30 plant-based foods a week, so hard

[ILookAtTheFloor]

I'm really struggling with getting 30 plant based foods a week as per Tim Spector's advice on gut health.

I've counted last week and I can only get to 17! It's hard as I tend to batch cook for both ease and budget.

How can I get more in? I already include lentils, wholegrain rice, quinoa etc. Any tips welcome! Anyone else trying it?

I did this for a while last year. I don’t usually have breakfast, so crammed most of the plant based foods into my lunch and dinner.

Soup is a good one, especially if you make a couple of different ones each week. Stews are another good option for the same reason, or mixed roasted vegetables or salads for a more summery take on the challenge.

Nuts are good, especially if you eat mixed nuts, rather than a single type. I like adding some pine nuts or flaked almonds to salads, rice/ pasta etc.

A greater variety of fruit would also help get you there. If you don’t have a sweet tooth, how about some satsumas? Or adding a good squeeze of lemon or lime juice to your meals (obviously only with recipes that would benefit from doing this!)

I also like having a few olives as a snack, or added to any kind of tomato sauce. Plus I tend to be quite liberal with herbs. E.g. a bunch of basil added to a tomato sauce, or herbs added to rice. It all adds up!

Add in a small bowl of homemade miso soup with your lunch? You can use any veg and no need to fry onion. I just put chopped veg in stock, simmer til done and stir in miso. Always tastes nice if you like miso.

I was just about to suggest stir fry with beansprouts, bamboo shoots, pak choy etc but a pp beat me to it!

Thanks all, as I understand it herbs only count as a quarter of a 1 as we eat so little? So 4 herbs make 1 of the 30. I do use oregano, chilli powder, turmeric, basil, coriander, paprika and that other curry one that alludes me right now.

I occasionally use fresh herbs but most of the time dried ones from the cupboard!

I'm sure I'd like miso as I love Asian flavours, going to look this up now...

The problem is getting the variety as I spend all Sunday afternoon prepping my work lunches so tend to eat one each week. I was doing a spicey lentil stew with curried veg but got bored so am trying something else now with salmon cos of the omega 3.

Porridge for breakfast with blueberries and another fruit (I have puréed apples frozen from our apple tree). Flax seed and a ground mixture of pumpkin, sunflower and chia seeds. That’s 6 just from one meal. If you eat nuts add a handful of a few different nuts and you’re at nearly ten just from breakfast.

I'd love to eat porridge but I just hate anything creamy or milky, so even milk substitute for oats turns my stomach.

Can porridge or eats be made with water?

Nowt wrong with dried herbs or frozen veg or jars of stuff, they all make life quick and easy. Get most of mine from here wiltonwholefoods.com

Use frozen onions and peppers, they fry up quick. Try frozen peas, broad beans plus edamame beans, just lob them in the water with the pasta. Aldi and Lidl sell jars of roasted pepper, artichokes, tomatoes and sometimes mixed antipasti - instant added veg. Grate carrots into tomato sauce and sweet potatoes into dal.

Teach DH to prep vegetables.

Even a shop bought onion bhagee contains chick pea flour, onions and spices.

I make porridge with water and/or almond milk as I have a dairy allergy. It is very nice.

Have you got Megan Rossi's latest book? It's exactly this concept and is really helpful at breaking it down and giving you ideas.

A savoury porridge might be helpful. I have a hodgepodge recipe that has no milk involved and plenty of plants - it's a little weird as it's kinda porridge-eggs:

1/2 cup mixed frozen veg (I literally scooped it out of a bag with a measuring cup)
1/2 cup oats
1-2 eggs mixed in
Mix in salsa to flavour, chia and camelina seeds and nutritional yeast sometimes added in too.
Microwave to desired consistency (I hate runny eggs, so it's usually 2-3 minutes, but sometimes needs extra 15 second blasts depending on the veg I think).

@ILookAtTheFloor

Thanks all, as I understand it herbs only count as a quarter of a 1 as we eat so little? So 4 herbs make 1 of the 30. I do use oregano, chilli powder, turmeric, basil, coriander, paprika and that other curry one that alludes me right now.

I occasionally use fresh herbs but most of the time dried ones from the cupboard!

If its a quarter based on the quantity you eat, then if you eat a lot multiple times a week, surely you simply add that up! Its a quarter based on quantity rather than the type. Therefore if you ate thyme four times a week, you've eaten enough to count as one. Otherwise the principle makes no sense anyway.

Also adding a whole chilli would in theory count as 1 but chilli powder only ever counts as 1/4?? Same for garlic. Or a bunch of coriander v ground coriander. That makes no sense unless you can add these up, if you are merely adding for seasoning.

If you are going to stick to the letter of bonkers 'rules' then fine, but thats not really what the overall theory is about.

Ooh thanks everyone, I'm going to get that book and have another go at oats!

