Your 5-a-day : Know the score

A GOOD MIX:Your 5-a-day should consist of a range of fruit and veg

The ‘5-a-Day’ rule is set-up in several countries such as the U.S., France, Germany – and the UK. It is a simple guide to encourage healthy eating and improve vitamin intake for all.

Why do footballers need a healthy diet?

A healthy diet supplies your body with all the essential vitamins to keep you fit. A pro footballer's diet needs to be on top form so they can train weekly and perform in high-intensity matches.

What I eat is important to me, I like to eat as much natural type food as possible.

England and Arsenal's Danny Welbeck to Football4Football

How does it work?

As the name suggests, this football nutrition strategy is all about eating five portions of fruit and vegetables per day – pretty simple.

Fresh, frozen, dried and canned fruit and vegetables can count towards your five a day. However, you have to pay attention with dried and canned foods, as they can have added sugar.

Fruit juices can also be included. Choose fresh juice without artificial sugars if you can.

Dried fruit and juice should be consumed with a meal and not as a snack, as the sugars then have a less damaging impact on your teeth.

One portion equals ca. 80g of fruit/vegetables, or 150ml of juice/smoothies. One portion of dried fruit, however, is only 30g.

In Germany, those amounts are the guidelines for children. For adults the campaigns suggest one portion to be either 100g of fruit/vegetables or 200ml of juice/smoothies.

Another suggestion is to use one hand full as a measurement because this makes it proportionate to the body size.

Final Note

Bringing more fruit and veg into your daily food intake can be done with small changes to your normal meals. This healthy diet for football can have a big impact on livelihood and general health too.