30 Different Fruits and Vegetables

[AhBiscuits]

I was reading yesterday about how you should have 30 different fruits and vegetables each week for gut health. I don't get anywhere close to that, I eat a lot of the same things. Like for I'll have an apple and a satsuma with my lunch every day, I'll have broccoli a couple of times a week, my side salads are usually the same few things. I need to try and branch out.

For inspiration, what fruit and vegetables do you eat in a normal week?

I reckon I usually have

Grapes
Raspberries
Strawberries
Banana
Apple
Orange
Onion
Tomato
Lettuce
Cucumber
Pepper
Carrots
Brocolli
Peas
Sweetcorn
Lentils
Kidney beans

There's other things from time to time but these are probably the things I always have.

I eat an Asian veggie diet and have always eaten around 30 veg fruits per week. In addition to your list, I eat:

Spinach and various Asian greens like fenugreek leaves
Mushrooms
Squash
Aubergines
Chickpeas
Black beans
Okra
Beansprouts
Cabbage
Bok choy
Coriander and curry leaves
Yams
Gourds

As you can see I eat all veggies really. A trip to your Asian store might be helpful.

Herbs, spices, nuts and seeds also count so makes it easier to manage

I think this is one of those loony "rules". Even Tim Spector says it's just an arbitrary exercise to get people thinking about consuming a variety of plants. Your diet looks nicely varied and colourful!

Anyway, for the hell of it:

Bagged salad (4 different leaves)
Onions
Garlic
Tomatoes
Courgettes
Aubergine
Peppers (3 colours)
Mixed veg (4 different)
Bananas
Grapes
Pears
Apples (one type)
Dates
Figs
Peanuts
Cashews
Brazil nuts
Mixed herbs (count as 1)

So that's 26. Probably a bit more than normal, as I don't usually make ratatouille.

I can't see why potatoes aren't included! I've decided to count them, too, so now I'm at 27 😁

It isn't just fruit and vegetables. The Zoe diet includes tea coffee green tea lentils and all types of beans. So baked beans mung bean red kidney beans etc. Plus herbs and spices.

A carrot even if eaten daily wd only count as 1 of the 30.

You can include onions and salad foods in this also. So beetroot lettuce cress watercress tomatoes etc.

Oh, I forgot spices! Thanks, I must have managed at least 28 then!

For some reason sweet potatoes are fine but white potatoes are not good for gut health. Even attributed to colon cancer. Ds does not like sweet potatoes though. So until he leaves home my hands are tied there.

Oh, coffee & tea count? Hurrah, I MADE 30!! I'm a fad diet success 😂

Nuts and seeds count. So a seed mix on your breakfast can add another 6

I don't believe that about spuds, @Augustus40. I leave the peel on mine, so I'm damn well having 'em!

Its quite odd how Zoe has basically taken what some cultures have been doing for centuries and repackaged it as revolutionary. If herbs and spices are included then I am up to 60 per week.

I am not sure my gut health is better than anyone else's. I just eat this way because its all I know.

Oh I didn't realise spices and tea counts! That helps.
What about pickled stuff? I like a pickled onion, pickled beetroot or pickled red cabbage with my salad.

In addition nuts and seeds are to be incorporated into the Zoe diet and I think olives.

If you find this too over the top then just follow the Mediterranean diet instead.

I feel much healthier since adopting the Zoe diet. I cannot do intermittent fasting though. I live on my nerves as I am neurodivergent. If you view Tim Spector on you tube you will see what he eats in a typical day. Though he is truly minted so many of us cannot achieve his high level of daily foods.

Not sure ref pickled. I get mouth ulcers when I eat pickled foods.

I eat very cheaply on an Asian diet so not sure what Tim is eating. I eat nuts and also eat a lot of seeds:
Cumin
Mustard
Fenugreek
Cardamom
Turmeric ( a root)
among others.

