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.

Very true, I'm still inclined to stick with the Marie Lloyd diet

'a little of what you fancy does you good'.

This week:

Raspberries
Blueberries
Grapes
Apples
Satsumas
Mango
Melon
Lettuce
Watercress
Onion
Tomatoes
Peppers
Cucumber
Avocado
Green beans
Asparagus
Carrot
Onion
Aubergine
Courgette
Spinach
Nuts (various)
Chickpeas
Kidney beans
Peppermint tea
Turmeric
Shallots
Peas

Almost but not quite and that's a good week!

Does portion size matter though? I eat a handful of different nuts/seeds most days but not 6 individual portions.

But this one has a nice shiny app and a programme you can sign up to. 😉

Pickled veg is very good for gut health and can work against blood sugar spikes.

It's also easy to keep them long life in the fridge. You could try to add gherkins or cornichons, sauerkraut etc to your meals.

Also you can buy jars of baby corn which are delicious.

I love a veg heavy stir fry of mange tout, fresh baby corn, bean sprouts, water chestnuts, red onion, julienne carrots, sliced mushrooms with a black bean sauce.

I live alone so mostly eat frozen steam veg

Broccoli
Carrots
Sweetcorn
Strawberries
Raspberries
Apples
Bananas
Salad leaves mixed
Pickled red cabbage
Gherkins
Cucumber
Tomatoes
Red onion
Lime

Then various herbs and spices plus tea and coffee

Nowhere near that - a typical week might be
Tomatoes
Cucumber
lettuce
red pepper
broccoli
banana
kiwi fruit
onion
carrots
peas
beans
orange juice
tomato juice
mixed green smoothie (shop bought)

Thinking back over the last week would be.
Carrot
Parsnip
Broccoli
Butternut squash
Peas
Fine green beans
Celery
Baby corn
Peppers
Radish
Lettuce
Tomato
Cucumber
Spring onion
Red onions
White onions
Asparagus
Avocado
Beansprouts
Water chestnuts
Mushrooms
Swede
Gerkins
Kidney beans
Green lentils
Baked beans
Black beans
Chickpeas
Pickled beetroot
Banana
Watermelon
Blueberries
Raspberries
Strawberries
Satsuma
Cashews
Walnuts
Lemon
Lime
garlic
ginger
chillies
Various dried herbs and spices in meals
Black tea
Green tea
Various herbal teas

That's pretty typical for our family to be honest but I've never really given it much thought before. It's just how we eat. I would say 2 thirds of our weekly shop is plant based so it's not hard for us to get a good variety.

When the '30 plants' thing started a few years ago it was stressed that it did include grains and potatoes, which would top up most peoples lists.

otoh, mushrooms shouldn't be in there since they aren't plants.

Every week I have:

Apple
Mandarin
Orange
Grapes
Passionfruit
Bananas
Blueberries
Raspberries
Pear
Kiwifruit

Potato
Kumara
Carrot
Parsnip
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Peas
Beans
Tomatoes
Pumpkin
Sweetcorn
Lettuce
Capsicum
Cucumber
Zucchini
Avocado
Cabbage

Thats 27. There’s probably others I also eat some weeks, so thirty isn’t impossible.

Green beans, broccoli (both main types), cabbage, cauliflower, mushrooms, mixed leaves, peppers, onions, carrots, butternut squash, spinach (cooked), bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, chilli peppers, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, swede, parsnips, pomegranate, apples, lemon (juice), mango, strawberries, melon (various), pak choi, spring onions, herbs, various pulses ... pretty varied but still not 30 and obviously not every week is the same, if we don't have a roast I won't have as many, and several are in a stir fry mix so not huge amounts.

Having my fridge properly set prevented lots of waste. Check temperatures regularly. Also vaccum boxes.

It's two of us and we do quite well on different veg and fruits because we just fit our cooking around what's available. So we don't meal plan. We just cook whatever is there andneeds to be used. Broccoli lasts me week in a fridge, so does cauliflower. Not asda' or aldi one tho. Market one.
3 fruits a day usually. 1 is afternoon apple, 2 in the evening. Grapefruit, grapes, watermelon, plums... Any little combo. Whatever is on sale or reasonably priced really.

I do sympathy with the IBS limits

This is where health advice and environmental consciousness clash. Are there even enough semi-native types of fruits and veg in the UK to fullfil that?

I have just made a list and eat just over half of that in a typical week. And I consider myself a reasonably healthy eater. I certainly eat more fruit and veg than most people I know and often hide veg like swede or carrots in mash and celery etc. in sauces to stretch meals.

