We all know fruit and vegetables are good for us, and you've probably heard of the campaign '5 a Day!' encouraging us to consume five servings of fruit and vegetables a day.
A mixture of fruit and vegetables need to be consumed to provide a balance of vitamins, minerals and fibre.
Different fruits and veg are higher in different vitamins and minerals; this is why we're advised to mix our colours.
For example, oranges are packed with vitamin C, carrots are high in vitamin A, leafy green veg contain iron and vitamin B2, bananas provide potassium and so on.
Eating fruit and veg in season is ideal because with age some vitamins and minerals can be less.
You'll get a lot more nutrition from an item of fruit or veg than you will from a vitamin or mineral supplement pill! If you're confused about what one 'portion' is then use this guide:

• 1 apple, banana, pear, orange or other similar sized fruit
• 2 plums, satsumas, kiwi fruit or other similar sized fruit
• Half a grapefruit or avocado
• 1 large slice of melon or fresh pineapple
• 3 heaped tablespoons of vegetables, beans or pulses
• 3 heaped tablespoons of fruit salad or stewed fruit
• 1 heaped tablespoon of raisins or sultanas
• 3 dried apricots
• 1 cupful of grapes, cherries or berries
• 1 dessert bowl of salad
• 1 small glass (150ml) of pure fruit juice or smoothie

Let's focus on one of the most commonly enjoyed fruits as a great example of what fruit and veg can offer: the banana.
It's interesting to note that once bananas were not readily available; they were an exotic food.
Organised banana plantations can be dated back to around 200 AD China; but only in the 16th Century did we see the first plantations appear in the Caribbean and Central America.
We often think of bananas growing on trees, but in reality banana plants are more like a giant herb of the same family as lilies, orchids and palms.
When we think of the micronutrient potassium we often think of bananas and rightly so: there's around 270mg of potassium per 100g of banana in its skin, the banana also provides 7g of vitamin C and 16g of carbohydrate with a host of other vitamins and minerals, including a good dose of vitamin B6, which is essential for the production of healthy red blood cells and energy transformation.
The banana is also fat free and has approx 49g of water in that 100g, making it a great food during prolonged exercise - bananas are a great food for athletes.
This past decade has seen the appearance of a new buzz word in nutrition: 'superfoods'.
A huge range of new foods are being touted to have a multitude of health benefits; indeed some are claims to be 'heal-all'! There is no scientific definition of a superfood; it is nothing more than a marketing term, generally used for fruit and vegetables, taken to mean that the food has benefits above and beyond those gained from the nutrients due to a high content of phytochemicals.
Phytochemicals are constituents of food which may have beneficial properties.
Whether superfoods are actually 'super' is an area of debate, but it's unlikely.
Nevertheless, 'superfoods' do have some good nutritional properties.
The term 'superfoods' may be fairly worthless, but at least it does encourage people to try new foods like pomegranate or goji berries, which in itself is a good thing.