This week

Salad leaves
Cucumber
Peppers
Tomatoes
Onion
Spring onion
Carrots
Celery
Sugarsnaps
Broccoli
Peas
Sweetcorn
Edamame
Asparagus
Cabbage
Olives
Avocado
Satsumas
Melon
Grapes
Strawberries
Mango
Pineapple
Apple
Bean sprouts
Water chestnuts
Chilli
Ginger
Garlic
Spices
Herbs
Green tea
Seeds
Broad beans
Almonds
Dried apricots
Raisins

This is good advice.

I’ve made my own seed mix by chucking a whole load of different ones in a box that I sprinkle on my kefir every morning except for fast days. That a mixture of different nuts and I’m at 10-12 easily daily.

I used to be vegan many moons ago. I now mainly follow a vegetarian diet with the odd bit of good quality meat and fish thrown in.

I easily make the 30 of plants a week. A variety is key I think.

Its helped a bit but I’m always unwell so not sure it’s helped me much!

I haven't read the Zoe diet, but I did know about trying to get more variety in. I understood it to be 30 plants, not necessarily fruit and veg, so I count my grains as one each (wheat, oats, rice, rye) and also count different varieties of beans and lentils separately.
I batch cook https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetable-recipes/buddy-s-smoky-beans/
and
https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/kerryann-s-chilli-con-veggie/

They each have about 6 plants in the dish, double if you count spices.

I think that spices and herbs count as a quarter each so would need 4 different ones to count towards 1 plant.

Yes you can include spices

So in one curry say
Garlic
Onion
Ginger
Black pepper
Cumin
Coriander
Tumeric
Cinnamon
Chilli
Red lentils
Chickpeas
Aubergine
Tomato
Fresh coriander

And that's 14 different types in one meal

Have a fruit salad in the fridge

Have a green salad one evening

Tea
Coffee

And that's about 30 I reckon

I wouldn't say encouraging people to eat a huge variety of plant foods is a fad diet.

I've been doing it since last year (I haven't joined up to anything) and it's made a massive difference to my physical and mental health/energy levels. It's a permanent way of eating for me now.

I don't think I eat anywhere near that, but I agree it's a good thing to aim for.

Off the top of my head this week I've had:

Raspberries
Apple
Asparagus
Broccoli
Green beans
Walnuts
Brazil nuts
Lentils
Beans
Sage
Avocado
Olives (if they count?)
Rocket
Lettuce
Tomatoes

So 15. Some of those are multiple times e.g. I always have nuts with yoghurt for breakfast and I had avocado on a bagel two days in a row this week but I need to think about branching out. And I definitely need to eat more fruit!

If oats, tea and coffee count I've also had those! I can understand the oats but not what the benefit is from a cup of tea or a bit of dried herbs (in terms of gut health).

Who when and where connected white potatoes to colon cancer??? And who siad they are not good for gut health? Because afaik with gut health it's the other way around.

I’m eating ground flax seeds for my blood pressure-sprinkled on everything
seed mix on yoghurt
eat dal most weeks
brown rice
have a veg chilli or similar most weeks
make a lot of veg/bean soups
add chickpeas to roast veg for the last 5 minutes
eat seeded sourdough bread
home made red cabbage sauerkraut
olives
as well as what the O P eats

This week I've had

Broccoli
Spring onions
Red onions
Garlic
Lemon
Beetroot
Carrots
Parsley
Coriander
Chickpeas
Olive oil
Pomegranate
Pineapple
Banana
Apple
Satsuma
Redcurrants
Blackberries
Strawberries
Raspberries
Mushrooms
Mixed nuts
Flaxseed
Dark chocolate
Tea
Red peppers
Courgette
Aubergine
Tomatoes
Green beans
Spices
Pumpkin seeds
Sunflower seeds
Chia seeds
Black beans
Cauliflower
Spinach
Butternut

That's 38 but I've probably forgotten a few things. I have things like roasted mixed veg or a raw veg salad with ten different ingredients for lunch (I make enough for a few days) and I buy frozen mixed berries for using on my porridge.