PLANT DIVERSE DIET
I have stated it on multiple occasions; a healthy diet is a diverse diet. What does that actually mean and how can you apply this in your life? Let’s find out.
One of the best health predictors is eating a diverse diet, not just any diverse diet but a diversity of plants! Research by Dr. Rob Knight from the American Gut Project found that consuming thirty different plants in any given week is not only a great health predictor, but also a predictor of great gut health.
This may sound daunting – how can we manage to get 30 different plants in our bodies every week? Well, I have good news for you. There are more than three hundred thousand edible species of plants we can eat on this planet. However, we only consume around 200 species of these plants. This is largely due to our agriculture practices that have been pushed us to use high-yielding plants rather than a diversity of plants to make it more profitable. While this limit the number of plants available for us to consume, it’s helpful to remember that nuts, seeds, fruits, berries and spices all fall under the group plants.
A lot is about mindset, when you step into a supermarket or order your recipes at VegMeUp 😉 think ‘plant-diversity’ Think about how you can get as many different plants into your system as possible. It might even help to say to yourself ‘every time I go shopping, I try at least one new plant that I have not tried before’. You might be surprised and enjoy the process of finding new plants to eat.
As a chef I have worked with lots of different plants and products in my time. My experience is that a diet primarily based on plants will keep you healthy, give you vitality, make you feel better, live longer and improve your gut health dramatically. Plants will also bring you plenty of variety in flavour, texture and scent. You can create an excellent repertoire of delicious tasty and easy to cook meals by just cooking with plants.
Some of the information in this blog can be found in one of my favourite health books: Fiber Fuelled from Will Bulsiewicz. Check it out if you want to learn more; it is well written and full of useful tips and facts to improve your gut health.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out, I would love to hear from you.
With love,
Jimmy