We all know that current medical wisdom is that we need at least five portions of fruit and veg a day for good (gut) health – although the definition of “portion” is often far from clear. There’s even a suggestion that 5-a-day isn’t enough and we should be eating 10-a-day!
However recently I came across the concept that as well as our 5-a-day we should be eating at least 30 different plants a week, for optimum gut health. Fortunately you don’t need to eat that mythical portion of each; “some” seems to be enough – although again no-one is being specific.
Now I reckon I’m pretty good at getting my 5-a-day; in fact there’s hardly a day when I don’t, and more often than not I’ll have seven, eight or even 10 a day. But do I get some of 30 plants every week? Can I get 30-a-week?
Being a scientist, of course I had to find out. So last week (Monday 18 March to Sunday 24 March, inclusive) I kept a note of what fruit and veg I was eating. This is what I found:
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That’s 40; count them! I achieved this without any real effort, and without the ubiquitous apples and pears (both of which eat regularly) and oranges (which I almost never eat ‘cos these days they’re rubbish). It is also without counting things like tea, beer, G&T. There are lots of other things which I could easily have added easily, and which I often eat, had I wanted to: kidney beans, lime, aubergine, courgette, lettuce, spinach, nectarine …
I was surprised how easy this was, and with no special effort on my part; I certainly didn’t go looking for different things to boost the total.
You can find more about the 30-a-week suggestion at:
- https://www.eatingmindset.com/my-plant-based-diet-challenge-30-different-plants-in-a-week/
- https://www.fermentedbylab.com/blog/2018/9/10/is-it-achievable-to-eat-30-different-plant-species-in-a-week-in-order-to-nurture-a-healthy-gut
Enjoy your plants!