How To Get All Vegetable Servings | 30 Different Plant Foods Per Week
29th September 2022 / Health
How To Get All Vegetable Servings | 30 Different Plant Foods Per Week
Jessica S
Why and how to achieve this magic number for health and wellbeing. It's easier than you may think.
The idea of consuming 30 different plant foods per week comes from the American Gut Project, which looked at over 10 thousand gut microflora samples (1). They found that those who ate a wider variety of plants had a much healthier gut flora.
We also know from further research that gut flora can do more than keep our bowels healthy. It plays a significant role in many areas, including our immunity, general mood, hormonal balance, reducing the risk of heart disease etc. Caring for our gut by eating more plant resources is a no-brainer, especially with 300,000 edible plants available globally! And you can reap the benefits of a more plant-based diet without becoming a vegan or vegetarian. Plus, any shift towards a more plant-based diet will benefit the planet as well as your health.
Now consuming 30 different plant foods per week can seem like a daunting change to your diet. The first thing to do is fully understand what counts as plant-based. Plant foods are a huge cross-section of our diet and include as well as fruit and veg;
- beans, peas & pulses;
- nuts & seeds;
- herbs & spices;
- teas, coffees & chocolate;
- fermented and preserved plant foods e.g. olives, and kimchi;
- wholegrains;
Here is an example of a day where you can clock up a substantial dent in your variety numbers (without it feeling like a struggle);
First thing – Green or herbal tea (+1)
Breakfast – Mushroom, spinach and chive omelette (+3)
Mid-morning – Coffee (+1)
Lunch – Lentil and vegetable soup made with onions, carrots, sweet potato, peppers, and red lentils (+5)
Afternoon snack – Apple with peanut butter (+2)
Dinner – Chickpea and butternut squash coconut curry with brown rice inc. spice mix, onions, coconut milk, squash, coriander (+5)
In total = 15 different plant foods in 1 day.
This would give you 7 portions of fruit and veg, the daily magic number to aim for health and wellbeing.
References:
1. https://journals.asm.org/doi/full/10.1128/mSystems.00031-18
From The Blog
-
22nd December 2022 / Health / News
New Year Resolutions You Can Actually Keep
New Year resolutions to shed unhealthy habits and create healthy new ones are always popular. Often expectations are high, but January is when our systems can have the least in the tank leading to...
Read article -
30th November 2022 / Health / News
Taking Vitamin D This Winter
As the days get shorter and we spend more time inside, we should start to think about our vitamin D levels. Vitamin D deficiency in winter months is super common, but the symptoms often go unnot...
Read article -
28th November 2022 / Health / News
8 Big Health Discoveries of 2022
Health Review 2022 One of the things we love about nutrition is that it is an evolving area of science with great discoveries happening all the time. We can apply these to our everyday lives in th...
Read article