 1 in 7 of us achive the 5 a day quota.

To further drive home the healthy eating message, the Dept.of Health is introducing a new 5-A-Day logo initiative in spring 2003. The Dept. of Health' logo will clearly indicate the fruits and vegetables that contribute towords the 5 portions recommends you to eat each day. The logo will appear on fresh, frozen, tinned or dried fruit fruit and vegetables and will indicate how many portions the food will count as.

The criteria to use the logo is strict and aims to encourage you to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables. In an effort to encourage healthy eating more research is being done by the Dept. of Health to help clear up confusion about what counts towords 5 a day and what doesn't several procesed foods with added salt, sugar and fat, despite containing fruit or vegetables will not at present qualify for the logo.

What stop you from getting 5 a day Time, Money, Dislike All fruit and vegetables?

Vitamin C

What does it do for our skin?Vitamin C helps slow down skin aging. It encourages production of callagen and elastin in the skin. If collagen is not produced, your skin will sag and appear dull. With more collagen and elastin, the skin looks healthy, young and radiance.

Vitamin C is a very good anti oxidant and kills free radicals. Free radicals damage our body and cause rapid aging. Vitamin C also helps in sun protection, reduce sunburn damage and wrinkles. Use skin care products that contain vitamin C will improve your overall skin quality and appearance.

Vitamins

# Vitamin A will give you a healthy scalp, because it's great for the skin! You can get vitamin A from foods like vegetables-in particular, in carrots. (So it's good for the waistline too!)

# Vitamin B and care important for good circulation, hair growth and hair color. If you ensure that you have enough vitamin B and C, you'll have strong, supply strands of hair that do not split. You can get these vitamins from eating foods like fruit, vegetables, cereals, eggs, milk and bread.So follow this healthy guide.. be sure to add in a hefty does of daily exercise to keep that blood pumping then add proper hair care on the surface! Go ahead and try it!

Minerals

# Iron helps to carry oxygen to the hair. Without enough iron, hair and its follicles get starved of oxygen. This means that the 'goodness' in the root of your hair is much less effective along the length of the strand. You can increase your iron intake by eating red meat and dark green vegetables, or by iron supplements.

# Zinc builds hair protein which helps to prevent hair loss. Meat and seafood are the foods highest in zinc.

# copper is involved in the pigmentation of hair. You can optimize your natural color with a diet with plenty of copper. Who needs hair dye and fake color! Shellfish, liver, fresh, vegetables, nuts, seeds and meat are all high in copper.

Protein

Protein is the building block of hair, so a diet for healthy hair contains an awful lot of protein! Protein will give the shaft of your hair more strength, and will reduce the likelihood of dame through snapping and splitting. You can get protein from foods like fish, meat, milk, cheese and cereals.