Could you eat 30 different plant foods in a week?

Take the 30 plant foods challenge!

🍎🥦 I often talk to clients about how they can increase their vegetable intake but did you know that the variety of vegetables you eat is super important too?

𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤.

🤔 Why is this so important?

You probably already know that plant foods are packed with fibre and nutrients (vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals) but they are also crucial for maintaining a healthy gut microbiome.

🦠 The gut microbiome refers to the trillions of bacteria and other microbes that live in our digestive tract. Healthier people tend to have diverse microbiomes with a variety of beneficial bacterial species, whereas less healthy people often have reduced numbers of beneficial bacteria or an imbalanced gut microbiome.

Different types of plant foods contain unique fibres, prebiotics and other nutrients that feed specific types of beneficial bacteria in the gut. Eating a wide range of plant foods ensures that you're feeding a diverse array of microbes, promoting microbiome diversity.

I recently challenged myself to eat 30 different plant foods in one week.

𝐁𝐲 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬, 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐯𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬.

The 30 different plant foods can also include:

✅ fruit

✅ whole grains, e.g. brown rice, quinoa, rolled oats, spelt, rye

✅ legumes, e.g. lentils, beans, peas

✅ sea vegetables, e.g. seaweed

✅ nuts and seeds

✅ herbs and spices

Here’s how I hit 30 plant foods in two days:

(note: each different food is only counted once as this challenge is all about diversity!)

𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝟏 - 21 new plant foods

𝘽𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙛𝙖𝙨𝙩: Smoothie

Plant foods - 4 (baby spinach, hemp seeds, cashew nuts, raspberries)

𝙇𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙝: Egg salad

Plant foods - 11 (brown rice, quinoa, kale, sweet potato, cherry tomatoes, capsicum, beetroot, avocado, alfalfa, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds)

𝘿𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙧: Chicken and chickpea curry with brown rice and veggies

Plant foods - 5 (chickpeas, broccoli, beans, zucchini, carrot)

𝙎𝙣𝙖𝙘𝙠: Brazil nuts - 1

𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝟐 - 10 new plant foods

𝘽𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙛𝙖𝙨𝙩: Boosted porridge

Plant foods - 4 (rolled oats, blueberries, banana, cinnamon)

𝙇𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙝: Pumpkin soup with a hard-boiled egg

Plant foods - 4 (pumpkin, onion, cumin, dulse)

𝘿𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙧: Salmon with sweet potato chips and kaleslaw

Plant foods - 0 (no new foods)

𝙎𝙣𝙖𝙘𝙠: Carrot sticks and hummus

Plant foods - 0 (no new foods)

𝙎𝙣𝙖𝙘𝙠: Fruit

Plant foods - 2 (pineapple and rockmelon)

One thing that became clear on day two is that, although I eat a very healthy diet, I tend to eat the same things on repeat. From now on, I will be trying to increase my plant diversity even further, especially in terms of trying new vegetables and adding more herbs and spices to my meals. I'm raising my target to 40, or maybe even 50!

If you're interested in trying the challenge, I’ve created a ‘30 plant foods challenge tick sheet’ that you can access here

My twins have been using the checklist for the past few days and their motivation to tick off as many boxes as possible has really increased the nutrient density of their meals. It really is as simple as adding a couple of different fruits to your cereal, throwing some fresh herbs and chopped nuts on your salad or sprinkling hemp seeds on your avo toast!

I’d love to hear how you go! 😊