The busy gal’s guide to increasing your diversity of plants (and why this matters)
Something which shocked me when learning about the human body is that we contain significantly more microbial cells than human cells. When considering our health, it’s impossible to ignore the role of the gut microbiome: the trillions of bacteria, fungi and other microbes contained within our digestive tract. Our gut microbiome plays a crucial role in digesting food, producing nutrients, regulating our immune system, impacting energy levels, eliminating toxins, and even influencing our mood and mental health.
In order to support our health, it is therefore essential to support a healthy gut microbiome. One of the best ways to do this: increase the diversity of plant-based foods that we eat. I know this might sound like just another thing to think about in your already busy week - but read on for some tips to make it easy!
Why diversity matters
First of all, here’s just a few reasons why eating a diverse range of plant-based foods is important:
Nutrient variety: different plant foods, contain different variety of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other phytonutrients (plant-based nutrients), providing you with a wide range of nutrients necessary for optimal health and energy production
Fibre: plant-based foods are rich in dietary fibre which is hugely important for gut health. Fibre not only supports healthy digestion, but also acts as fuel for the gut microbiome. Consuming enough dietary fibre is also important for blood sugar regulation, detoxification, maintaining healthy cholesterol levels and supporting hormones. It’s generally recommended to consume 30g of fibre per day, which in my experience, many people don’t get enough of.
Prebiotics: many plant-based foods contain prebiotics which are a type of non-digestible fibre that provide fuel for the gut microbiome. Examples include: onion, garlic, asparagus, artichoke, and green bananas. Essentially, different plants feed different microbes in our gut, supporting their diversity.
30 plants a week is the new five plus a day
We’re all familiar with the recommendation to eat ‘five plus a day’ of fruits and veggies. While this is a great goal for many of us, more recent research suggests that we might be better off aiming for 30 different plant based foods across the week. This may sound like a lot, but it also includes nuts, seeds, grains, legumes, herbs and spices. 1 serve = 1 plant. Different colours or varieties = different plants. For example 1 orange kumara and 1 red kumara would count as 2.
Thai Quinoa & Almond Slaw from Deliciously Balanced Lunch which contains 9 different plants!
Often we can be in the habit of ordering the same few fruits and veggies each week, but with a few little tweaks, getting in 30 different plant-based foods might be easier than you think!
Here are some practical ways that you can increase your variety of plant-based foods, therefore increasing your nutrient intake and supporting your gut health:
Eat the rainbow - aim to include a variety of coloured fruits and vegetables. Different colours contain different nutrients!
Go for ‘mixed’ packs rather than single produce - here are some examples:
Swap almonds for mixed nuts
Swap lettuce for mixed salad greens
Swap frozen peas for frozen stir fry veggies
Swap canned kidney beans for ‘four bean mix’
Challenge yourself to incorporate a couple of new plant-based foods each week. This could be through going to your local farmers markets, produce stores, or getting creative with new recipes. Our deliciously balanced recipe ebooks include a variety of different plant-based foods if you need inspiration. Download the Free taster ebook if you’d like to try a few!
Get creative with herbs and spices - they’re wonderful flavour additions and provide a number of health benefits. I keep a root of ginger in the freezer and shave this into meals, have a little herb garden and add dried spices into my cooking.
Include beans and legumes - canned beans are such a great addition to mince dishes, curries, soups and stews. They’re a super affordable plant-based source of protein for vegetarian meals, or to make meat dishes go further and also a great way to tick off another plant.
Sprinkle nuts and seeds over meals - a great way to add ‘crunch’ and diversity to salads, porridge, bircher muesli, chia pots. I quite often add cashews and peanuts to Asian-style meals and sliced almonds to stir-fried greens.
Mix up your grains - rather than just rice for example, try to include a variety of grains such as quinoa, bulgur wheat, millet, sorghum, oats, spelt, wholegrain bread, etc.
Try keeping a list across a week and see how many plant-based foods you eat - if it’s less than 30, try some of the tips above!
If you’d like to learn more about how to nourish your body and support great energy - register for our upcoming masterclass: Nutrition Fundamentals.
As always, feel free to reach out with any comments or questions, always happy to chat!
References:
McDonald, D., et al. (2018). American Gut: an Open Platform for Citizen Science Microbiome Research. mSystems, 3(3), e00031-18. https://doi.org/10.1128/mSystems.00031-18
NIH HMP Working Group, Peterson, J., et al. (2009). The NIH Human Microbiome Project. Genome research, 19(12), 2317–2323. https://doi.org/10.1101/gr.096651.109
Disclaimer: this blog is intended for educational purposes only and does not replace individual medical advice. For more support please always seek the guidance of your relevant health practitioners.