Rapid Responses to:
|
|
Rapid Responses: Rapid Responses published:
-
![[Read Rapid Response]](/icons/misc/sectionDOWN.gif)
5 to 9 equals 10 to 20
- John Kennelly (9 May 2003)
-
Overlooking Women
- Suzanne Simpson (10 May 2003)
-
More specificity, please
- William G. PEBERDY (10 May 2003)
-
Beans are good for the heart
- John Hopkins (12 May 2003)
-
Servings ?
- Axel Ellrodt (12 May 2003)
-
Obesity is bad for you too
- Adam Jacobs (12 May 2003)
-
Portions of fruit and veg: useful sites
- Claire M Pillar, c/o Cumberland Infirmary CA2 7HY (12 May 2003)
-
What is a serving, practically?
- Michel Lièvre (22 May 2003)
-
It can be done but warn your friends...
- Kiera L Jones (1 March 2006)
|
|
|||
|
John Kennelly, physician Clineanswers, Smales farm, Tahoroto Rd, Takapuna
Send response to journal:
|
Encouraging men to eat 9 servings of fruits and vegetables is not without considerable adverse effects. Informed consent demands advising patients of a potential increase in "bubbles of anal wind"(1) from 10 times per day to a possible 20 times (2). A prescription for charcoal- containing underpants may be appropriate(3). The HHS and NCI Launch National Campaign to Address Diet-Related Diseases was actually aimed at African-American Men. Presumably the rest of us lily-whites are farto susceptible to fibre-induced hydrogen sulphide and methanethiol production and should stick firmly to 5 a day equals 10. References 1. From Monty Python's Flying Circus- headmaster and farting schoolboy sketch. 2. Furne JK, Levitt MD. Factors influencing frequency of flatus emission by healthy subjects. Digestive diseases & Sciences 1996;41(8):1631-1635 3. Lars O. Smelly science. European Journal of Cancer Prevention 2002;11(1):67-68 4. Suarez FL, Springfield J, Levitt MD. Identification of gases responsible for the odour of human flatus and evaluation of a device purported to reduce this odour. Gut 1998;43(1):100-104 Competing interests: None declared |
|||
|
|
|||
|
Suzanne Simpson, Instructor Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA 77030
Send response to journal:
|
"Men should eat nine servings of fruit and vegetables a day" is an unfortunate title. The article states that women should eat seven servings a day, also an increase. When will women be remembered in health priorities? Competing interests: None declared |
|||
|
|
|||
|
William G. PEBERDY, none - retired As I am retired, I clearly don't have a place of work. My home is in YO11 2AR
Send response to journal:
|
Like most other articles on this subject there is virtually no specification of what is meant by a "helping". Do we all, for instance, take our vegetables as a glass of juice as used in the article? Why not a list of weights of common vegetables which represent an average helping? This may sound tedious but one would soon discover what a "helping" looked like. Then, again, do we mean a helping of each of ten different fruits or vegetables? Can we have five double helpings, or even ten helpings of cabbage and nothing else, and would this be different from, say, ten helpings of swede? As it stands, this article and others like it are really rather silly, and yet they could very easily be made more logical, and therefore, potentially more valuable. Competing interests: None declared |
|||
|
|
|||
|
John Hopkins, GP TS17 6EY
Send response to journal:
|
Dear Dr Smith, I agree with Mr Peberdy that this article isn’t terribly helpful. A 'serving' is four ounces or 120 grams of fresh, frozen or tinned fruit or vegetables. Most packaging now tells you the dry weight along with the fibre content. 200mls of fruit juice also counts as one serving but you can’t get your whole requirement just by drinking fruit juice, you need fibre as well. The daily requirement for this is between 25 and 35 grams. An apple contains about 5g of fibre and a slice of wholemeal bread about 2.5g. So it’s the simple things that are best; apples, tomatoes, brown bread and orange juice. And apparently lettuce helps you sleep. Yours sincerely, John Hopkins Competing interests: None declared |
|||
|
|
|||
|
Axel Ellrodt, Emergency Department , American Hospital of Paris Verrières le Buisson 91370 France
Send response to journal:
|
I would like to have an approximate idea of the quantity a serving represents. A few examples might help. Competing interests: None declared |
|||
|
|
|||
|
Adam Jacobs, Director Dianthus Medical Limited, London SW19 3TZ
Send response to journal:
|
I find this recommendation rather surprising. Despite eating a mostly vegetarian diet, I don't eat anything like 9 portions of fruit and vegetables a day, unless I have grossly overestimated the size of a portion. If I ate that much, I expect I would put on weight with frightening rapidity. Has anyone calculated how many calories this recommended diet contains? Bear in mind that eating 9 sticks of celery per day is rather dull, so in the real world some of these vegetables will doubtless be fried in olive oil or served with some cheese on top. Competing interests: None declared |
|||
|
|
|||
|
Claire M Pillar, Website developer North Cumbria NHS, c/o Cumberland Infirmary CA2 7HY
Send response to journal:
|
There are 2 UK websites which explain what is meant by a 'portion': http://www.food.gov.uk/healthiereating/dailydiet/fruitandveg/ Food Standards Agency (UK) http://www.doh.gov.uk/fiveaday/portions.htm Dept of Health (UK) Competing interests: None declared |
|||
|
|
|||
|
Michel Lièvre, associate professor in pharmacology Faculté de Médecine Laënnec, 69008 Lyon, France
Send response to journal:
|
Dear Sir Recommendations cannot be useful unless they are easily understood by the target population. If we admit that "men should eat nine servings of fruit and vegetables a day" to decrease their risk of cancer (although this relies on a low level of evidence), we need to explain to the public what quantity of vegetables and fruit they need actually to eat. I read through a 286 pages document posted on the US National Cancer Institute about the preceding program (at least 5) without finding practical information to translate the number of servings into weight of vegetable or number of a definite type of fruit: how much is an apple? A practical definition is obviously needed to explain people that nine servings a day does not mean that they will have to eat only fruits and vegetables, and three times a day! Yours sincerely
Competing interests: None declared |
|||
|
|
|||
|
Kiera L Jones, Community staff nurse Port Talbot
Send response to journal:
|
I have recently increased my dietary intake of fruit and vegetables to between 9 and 10 (rather than my recommended 7 as a woman) portions (125g = 1 portion) a day, and my partner has also managed to achieve his 9 -10 portions on an almost daily basis. It wasn't as hard as we may have thought, but does require planning and imagination. There has not been any weight gain on either part (if anything, the opposite since there is less room for fatty calorific foods) but there have been two notable problems. One being the fore-mentioned bubbles (Dr Kennelly) hence the title, as if you care about people they really ought to be warned; the other being encouraging any of my patients to even consider it, since suggestion of 5 portions alone was often met with looks of horror... Can anyone provide any helpful suggestions? Competing interests: None declared |
|||