Gut Instinct — Consume 30+ Plant-based Foods Every Week, it’s not as tough as you think!
By improving the microbiome in your digestive system, you may improve your mental and physical health
I moved to a more plant-centric diet about 10 years ago. It’s not about vegetarianism, or veganism, or saving the planet; It’s all about me.
I want to live a long time, and I wish to feel as well as possible. Now in my late 50s, I’m just getting started, after all!
If you are a die-hard carnivore, by all means, continue, but add plant-based foods to your plate, increasing the portion size and variety.
My belief is that food is medicine and in the long term, your diet directly affects your physical and mental health. I have lived with a chronic disorder my entire life so maintaining and improving the quality of my day-to-day has long been a priority for me.
Recently I saw a video podcast on one of my favoured channels (link follows) which inspired me to further transform my eating habits. It was an interview with an American gastroenterologist, Dr. Will Bulsiewitcz, who was promoting the idea of consuming 30 or more plant-based foods every week. This was based on data collected as part of the American Gut Project as well as his own anecdotal experience. Something clicked.
The data compiled by this project revealed that people with a diet of 30+ plant-based foods per week, had a more robust gut microbiome than those who consumed only 10 varieties.
Plant-based food diets are nothing new, but credible scientific studies are finally catching up and people are catching on. There is no doubt now that there are some tremendous outcomes for people suffering with chronic illness who make the move to a plant-based way of eating. A robust gut biome can bring improvements to heart-health and mental health, including lowered incidence of anxiety, and depression.
So, I started keeping a list each week of the variety of plant-based items I consumed. One thing I learned is that I tend to eat the same group of ingredients but prepared in different ways; potatoes or tomatoes for example. So, my take-away from this exercise is to shop with more intention when I’m getting my groceries. I still eat the same core foods but add some novelty into the mix.
I designed and published this logbook which is available on Amazon (3 different cover types, the paperback is a mere $9.99 USD)
Plant-based foods include cocoa, coffee, tea, herbs and spices, along with the obvious fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes. The aim is to increase the variety to “feed” more of your digestive microbiome. There are trillions of microbes that are part and parcel of the human body and they don’t all like the same food.
Quick tips:
- Keep raw nuts and dried fruits easily available for when you need a fast snack or to put in your bag if you will be away from home for several hours
- Add chopped nuts or small pieces of fruit to salads
- Keep it real and avoid processed foods. If the items on the ingredient list didn’t exist 100 years ago, it is best to find another option
- Frequent glasses of water. Drink one or two glasses first thing in the morning. I keep a glass on the nightstand.
- Buy one new fruit, vegetable, nut, or grain variety every week
- If fresh fruit is not available, or affordable, buy frozen
- Put fresh or thawed fruits on French toast or pancakes, in yoghurt, cereal, or oatmeal.
- Play with spices, adding some cinnamon to your coffee, or tea; turmeric or paprika to your eggs or potatoes
It takes time to change your eating habits and time for your digestive system and taste buds to evolve. You are not going to like everything you try, but the plant world offers a limitless banquet of flavours to explore.
I believe you will find that simply examining the foods you eat on a weekly basis, you will begin to choose your foods with more intention. Personally, I now experience less stomach irritation, along with the psychological component of doing something good for my body.
If you have a great tip or gut-health reference, please add it in the comments.
Bon appetit,
Karen
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