We All Need More Plants
When it comes to supporting our health one of the biggest things we can do is increase the number of plants we eat. Aiming for 5 a day is fast becoming an outdated notion with current research showing that it is the range of plants, as well as the volume, which is important for gut health, our gut microbiome being central to all aspects of our wellbeing. It’s recommended that we consume a minimum of 30 different plants per week for optimal health so if your 5 a day has been focused on limited items which you eat on repeat, for example bananas, apples, carrots, potatoes and peas, then it’s time to explore new fruit and veg horizons and expand into the wider world of plants, including wholegrains, nuts, spices and herbs. It might sound overwhelming at first, but you’d be surprised how easy it is to increase the number of plants in our lives.
To put this into context it’s important to first understand why it’s so vital that we increase the plant diversity in our diets. Put simply, the more diverse our plant intake is, the more diverse our gut microbiome becomes. There are literally trillions of microbes in our gut, all of which perform a different function related to our health and wellbeing. All plants contain different properties such as fibre and polyphenols which nourish different microbes so the wider the range of plants we eat, the wider the range of good bacteria we cultivate in our gut.
As a first step, start counting the number of different plant sources (diversity points) you eat in a day. For example, if you eat porridge in the morning with raspberries, blueberries, a spoonful of peanut butter and some chia seeds on top then you’ve already hit 5 diversity points (oats, 2 x berries, peanuts and seeds) If you have a vegetable soup at lunch it could include any number of diversity points; onion, celery, carrots, potatoes, leeks and lentils give you 6 before you even start with spices, herbs and olive oil all of which count as an extra ¼ point each. Focus on the range not the portion size at the beginning and build up from daily awareness to weekly awareness remembering that it’s every different plant you eat that you’re counting not every portion, so even if you have an orange every day it’s still only one type of plant so it only counts as one diversity point across the week.
To help you shift your thinking on this one it helps to understand what’s included in the world of plants. All fruits and vegetables count, as do all beans, pulses, legumes, nuts, seeds and wholegrains. Herbs, spices, olive oil, tea and coffee all count too however they only count as ¼ point each.
Thinking in colour is also helpful because different colours of fruits and vegetables offer our gut microbes different polyphenols and therefore different benefits. This is even true of two plants in the same family so if you have one green apple and one red apple that counts as two diversity points. Different colour, different benefit. In this sense you really want to take a leaf out of the Mediterranean diet and aim to eat the rainbow. There’s a reason why they are amongst the healthiest people on the planet.
Once you’ve got the hang of counting your points it’s time to shake things up a bit. Instead of berries on your porridge how about going tropical with some kiwi and mango? If beetroot is in season why not ditch the carrots and roast up some beets with some butternut squash instead? The possibilities are endless and the effort is worth the countless benefits you’ll experience within a short space of time when you start feeding your gut microbiome exactly what it needs to thrive.
*This article was first published in Ayrshire Magazine