That's it... you're done!

Maybe not, but I'm sure red wine is!  Red wine = grapes (same thing)!

Well if that's the case I definitely get the proper number of fruit/veg servings daily!   

It's what each food supplies. Because both potatoes and corn are starchy and high in carbs, and low in things traditionally found in veggies (vitamins, fiber,) the meal scews too much towards "bread" group and is therefore not balanced, as it's commonly understood. This is just a really rough summary, btw.

That is just not true.  Potatoes are high in fiber and vitamins. 

They are not a veg in the UK are are in other countries, including the U.S. as is corn. 

That is just not true.  Potatoes are high in fiber and vitamins. 

They are not a veg in the UK are are in other countries, including the U.S. as is corn. 

They are classed as a vegetable in the UK, just not for the purposes of the '5 a day' campaign.

This thread reminds me of when I was sharing a flat with my friend Anna and we got in a guy called Antony as our 3rd flatmate.  We didn't trust him to go to the supermarket alone and he got really fed up with us being "control freaks" so one week we gave him our grocery money and left him to it. He came back with 3 flounder, some courgettes and about a ton of ice cream!!!!

They are classed as a vegetable in the UK, just not for the purposes of the '5 a day' campaign.

They are classed in the 5 a Day in the U.S. as long as you aren't eating them as chips. 

It is much like fruit juice.  You can drink all the fruit jucie you want, but it still only counts as one serving in the 5 a Day plan. 

I think back to the old days of Weight Watchers (before the Points system was invented). You had to eat a certain number of protein, starch and fruit/veg servings per day. Potatoes, corn and peas were all classed as starches. That's not to say that potatoes aren't good for you - of course they are! But, to me, on a nutritional level, they're not classes as vegetables. I think I'd find a meal of meat, potatoes and corn a bit lacking, to be honest.

I find it somewhat hilarious that my offhand comment about "meat, one veg, and potatoes" has spawned this many replies about potatoes. 

My general rule of thumb is: if you're going to have a yellow/beige food, like potatoes or corn, pair it with a green one, like asparagus or courgette.  I do class peas (well, green peas, anyway, and lima beans) as proper green veg - this is probably because I hate leafy green veg like broccoli or collards! - but I wouldn't consider a meal that was "meat, corn and potatoes" to include more than one veg.  My mom's rule was always "pasta OR potatoes OR rice OR corn."  Oddly enough, though, we could still have biscuits alongside. 

It's about having a range of things....so you need green leafy veg as well....it's no good only ever having potatoes and corn for example.


This is the NHS advice
http://www.5aday.nhs.uk/WhatCounts/WhatCounts.aspx

Well clearly you need other things, you couldn't just eat all broccoli and have a balanced diet either. 

I am just saying that simpky because the UK does not include potatoes as veg doesn't mean that the rest of the world agrees. 

The brighter the color, the more vitamins and antioxidants (cancer fighters) a food has.  Carrots--orange--beta carotene.  Oranges--more Vitamin C than a potato, etc.

Yes, I never debated that other fruits and veggies might not have more of this or that vitamin just that potatoes have almost half of your daily vit C need. 

Aside from which, Vit. C is water soluable so you eat too much and you just pee it out.  Take too much and cut back and you can get survey. 

Unless of course, you eat too too much and then according to some research in Germany it begins to warp your DNA. 

My only point is that potatoes count as a veg in other countries, not that we should only be eating potatoes. 

Although in Ireland before the famine many people did just that some young men were eating upwards of 15 potatoes in a meal.  YUCK!

Potatoes contain nutrients, such as protein, carbohydrate, and
vitamin C, which are necessary for a healthy diet, but lack vitamin
A and calcium. Combined with milk, potatoes supply almost all food
elements required for a healthy diet.(13) To fulfill the daily
nutritive requirement in the mid-1800s, each person had to eat 3
kilograms (six and a half pounds) of potatoes. According to
historical accounts, a "burley farmer could down 15 potatoes" at
one meal.(14)

http://www.american.edu/ted/potato.htm

The brighter the color, the more vitamins and antioxidants (cancer fighters) a food has.  Carrots--orange--beta carotene.  Oranges--more Vitamin C than a potato, etc.

Thats why I eat Smarties.

I think back to the old days of Weight Watchers (before the Points system was invented). You had to eat a certain number of protein, starch and fruit/veg servings per day. Potatoes, corn and peas were all classed as starches. That's not to say that potatoes aren't good for you - of course they are! But, to me, on a nutritional level, they're not classes as vegetables. I think I'd find a meal of meat, potatoes and corn a bit lacking, to be honest.

Aye, yai, yai!!! If we didn't have mashed potatoes or corn, it was peas!!!! Once in a while carrots, but I never ate those because my parents would boil them until they were mush.

My family just broke all the rules for proper nutrition people are saying! Many times we'd have a meat, pasta, and bread or meat, rice, and bread!

Sent the husband and two teenagers to Tescos to get a few things last night (milk,bread, coffee, cat food), they came home with hair spray, styling gel, 6 tubs of yogurt, bacon flavoured crisps, two big Lindt bars, Grazia magazine and cat food. 

Sent the husband and two teenagers to Tescos to get a few things last night (milk,bread, coffee, cat food), they came home with hair spray, styling gel, 6 tubs of yogurt, bacon flavoured crisps, two big Lindt bars, Grazia magazine and cat food. 

Now that is special!