So things I might put in a miso soup are onion, garlic, ginger, sweet potato, leeks, mushroom, spinach, cabbage, carrot, different noodles like buckwheat, rice, soba etc, egg, tuna, seaweed, tofu - tons of possibilities.
I make porridge with water only. I have grated apple or chopped banana and different dried fruit in it, like fig, peach or apricot, then on the top I have ground flax or chia seed and whole nuts or nut butter, usually almond on the top plus grape or carob molasses. It's all going on in there!

There are a lot of pasta sauces that you could make that don't take long and have lots of vegetables. Pesto, potatoes and green beans is a traditional pasta dish for example.

I use oats to make pancakes as I’m gluten free, and I mix them with a banana and an egg, oat milk and then top with mixed berries and occasionally coconut yoghurt. Loads of recipes online.

I top stir fries with sesame seeds and curries with nuts. I also love raisins in rice if having with a curry or falafels for example.

You could also make your own houmous to have with vegetable sticks as a side for your lunch, or do a picky lunch of houmous, vegetable srocks and a seeded pitta (toasted).

I’m not sure I get 30 different fruit and veg (but I will record this week to find out!) but I definitely get loads of it which is important for optimum health. So don’t panic if you have 3 portions of carrots over a week, it’s better than 3 portions of chicken nuggets!

I've never seen this advice for 30 plant based food but it's v interesting as I often wonder about us. I have been known to count up our fresh fruit and veg variety of a week and usually get to around 20. I do not usually include things like beans, rice, pasta, bread etc so I think I am probably close to 30....

So in this house:
Breakfast - usually weetabix (assume that counts) "sweetened" with a nutty granola (so technically a few more more, but let's count it as oats and nuts). DS adds raisins to his. Toast is consumed at least a few times a week. So minimum 4 or 5 for breakfast?

Fruit - fruit as a snack is consumed daily and over a week we will eat strawberries, blueberries, apples and bananas at a minimum. Satsumas, blackberries, oranges are also popular choices. let's say minimum 4 but probably more likely 6.

Potatoe and rice are regular carbs. Pasta about once a week. So 3?

At least half our meals involve a pile of steamed veg on the side. In summer, we have salads often. In my fridge/veg rack/freezer right now on this basis that will be eaten alongside or as standalone meals are: carrots, cauliflower, tenderstem broccoli, baby corn, spring onions, peppers, cucumber, lettuce, avocado, peas, butternut (11)

Onions and tomatoes are regularly used in meals, usually fresh. Sometimes tinned tomatoes (2)
Garlic and ginger also used weekly (1?)

Baked beans consumed at least weekly (1).
Peanut butter is practically a good group in itself around here. (1)

In winter I usually make a lot of stews and casseroles which usually include lentils or chickpeas or beans. In summer, we do more elaborate salads with a wider variety of additions. So we're close on an average week and just by making sure to have the higher end of fruit/veg variety and/or adding a few additional nuts/legumes we'd probably make it quite well.

We do seem to have good gut health!

Sounds like nonsense to me. Why no repetition?

@Sprig1

Sounds like nonsense to me. Why no repetition?

https://www.wcrf-uk.org/our-blog/could-you-eat-30-plant-based-foods-each-week/

The research also showed that people who hit the 30 mark had more bacteria that produce something called short chain fatty acids. And these fatty acids have been shown to reduce your risk of bowel cancer

I had nasi goreng tonight which is good for getting stuff in
Carrots, kale, lime, spring onion, brown rice, peanuts

I've just counted - I'm keeping a food diary at the moment to rule out symptoms - I got 24, but I can't count how many times I used herbs & spices. So it might be slightly higher. I eat rice a lot but it's currently mostly white (as it's cheaper) so it doesn't count.

From reading his book I thought herbs and spices all counted. Isn't it about giving your gut bacteria a variety of stuff - I Don't see why they wouldn't count then? If they do it becomes much easier. It sounds like you're doing pretty well though.

I just did a Google search and a twitter post from Tim Spector came up talking about reaching the 30 and using herbs as 1 each. I can't actually access twitter but that is what the Google preview showed me and corresponds to what he said in the book I read. I'm not convinced that the 1/4 'point' for each herb and spice hasn't been made up by someone else. I'd be interested to know the authority and research backing of that.

Also I forgot - you listed kimchi as one but surely that is made from multiple veges and spices?

Today (WFH) I had;
Satsuma
Bannana
Cous cous
Pepper
Spring onion
Cherry tomatoes
Cucumber
A handful of mixed leaves so 2/3
A handful of mixed seeds (again 2/3)
A Apple
A slice of pecan pie

So 15 and I haven't had dinner yet.
Is that right ?
Also olive oil on the salad- does that count ?

18 for me today, if you include the smoothie I had and coconut milk in the curry (which is 100% coconut milk).