Your 5 A Day in the winter months.

Quick answer. One 5 A Day portion for an adult is 80g of fresh, frozen or tinned fruit or vegetables, 30g of dried fruit, or 150ml of fruit juice, vegetable juice or smoothie, according to the NHS. Juice and smoothies count once a day at most, and so do beans and pulses. Potatoes do not count. In winter, frozen vegetables and fruit, tinned fruit in juice, soups, stews and root vegetables such as parsnips and swede make five a day straightforward.

How big is a 5 A Day portion?

The NHS's 5 A Day portion sizes page puts it simply: "An adult portion of fruit or vegetables is 80g." It is five portions in total, not five of each, and they should be a variety.

You do not need scales. These are the NHS's examples of one portion, picked for what is easy to find in winter.

Do frozen and tinned fruit and veg count towards 5 A Day?

Yes. The NHS page 5 A Day: what counts? says: "Fruit and vegetables don't have to be fresh to count as a portion." Frozen fruit and vegetables count, and so does tinned produce if you buy the right kind. The NHS advice is to choose fruit and vegetables "tinned in natural juice or water, with no added sugar or salt", and fruit in natural juice rather than syrup.

This is the most useful fact for winter. A bag of frozen peas, a bag of frozen berries and a few tins of fruit in juice cover portions on the days when the fridge is empty. The portion is the same quantity you would eat fresh.

Frozen does not mean second best for fibre. In the UK government's food composition data, CoFID 2021, frozen peas, boiled, have 5.5g of fibre per 100g, which is 4.4g in an 80g portion. Tinned sweetcorn, drained, has 24mg of vitamin C per 100g, or about 19mg per portion.

Does soup count towards 5 A Day?

Yes. The NHS counts "fruit and vegetables cooked in dishes such as soups, stews or pasta", and ready-made foods that contain them, such as shop-bought soups and pasta sauces. The NHS adds that some ready-made foods are high in salt, sugar and fat, so check the label and have those only occasionally or in small amounts.

A homemade soup is the easiest way to count. Count the vegetables you put in, divided by the number of bowls you get out. If 400g of carrots, leeks and swede makes four bowls, each bowl has about 100g of vegetables, which is one portion and a bit.

What does not count towards 5 A Day?

• Potatoes. The NHS classes them as a starchy food, because they are usually eaten in place of bread, rice or pasta. The same goes for yams, cassava and plantain.
• A second glass of juice. Juice, vegetable juice and smoothies "can only ever count as a maximum of 1 portion", and the combined total should be no more than 150ml a day.
• A second helping of beans. Beans and pulses count as one portion, "no matter how many you eat."
• Juice drinks. The NHS warns that drinks labelled "juice drink" are "unlikely to count towards your 5 A Day".

The good news for winter is in the roots. The NHS says "sweet potatoes, parsnips, swedes and turnips do count towards your 5 A Day because they're usually eaten in addition to the starchy food part of the meal."

How to get 5 A Day in winter.

Here is one ordinary winter day built from the NHS portion sizes above. It uses frozen, tinned and seasonal food and needs no salad.

• Breakfast: porridge with 2 handfuls of frozen blueberries, warmed through. One portion.
• Mid-morning: 2 satsumas. One portion.
• Lunch: a bowl of homemade carrot, leek and lentil soup. One portion from the vegetables. The lentils add one more, once a day.
• Dinner: a stew or curry with 3 heaped tablespoons of frozen peas stirred in, and roast parsnips on the side. Two portions.

That is five or six, with no fresh salad and nothing that will not keep for a week. For more on what is at its best through December to February, see our guide to winter fruit and veg in season in the UK.

Small habits that make it easier.

• Keep the freezer stocked. Peas, spinach, mixed vegetables and berries.
• Add one vegetable to whatever you are cooking. A handful of kale in pasta, grated carrot in a bolognese.
• Keep dried fruit to mealtimes. The NHS suggests eating it at mealtimes, not as a snack between meals, "to reduce the impact on teeth."
• Batch the soup. One pot on Sunday is four lunches.

Fruit and vegetables are also, in the Eatwell Guide's words, "a good source of vitamins, minerals and fibre." Our guide to high-fibre foods covers the rest.

Where Immufix fits.

A supplement is not a portion of fruit or veg, and it does not replace one. The NHS's Eatwell Guide says fruit and vegetables "should make up just over a third of the food we eat each day." Immufix is one 25g scoop in around 200ml of water, once a day, alongside that. Vitamin C contributes to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue and to normal energy-yielding metabolism. Folic acid contributes to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue. Every ingredient and amount is on the science page.

The short version.

• One adult portion is 80g of fruit or veg, 30g of dried fruit, or 150ml of juice or smoothie.
• Frozen, tinned (in juice or water, no added sugar or salt) and cooked in soups or stews all count.
• Juice and smoothies count once a day, up to 150ml in total. Beans and pulses count once.
• Potatoes do not count. Parsnips, swede, turnips and sweet potatoes do.
• A winter day of frozen berries, satsumas, soup, peas and parsnips gets you to five.

Food supplements should not be used as a substitute for a varied, balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle. If you have a medical condition, are pregnant, breastfeeding or taking medication, speak to your GP or pharmacist before taking any food supplement.