I haven't bought any plans or signed up to anything, I just think it would be good for me to increase the diversity of plants that I eat.

It's seasonal, there's a lot more available from about March to November, but counting in the herbs I use regularly it isn't that much of a challenge.
Sage, chives, thyme, rosemary, parsley, sweet cicely, lovage, fennel, mint, lemon balm, oregano, sorrel, borage, nasturtium, marigold. That's 15 just from a wander round the garden.

As has been said in previous posts, it's not just fruit and veg but plant foods. Beans, pulses, nuts, seeds, herbs and whole grains all count.

From lunch I had 12 as I totted it up out of interest - leftovers from last night and salad:

Spinach
Onion
Cinnamon
Black olives
Green olives
Radish
Tomatoes
Rocket
Watercress
Avocado
Cucumber
Garlic

Glass of wine may count as grapes so poss 13

Black tea and chamomile tea and coffee this morning so poss another 3 gets to 16. I'll have green tea later

Many of these will be repeated though but I'll keep a list this week

This week
Bilbeŕies
Raspberries
Damsons
Blackcurrants
Red gooseberry
(All from my garden and frozen)
Greenbeans
Red and green cabbage
Brocoli
Sweet potatoes
Celeriac
Swede
Courgette
Kale
Red onions, white onions, spring onions
Garlic
Apples
Bananas
Avocado
Pumpkin seeds
Chia
Flaxseed
Walnuts
Hazlenuts
Cashews
peppers
Chillis
Mushrooms
Auberginè
Thyme, coriander, basil, turmeric, oregano
Hop shoots
Carrots
Cucumber
Lamsb lettuce
Beetroot
Various salady leaves
Ginger root
Oranges
Olives
Varying herbal teas
Coffee
Water chestnuts
Bean sprouts

And to redress the balance
Bacon sarnies
Butchers pies
bags of Walkers ready salted crisps
Umpteen glasses of Malbec
Fried egg sandwiches
Ripples, Bounty, Twirls
LIDL salt & ,pepper rice crackers (like crack to me)

^Bacon sarnies
Butchers pies
bags of Walkers ready salted crisps
Umpteen glasses of Malbec
Fried egg sandwiches
Ripples, Bounty, Twirls
LIDL salt & ,pepper rice crackers (like crack to me)^

Adding at least 6 more plant items to your list: wheat, potatoes, grapes, cocoa solids, rice, and pepper.

Very good work!

Not portions just variety. Quarter of a teaspoon of cinnamon counts as one, or a pound of chips (probably two as spuds plus vegetable oil, unless you cook them in beef dripping), sprinkle of chives or parsley.

But there’s also evidence that picked foods can be linked to gastric cancers 😕

Does it not depend on the pickle - fermented foods good, vinegar more variable?

Last week....

Breakfasts - oats, banana, apple, pear, satsumas, coffee (6)

Lunches - lettuce, cucumber. beetroot, radish, tomatoes, wheat (coarse wholemeal bread), spring onion (7)

Suppers - Onions, potatoes, carrots, leeks, peas, sweetcorn, garlic, kidney beans, cannellini beans, coconut, broccoli, celery, (12)

Dessert - home bottled blackberries, rhubarb (2)
Snacks - hazel, cashew, almond nuts, (3)

I find it a lot easier to get to 30 if I make a batch of veggie soup per week, and have a vegetable chilli.

@Skethylita There are loads in the UK. It's really not difficult.

I have a small greenhouse. At the moment I have the following growing in a 12x10 space.

French beans
broad beans
squash
courgettes
tomatoes
chilli
cucumber
lettuce
rocket
radish
leeks
spring onions
Peppers
Aubergines

Outside I have
apples,
raspberries
figs
Apricots
Hazel
blackberries
damsons
rhubarb

That's 22 without even getting to the maincrop stuff like potatoes, carrots and onions. The UK can grow dozens of veg.,

I don’t think I have anywhere near 30 different ones per week- largely because I eat the same things most days (creature of habit and obsessional about foods- I am possibly ND). I also worry a lot about food waste. If I buy a huge range of fruit and veg, there will be more than the four of us can eat in a week so some will inevitably get thrown away.

What irks me is that it seems to me it’s quite difficult to prioritise health and environment at the same time. I’m trying my best to buy only seasonal veg and fruit that is grown as locally as possible- because I think it’s a good choice for the environment. Naturally this means not buying a huge variety of fruit and veg because there is nowhere local to me growing bananas, blueberries or avocados to name a few examples!