As a health journalist, I often write about the hot topic of gut health, so when I noticed that a lot of gut experts were saying to aim to eat 30 different plants a week, I knew I had to give it a try, too.
While there are a lot of fads in the health world that we should avoid, the idea of eating 30 different plants a week for gut health came from a large-scale study called the American Gut Project, which was conducted in 2018. The study found that people who ate 30 different plants a week had a higher diversity of gut microbiome than those who ate 10 or fewer different plants.
Your gut is home to “good” and “bad” bacteria, and the fiber in plant-based foods helps feed the good bacteria. Gut health researchers believe that consuming a variety of fiber types can lead to a more diverse and healthier gut flora, which can lead to improved overall health, immunity, mood, and even a lower risk of certain cancers.
Plants are so effective at maintaining gut health that experts agree that the best thing you can do for your gut flora is to eat a high-fiber, balanced diet that’s low in ultra-processed foods, even though the gut health supplement market is valued at $12 billion.
That being said, 30 plants seemed like a lot to start my week-long experiment. But there are more foods that count as plants than you might think. The definition of 30 plants includes fruits, vegetables, legumes, herbs, spices, nuts, seeds, coffee, and even dark chocolate.
I was also lucky that my eating habits were already pretty good. I’d never counted calories or tracked macros, but trying the DASH diet for a week last year helped me develop healthy habits like including more whole grains in my meals and eating breakfast. I was excited to see what I’d get out of the experience, but worried I’d fall short of my goals.
I ate mostly my normal meals but recorded all my meals and snacks throughout the week, and was amazed to find that by day 3 I had harvested 30 plants, for a total of 40 plants.
Eating lots of plants for breakfast is easier than you think
My breakfast is oatmeal with blueberries, peanut butter, and almond flakes. Kim Shawitz
During the week, I would have oatmeal with a combination of berries, nuts, and seeds for breakfast, and I found this was a really easy way to get a variety of plants into my diet each day.
I mainly used what I already had in my cupboard and bought a box of a few different kinds of berries to make it easier to sprinkle on my oatmeal. I usually only buy one type of berry per week, but I wanted to diversify my diet more than usual so I bought three.
Throughout the week, I alternated between strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, peanuts, pistachios, and flaked almonds. I also sprinkled some chia seeds on top.
I could have easily added in more fruits, nuts, and seeds, but I was already on track to reach my goal early on. However, if you plan on doing this long term, it’s worth buying bags of multiple varieties of nuts and seeds so they last longer and you can vary the combinations daily.
I ate a lot of plant protein.
The author mixed boiled broccoli into the pesto. Kim Shawitz
Another way I started eating more plant-based foods was by choosing plant proteins over animal products like meat and eggs. I live a seafood-based diet, so I eat chicken and fish but no other meat, so this isn’t too different from my normal diet.
I ate beans, chickpeas, and lentils instead of animal proteins — for example, I put refried beans in my tacos instead of chicken or shrimp.
When I went to the grocery store, I chose chickpea curry instead of chicken curry and added butter beans to my salad.
I also used red lentil or pea pasta instead of white pasta because wheat doesn’t count as a plant in this experiment. You could also use whole wheat pasta, but I wanted to add some protein, so I used these substitutions.
Frozen vegetables help reduce costs and food waste
Because I buy and cook only for myself, I have had to think about costs and food waste. I once made the mistake of buying lots of fresh vegetables only to have them go moldy when eating out before I could eat them.
Because of this, the variety of vegetables I ate was less than I would have liked, but having frozen edamame beans and sweet corn in the freezer means I can easily add more veggies to my meals without having to worry about them going bad.
I tried to add at least one vegetable to every meal, for example boiling broccoli with pasta and tossing it with pesto.
The focus on adding nutritious foods feels sustainable
The author added as many plants as possible to the dish. Kim Shavitz
I was surprised and relieved to find that I hit my goal by day 3. I think that if you have the time and money, you can eat 30 different plants a week with relatively little planning. There’s a ton of plant-based food options out there. Stocking up on nuts, seeds, and frozen fruits and veggies makes it easy to increase the amount of plants in your diet at a low cost.
I liked planning my meals around nutritious ingredients and focusing on what I could eat rather than what I had to restrict. I think that by aiming to eat more healthy foods per week, I naturally ate less nutritious foods like refined carbs and added sugars.
I think this is a pretty sustainable way of eating in the long term and promotes a healthier attitude towards food, and I’ll definitely continue to aim for 30 a week.
