Is 30-plants a week manageable?

The best ways to support a healthy gut is to include a greater variety of plant-based foods in your diet. Research shows that people who eat 30 or more plant-based foods each week have a more healthy and resilient gut (McDonald et al., 2018).

But, 30 plants can seem like a lot, especially when the only veggies we're eat during the week are tomatoes, onions and potatoes! Don't worry, we've all been there.

In this article, I'll talk about what's included in the 30-a week and ways to incorporate more veggies into your diet.

So, first off - what’s is included in the 30 a week?

• Vegetables
• Fruit
• Grains (barley, oats, rye)
• Legumes, nuts and seeds (pumpkin seeds, cashews, almonds)
• Herbs and spices (cinnamon, tumeric)
• and even, coffee!

When we want to make changes in our diet, we tend to focus on what foods we want to eliminate. But, instead let's switch our focus on the foods we want to eat more of.

If you want to add more plant-based foods to your diet, here are my tips:

1. Start small by adding one or two extra plant-based foods each week. Then slowly work your way up to adding more.
2. Add more plant-based foods to what you already enjoy eating.

These are some ways I have incorporated more variety of plants into my diet:

Breakfast

Eggs

• Add a side of veggies with your morning eggs such as spinach, tomato, mushroom
• Add grated cauliflower to scrambled eggs - courtesy of my grandma who makes a delicious scrabled egg recipe with onion, grated cauliflower, carrot, tomato, chilli, spinach, turmeric and coriander. I went through a phase of making this every morning, accompanied by a slice of toast or roti (so good!)
• Add spices like turmeric to scrambled eggs

Oatmeal

• Add fruits, nuts (like pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, almonds) and spices (cinnamon and nutmeg)

One of favourite oatmeal combinations is grated carrot, walnuts, apple and cinnamon.

Smoothies

• Add greens to your favourite fruit smoothie (spinach is my go to)
• A berry and spinach smoothie is delicious!
• My favourite currently includes: juice of a lemon, celery, spinach, cucumber, lettuce, pear, coconut water, banana, peanut butter.

Dinner ideas

• Add one or two additional vegetables with your protein, e.g. if you're having steak and mash and usually have a side of peas, try adding some green beans, asparagus, carrots, or zucchini.
• Add beans and lentils in curries and stews (like black beans, kidney beans or chickpeas)

I find it difficult to get 30 into my diet a week, so instead I aim to make small changes to what I eat each week. Sometimes my goal is to find ways to add only an additional two plants to my meals during the week. That might look like picking up a different veggie in the grocery store to my usual, and adding an extra spice to my dinner.

So, It's okay to start small.

This week try just adding two extra plants to your meals this week.

Let me know how you go!

@thewellbeingdesigner

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