You may have heard experts like ZOE Co-Founder Prof. Tim Spector recommending that you eat 30 different plants a week, but where did this number come from?
In 2018, scientists published results from the American Gut Project, a collaboration of researchers and more than 10,000 “citizen scientists” from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia and Tim led the U.K. arm of the research, called the British Gut Project.
The volunteers shared detailed information about their eating habits and researches analysed their stool samples to find out which gut bugs they contained.
Participants who ate 30 or more different plants per week were more likely to have certain “good” gut bacteria, and a more diverse microbiome compared to those who ate just 10. This was irrespective of whether they were vegan, vegetarian etc. Their stool samples also contained higher levels of healthy chemicals produced by the gut bacteria. Interestingly, the bacteria in their guts also had fewer selected antibiotic resistance genes.
Its not just your microbiome that benefits from a plant rich diet. Some of the other health benefits include:
Improving heart health
Reducing blood pressure
Lowering inflammation
Diabetes prevention
Improving digestive health
If you're looking for tips on how to incorporate more plants into your diet, take a look at this article.