Cutting down on sugar - eating more fruit and veg

Latest wisdom is that we shouldn't get more than 10% of our calories from sugar.  That's apparently about 70g per day for women (http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/How-to-cut-down-on-sugar-in-your-diet.aspx).  They say on this website 'get used to reading the label' which is quite a good idea but many foods don't come with labels.  For example bananas don't, so here is a table giving the amount of sugar in some fruits, bearing in mind that a teaspoon represents 16g sugar:

• Mangos - 3.2 teaspoons of sugar
• Bananas - 3 teaspoons of sugar
• Apples - 2.6 teaspoons of sugar
• Pineapples - 2.5 teaspoons of sugar
• Grapes - 4 teaspoons of sugar
• Lemons - 0.6 teaspoons of sugar
• Kiwi fruit - 2.3 teaspoons of sugar
• Apricots - 2.3 teaspoons of sugar
• Strawberries - 1.3 teaspoons of sugar
• Raspberries - 1 teaspoon of sugar
• Blueberries - 1.7 teaspoons of sugar
• Cranberries - 1 teaspoons of sugar
• Tomatoes - 0.7 teaspoons of sugar

and here are some other foods (http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/262978.php) 
This week I was in a health food shop, buying a jar of peanut butter and happened to mention that I was buying this to have a peanut butter and banana sandwich for lunch.  Now I should have thought that was quite a healthy snack, but her reposte was that we shouldn't eat bananas as they contain too much sugar.


I could have understood that comment if it had referred to fizzy drinks, ready meals, or even to fruit yogurts. 

But we've always been led to believe that bananas were good for us, especially as they contain lots of potassium.  And the site above actually advocates that porridge for breakfast with low-fat milk and a banana makes an excellent breakfast, whilst from the table above a banana is about 64g sugar, nearly the daily recommended amount, so I can see her point.    So perhaps even the experts don't all agree on what's best for us!

Here two women tell us about the advantages of a no-sugar diet: http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/real-life/no-sugar-diet-two-women-3108204 - not sure if I could manage that one, and here are more ideas: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/01/22/12-ways-to-reduce-the-amount-of-sugar_n_4644205.html


Talking of food, this same week they're now advocating that we eat 10 portions of fruit and vegetables a day, rather than the 5 which have been suggested for the past few years.  I've always tried to aim for 8 and even that hasn't always been easy.  

If we're now not advised to eat much fruit because of the sugar, it means we'll be eating vegetables until they're coming out of our ears. see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-26818386

Here's an article of 19 ways to get 9 portions of fruit and vegetables a day: http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=55983.  There there are lots of ideas of how to eat fruit and veg but not how we're actually going to manage to eat this much fruit and veg.

Every day I try to have some fruit with breakfast, or a fruit juice (1 portion), then for lunch we generally have a bowl of soup (2 portions).   Then we usually manage 3 or 4 portions with our dinner - I put on the steamer and fill it with small amounts of various vegetables and always cook far more than we're likely to eat - what's left over goes in tomorrow's soup.  So I thought we were doing well having 6 - 7 portions a day, but apparently not so.  


As it's the beginning of April was this an April Fool?  Even the media has wondered about this: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/10736722/Ten-portions-of-fruit-and-veg-a-day-are-they-having-a-laugh.html. 


But perhaps the authorities are right as evidence has shown that eating so much more fruit and veg will contribute towards us living longer. 

We all know the little old lady/man who've never eaten any veg in their life, smoke 60 cigarettes a day and don't believe in exercise but they are after all the exception, and it's not how long we live but the quality of life which matters.