As we enter the New Year, many of us may be considering making dietary changes or setting health goals. While common resolutions often involve cutting out certain foods, this year, why not focus on what we can eat more of? A simple yet powerful addition to your diet could be more plant based foods.

Recently, there’s been a surge in discussions around the concept of incorporating 30 different edible plants into your weekly meals, a trend that’s gaining momentum through social media and magazine features. But what does this really mean, and where did this idea originate?

Plant-based foods can offer a rich and diverse array of essential nutrients. These include vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, polyphenols, and fibre, all of which play important roles in maintaining overall health, including supporting the immune system and promoting healthy digestion.

The idea of consuming 30 different plant-based foods each week originates from research conducted by the American Gut Project (Macdonald et al., 2018). This large-scale study analysed self-reported dietary data from over 10,000 people across the globe, including the UK. Their findings revealed that those who consumed a wider variety of plant-based foods—approximately 30 different plants per week—had a more diverse microbiome, i.e. the ecosystem of microorganisms that live in the gut.

A diverse microbiome is linked to better digestion, improved immune function, and some research has suggested enhanced wellbeing (Firth et al., 2020). The greater the variety of plant foods consumed, the more likely it is that beneficial bacteria can thrive in the gut, contributing to these positive health outcomes.

When talking about edible plants, it is important to recognise that the category extends beyond fruits and vegetables. A wide range of foods falls under the plant-based umbrella, including:

· Grains, especially whole grains like oats, quinoa, and brown rice

· Legumes, such as beans, lentils, and peas

· Nuts and seeds, which provide healthy fats, proteins, and micronutrients

· Herbs and spices, offering not only flavour but also health-boosting antioxidants

· And of course, fruits and vegetables, which are rich in a broad spectrum of vitamins, antioxidants, and fibre.

The 30-plant goal may seem ambitious, but it serves as a great way to encourage variety and greater enjoyment of different plant-based foods, all while supporting the health of the gut microbiome. However, the goal isn’t about making drastic, overnight changes to your diet. Instead, it’s about gradually incorporating more plant-based foods over time, and simply increasing the variety of what you consume where possible.

 

Further Reading:

· Lambert, R. (2024). The Science of Plant-Based Nutrition. DK: London.

· Rossi, M. (2022). How to Eat More Plants. Experiment Publishing: London.

References

· Firth, J. et al. (2020) Food and Mood: how do diet and nutrition affect mental wellbeing? BMJ, 369: m2382 doi:10.1136/bmj.m2382.

· MacDonald, D. et al. (2018). “American Gut: an Open Platform for Citizen Science Microbiome Research.” mSystems, 3(3), e00031-18. DOI: 10.1128/mSystems.00031-18