Fruit and veg on menu for Wanderers stars

10:25am Saturday 26th April 2008

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THE healthy eating secrets of Bolton Wanderers super-fit footballers have finally been revealed.

Kevin Nolan has told how his lung-busting performances in midfield are down to his love of oranges.

And flamboyant striker El-Hadji Diouf swears by a portion of Brussels sprouts.

The White's players revealed their favourite fruit and vegetables as part of a campaign to encourage more young sportsmen and women to eat their five-a-day.

The team's favourite was the trusty potato, with seven players voting it as their favourite vegetable.

It was not just the English players such as Matt Taylor and Danny Guthrie who voted for the energy-rich spud - Greece international Stelios Giannakopoulos and Ivorian defender Abdoulaye Meite love their taters too.

And Spanish defender Ivan Campo revealed a penchant for peas.

The apple came out on top in the fruit department, voted for by Kevin Davies and Joey O'Brien among others, closely followed by the banana - a favourite of Nicky Hunt and Jlloyd Samuel.

Jussi Jaaskelainen joined Nolan as a fan of oranges, but Israeli midfielder Tamir Cohen was a little more adventurous, plumping for the plum.

The initiative is being run by the Eat in Colour organisation.

Spokesman Anthony Levy said: "It's great to see that the Wanderers are enjoying a wide range of fruit and veg to help them get all the nutrients they need to play world-class football."

Eat in Colour conducted the research to encourage young footballers to think about their diet.

They teamed up with a number of Premier League clubs and dieticians to create a downloadable meal planner to give young footballers the best possible tips for getting match fit, with easy to follow recipes and serving suggestions ideal for parents.

Visit eatincolour.com/footy.php to see the menus.