If you want to lose weight, improve your skin, energy and mood, poop better, feel healthier and look better…. you should start by focusing on improving your GUT.
One key way to improve your gut microbiome by increasing the variety (and quantity) of plants you eat every week.
Studies (and experiments done by the American Gut Project) show that eating more than 30 different plants per week can significantly improve your microbiome diversity, supporting your overall gut health.
Researchers at the American Gut Project found that people who ate more than 30 different plant foods each week had a more diverse gut microbiome compared with those who ate 10 or fewer. Hitting the 30+ plants per week helped to produce shott-chain fatty acids, that have been shown to help improve digestion, constipation, prevent cancer, and so much more.
To help you boost your gut health, I’m sharing with you 7 different categories of plants (with tons of options in each category), and my suggestion is to aim for eating at least 4 different options within each category every week, to reach (or exceed) the target quota of 30 plants per week.
Lastly, I’ll share various tips on how I exceed those 30 plants every week!
7 categories of plants to help you increase your variety of plant foods:
1.LEAFY GREENS. Make the effort to add at least one dark leafy green to your meals every day, and aim to have at least 4 different greens every week. Your options are SO MANY, inclding:
spinach
arugula / rocket
kale (there are tons of varieties)
collard greens
swiss chard
mustard greens
dandelion greens
watercress
bok choy
lettuce - romaine, butterhead, iceberg, mesclun (mixed baby greens), red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce, raddiccio, little gem and more!
Tips: Throw some baby spinach or arugula in with your usual lettuce salad, try baking kale to make kale chips (its easy!), do some sauteed mixed greens with garlic and olive oil as a side dish, add some chopped swiss chard into your beef stew. lentil soup or curry, etc.
2. HERBS & SPICES. Include fine herbs in almost all of your meals, aiming for 2 different herbs per day (and at least 5 per week). Also start to incorporate more spices in all of your foods; you’d be surprised at how they can enhance flavor and create deliciously equisite meals (without too much salt nor oil)! Examples of herbs and spices that I consume include:
parsley
cilantro
basil
rosemary
thyme
mint
chives
oregano
dill
sage
cinnamon
nutmeg
clove
turmeric / curcumin
cumin
coriander
ginger
mixed herbs and spices, such as herbs d’ provence, braggs organic seasoning, pumpkin pie spice, curry spices, garam masala
Tip: Add 1-2 herbs to at least one meal per day and 1-2 spices per day; it’s easier than you think! For ex.
add a pinch of cinnamon to your coffee or matcha latte
add some pupmpkin pie spice (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg etc.) to your smoothie or chia pudding
add a pinch of turmeric and black pepper to your eggs
add some rosemary to your chicken
add chopped parsley to your rice or quinoa
throw some cilantro on top of your curry, or salad bowl, or tacos, etc.
try roasted butternut squash with a pinch of nutmeg, and roasted sweet potatoes with rosemary
sauteed mushrooms with thyme, mixed veggies with herbs d’ provence
roasted cauliflower with some curry, warm broccoli and avocado salad with chopped basil and mint.
Again this is about experimenting (and/or buying a few good cookbooks!) and it’ll become second nature!
3. LEGUMES / BEANS: Every week choose 1 (or 2) legume(s) to batch cook and include in your meals, so switch it up; one week make lentils and white beans, next week make black beans and chickpeas, another week edamame and peas, etc. Some of my favorites options include:
lentils
chickpeas (and hummus!)
white cannelini beans
black beans
lupini beans
pinto and kidney beans
green peas and split peas
mung beans
edamame (soy beans) *make sure they’re non-GMO
Tip: Aim for adding 2-3 tablespoons of legumes to any lunch or dinner. For example,
add 2 tablespoons of hummus to your salad or veggie bowl
add 1/4 cup white or black beans to your scrambled eggs
make a “lupini bean salad” for a protein rich snack - mixing lupini beans with cherry tomatoes and avocado
make a homemade chili for dinner one night (adding 3 different types of beans and tons of low starch veggies and leafy greens to keep it lower carb)
try my lentil soup recipe or lentil burgers for your next Meatless Monday.
4. SEEDS. Include at least 2-3 seeds every week into your diet, including:
chia seeds
flax seeds
pumpkin seeds
sunflower seeds (and sunbutter)
sesame seeds (and tahini) - white and black
hemp seeds
basil seeds
poppy seeds
Tip: Make chia pudding, add flaxseeds to a smoothie, decorate your soups with pumpkin seeds, throw in some sunflower seeds into your salad for a yummy crunch, buy some seed crackers or seed bread, etc. I also add seeds to my homemade energy balls (and many of my homemade desserts).
5. NUTS. Likewise, add at least 2 nuts to your weekly diet (focusing on those that you tolerate best). If you tolerate nuts well, include them all! Rotate them, each month buying 2 different varieties. And nut butters are great too. Try:
pistachios
macadamia nuts
brazil nuts
pecas
walnuts
cashews
almonds
organic peanuts
hazelnuts
nut butters: almond butter, cashew butter, peanut butter and mixed nut/seed butters
Tip: I add nuts and nut butters to every one of my smoothies and homemde desserts, I love seed bread or fruit with peanut, almond or cashew butter, or for a sweet treat a date stuffed with almond butter. The options are endless, and it’s fun to discover new flavors and recipes by trying new nuts and seeds!
