Eating 30 plants a week- what portion size is enough to count?

[CormorantStrikesBack]

Is it like 5 a day veg and it needs to be a handful or because it’s more about gut health is a smaller amount enough ?

I’ve just had a ready meal and figured I could count the brown rice. But what about all the smaller amounts of veg?

I always thought 80g is the amount of a portion (thereabouts)

So basically a pound of fruit/veg a day and it should be heavy on the veg not fruit

I don't think 80g applies for the 30 in a week thing, or you'd have to have completely different food every day.

No the 30 plants is not portions, it's any amount of anything that is grown. So pepper, soya, lemon juice, coconut, all the spices listed on your label... it's a way of checking you have variety in your diet as far as I'm aware. If you only eat ham egg and chips every day that would be one. Maybe two if ketchup!

Smaller amounts are fine - it's not based on portion size. So herbs/spices count (albeit most people could them as 1/4 but still, you can hardly eat a handful of spices for example).

i read somewhere each portion is about a large fistful size so it would be roughly 10 cherry tomatoes/grapes/raspberries etc for something smaller and then 1 sweet potato or 5 broccoli florets for something bigger

I just can't eat that much food 😞

zoe.com/learn/30-plants-per-week.amp
It's not related to 5-a-day

I always use the "one fistful" measurement too

Actually that large fistful size might have been more for your 5 a day. As a pp said earlier you couldn’t eat a fistful size of herbs and spices but they do count. Same for things like garlic

This thread might be helpful too:

http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/weightlosss_chat/4982488-30-plants-a-week

This is correct.

Coffee counts, herbs count, garnishes.

It is about variety not amount.

My understanding is that the portion size doesn't matter for the 30 plants a week thing. It's about getting a big a variety as possible to get a healthy, diverse microbiome.

Re herbs - I read that fresh herbs count but not dried ...

I would have thought most people have 30 different types of 'plants' in their diets then on a weekly basis

Just thinking about today, and I havent eaten that much

Herbs in my breakfast
tomato in a chutney
lemon on a cake
coffee
chocolate
cabbage
cranberry sauce
brussell sprouts
apple (in a sauce)
peas
carrot
potato

A large number of the above were certainly not healthy options!

The link from Zoe above explains it:
Also, you don’t need to eat any specific amount of a plant for it to count. Even small pinches of herbs and spices matter.
But when it comes to herbs and spices, you might want to try and eat them a few times throughout the week to get the full benefits.

The Zoe page says both fresh and dried count, which makes it easier.

I think it can be done relatively easily but it does take a little bit of thinking about. So we often have lots of veggies but we have the same ones frequently - onions/carrots/celery/tomatoes/peppers/broccoli/green beans - as they form the basis of quite a few of our meals. To then actively start thinking about variety can be a bit more tricky. There are ways to make it easier like adding pulses to various dishes but it still is easy to default to your 'usuals' which don't always give you that variety.

Yes so tomorrow might be tricky dependent on how the day goes but I might manage

lentils
spinach
onion
garlic
ginger
a number of spices
black bean
aubergine

so 20 in 2 days but that is only if I manage the breakfast and dinner I have planned, doesnt always go to plan

Thanks everyone, I’ll check out the thread linked below as well.

btw, I can very much recommend that M&S katsu curry ready meal, it was lovely! Hope they keep this range long term.

I work on the theory that spices can count for up to two.
Herbs count as one unless I make pesto and then we get two.

DH drys herbs and edible wild greens (weeds) half a handful of this with a tin of mixed beans and the other stuff necessary to make a meal would hit thirty, but it feels like cheating.

The main point is just to check for variety. We've all been there when the DC are young and fussy - onion, carrot, broccoli, peas, sweet corn - repeat.

Is there a big fruit and veg list /plant list that I could tick off as the week goes by?

I thought this was a load of rubbish when I first posted, now Im all over it!!

Ahh ok. Thank you. I got my information from Dr Will Bulsiewicz's book, Fibre Fuelled. He's a gastro, who I believe has links with Zoe. He says just fresh, but yes being able to count dried herbs does make it easier :)

All fascinating stuff!

I found this if it's any help, Soupfiend?

Checklist 30 Plants per Week - DJ Blatner (dawnjacksonblatner.com)

Thanks, its not bad but I reckon there must be a better one because theres a lot missing off that list

I’m planning on making my own spreadsheet with rows for different types which I will add to as I eat them. Columns for different weeks and put an X in the box if I eat it that week.

I fear "lemon on a cake" might be within the letter but not the spirit of the rules 😁