First, we would like to share with you that plant counting is a hot topic of discussion amongst nutritionists and scientists!
We also know that many of you have been confused by the plant portions notifications that are currently in the app. We are working hard at ZOE to develop an accurate and simple to understand plant diversity counter.
In the plant diversity counter we include:
Vegetables
Fruits
Seeds
Legumes
Nuts
Nut butters
Herbs and spices
Grains that are high in fiber (new)
What are we not counting that you might expect to count?
Fruit juices - we have decided to exclude them since the processing involved in making juice from whole fruit increases free sugar content and removes fibre content.
Potatoes if they are processed will not be included.
Plant milks
Coffee & tea
Wine
Oils, including extra virgin olive oil
Dark chocolate
Other considerations:
Our improved Plant Diversity Counter is now able to tell which plants are in some of your favourite 'composite' meals like pre-packaged foods e.g. if you eat store-bought guacamole, we will now know it has avocado! In some cases, we may not have enough information on the plant content in the product.
We group plants into families so, for example, different salad leaves may only be counted once.
The Plant Portions Counter in Diary works differently e.g. it applies portion size considerations, which the Plant Diversity Counter doesn't, so do expect some differences.
How is ZOE's daily30 counted?
ZOE is launching the Daily30+, a supplement designed to boost a members meals with 5g of fibre from a diverse range of plants and sources that are otherwise practically impossible to achieve in the home kitchen. These diverse sources are a wonderful source of variety that will boost a members biome. However, the supplement is not a substitute for other whole foods and because of this we do not want it to obscure the need for members to continue to eat 30 different plants and track this in the app.