6. COLORFUL FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. Aim to “eat the rainbow” with your fruits and veggies. More on that HERE. Remember each color has its own set of beneficial properties, rich in antioxidants that helps us stay healthy and live longer!
Tip: Aim to eat at least 2 different colored vegetables (and/or fruits) in each of your meals! When you go grocery shopping, keep this in mind and buy at least one fruit/veggie of every color!
7. GRAINS. Even though many people find they feel better on a “grain-free” diet, going 100% grain-free is only something I recommend for a few months as part of a gut or autoimmunte healing protocol, but for most people, eating small quantities of whole grains about 1-3 times per week is great for optimal health (and increasing your gut microbiome diversity). Some healthy grains include:
buckwheat
millet
teff
amaranth
quinoa
rice, including forbidden black rice, wild rice, brown rice, basmati and jasmine rice
farro
sorghum
spelt
some blends such as organic ezekiel bread, ancient grains, and more.
Tip: Most people over-eat grains, so my suggestions are: sticking to whole grains (avoiding refined processed grians like most breads, pastas, baked goods, etc), experimenting with new/different grains, and for blood-sugar balancing purposes, keeping portion sizes of grains at any meal to aprox 1/2 cup or less.
Review these 7 categories, and for each one, ask yourself how you can increase your variety a bit. Experiment and have fun with it! Your GUT will thank you!
HERE ARE SOME TIPS THAT I PERSONALLY PRACTICE, THAT HELP ME INCREASE MY PLANT DIVERSITY (IN HEALTHY & DELICIOUS WAYS!):
Try as many local in-season fruits and vegetables as possible, ideally ordering from a local organic farm or visiting a farmers market. Even when you go to the supermarket, see if you can try a new vegetable each week (and just google recipes for this new veggie, or reach out to me as I may have some delicious options).
Start adding more spices and herbs to all of your meals; don’t be afraid to experiment. Try roasted cauliflower and sweet potato with rosemary, try chickepas with cumin and a pinch of cayenne pepper, try chicken with thme, try making a dill-yogurt sauce for your salmon or lamb meatballs, try adding some basil to your alfredo or marinara sauces, try adding a pinch of nutmeg to your roasted butternut squash, herbs de provecne to your sauteed mushrooms, add a pinch of turmeric and black pepper to your eggs, ETC. (Also see my suggestions above in tip #2!). I personally add onion and garlic to almost everything, cinnamon to all my breakfast foods (including my lattes, smoothies, chia puddings and overnight oats), and I often add ginger and turmeric to my smoothies too.
Instead of always snacking on the same almonds or cashews, switch it up and create a homemade trail mix using brazil nuts, macadamia nuts, pistachios, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds. Throw in some goji berries, coconut and cacao nibs - they all count!
Aim to start off one meal a day with a green salad (ex lunch or dinner), and then add at least one seed and one different veggie to your salads, changing that seed/veggie every week if possible. Ex. this week have lettuce with watermelon radish, avocado and sunflower seeds, next week try lettuces with cherry tomatoes, pumpkin seeds and microgreens, the following week add shredded carrots and chopped cashews to your salad. Also switch up your lettuces! Maybe one week you do romain lettuce and baby spinach, another week green leaf lettuce and baby arugula, experiment with some more bitter greens such as raddicio and kale, too. Remember, the key to a delicoius salad is a yummy, healthy dressing (try mine HERE).
Aim to have at least one fruit per day, and switch it up every few days. I personally include them in my smoothies, and try to have at least 3-4 different smoothies every week, that way i’m rotating my fruit. If you’re someone that has a sweet tooth, you can have a small piece of fruit as dessert or sweet snack, and make sure to add 1 tbsp almond or cashew or peanut butter to your fruit and a pinch of cinnamon to avoid blood sugar spikes. Plus that way you’ve increased your plant intake.
Experiment with different plant-based proteins, aiming to have one vegan meal per week (at least!). Check out my blog HERE on plant proteins, and message me for recipes!
Do smart combinations! Combine your normal pasta with some zucchini pasta, and your white or brown rice with some cauliflower rice. It’s also a great way for kids to eat more veggies. I serve my daughter about 1/4 cup rice and mix in 2 tablespoons cauliflower rice, and she devours it! Check out my post and recipes HERE.
Try healthier pasta swaps. You can also swap wheat pasta for organic lentil pasta or chickpea pasta! Another useful post on pasta substitutions and recipes HERE. There are also easy store-bought options with “hidden veggies” like this goodles mac n’ cheese that my toddler LOVES.
Start adding microgreens to “decorate” your meals, they are huge nutrition powerhouses!
Try coffee substitutions: replacing your coffee (at least the second cup of the day) for a matcha latte or golden milk latte. This way youre adding green tea or curcumin and cinnamon to your weekly plant count! Check out my nutritious coffee alternatives HERE.
Experiment with green protein smoothies! I personally add chayote, pipian, zucchini, caulfilower rice and spinach (or kale) to almost all my smoothies, plus sometimes extra “plant superfoods” like spirulina and maca root, plus some seeds - and they’re delicious. Since I add a good quality delicious protein powder (vanilla or chocolate) and nut butters, I hardly taste the veggies, and I usually get at least 7-8 different plants in just one smoothie! Check out my smoothie guide HERE and smoothie boosters HERE.
Your options are really limitless, so try some of these tips, and watch how your gut microbiome, immune system, and overall health will flourish!!
