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Read Time: | 19th December 2024
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Want to learn how to eat 30 plants a week and add variety to your diet? We’ll show you how to supercharge your gut health while keeping things simple, affordable, and delicious
Eating 30 plants a week has become a hot topic thanks to Tim Spector’s diet tips promoting gut health and overall well-being.
The 30 Plants Challenge seems perfect for those already embracing a plant-based diet. After all, it works out as less than five plants a day, which should be easy, right?
However, unlike the well-known 5-a-day requirements, Tim Spector’s 30 plants guidelines stipulate eating 30 different plants – so you can’t count repeats of the same plant within the week.
And even the most dedicated vegans can fall into a routine of repeating the same go-to meals, buying the same few vegetables week after week.
But the good news is, it’s not just fruits and vegetables that count; there are over 7,000 edible plants to explore including grains, herbs, spices, and even chocolate!
In this guide, we’re serving vegan recipes and meal ideas to help you hit the 30 plant goal effortlessly, with easy and affordable ways to incorporate a variety of plant foods into your week.
You’ll also learn why plant diversity matters in a vegan diet, and how eating 30 plants a week can benefit your health.
In this article:
- Why plant diversity matters in a vegan diet
- How to eat 30 different plants a week
- Recipes to help you eat 30 different plants in a week
Eating 30 plants in a week isn't as hard as it sounds - most herbs and spices will count towards your total. Photo © levgen Skrypko/Adobe Stock
Why plant diversity matters in a vegan diet
According to research by the American Gut Project, of which the British arm was led by Tim Spector, eating 30 plants a week boosts the diversity of your gut microbiome, which is essential for good gut health.
A healthier gut supports your mood1, strengthens your immune system2, and reduces inflammation3, lowering the risk of chronic diseases4.
Eating high-fibre foods and fermented foods are known ways to aid gut health, but eating a wider variety of plant foods including these two food types and more has been shown to significantly increase the likelihood of having beneficial bacteria in the gut.
Taking part in the 30 plants challenge also involves eating more whole food plant-based meals and snacks, meaning less reliance on ultra-processed foods and unhealthy convenience meals.
Keep a stock of frozen fruits and vegetables for an easy way to add extra plants into your week. Photo © Yaruniv-Studio/Adobe Stock
How to eat 30 different plants a week
Understanding Tim Spector’s plant diversity guidelines can be tricky as there’s a lot of information to take in.
So we’ve condensed the most important points into a simple list – perfect to bookmark, screenshot, or print off for easy reference:
- Almost every whole plant food counts, including potatoes (preferably with skin), herbs and spices, and even coffee!
- Juices that contain no fruit fibre and refined foods like white bread, pasta, and rice don’t count. It’s best to stick to minimally-processed foods.
- You can only count each plant food towards the 30 plants once per week. So, if you eat porridge oats every day, you can still only count oats as one.
- However, you don’t need to limit each plant to once per week, so you can carry on with your daily breakfast, just change up your toppings with different fruits, nuts, and seeds to keep your plant count rising.
- Fruits and vegetables of different colours, like black and green olives, or red and yellow peppers, offer different nutrients and will increase plant diversity in your diet, so aim to include many different colours in your meals.
- Plant diversity is more important than portion sizes, so focus on eating as many different plants as possible throughout the week. Getting a big portion of each is a bonus
- When it comes to herbs and spices, you may only use a small amount in a meal. To make sure you’re getting the benefits, try to include the same herbs and spices in multiple meals throughout the week. It never hurts to add a little extra seasoning to your food!
Which foods count towards the 30 plants a week goal?
- Fruits, vegetables, and mushrooms (fresh, frozen, canned, dried and more – as long as they still offer beneficial fibre and other nutrients, these all count)
- Grains (these include barley, quinoa, wholewheat, black/brown/red/wild rice, and even popcorn)
- Legumes (including beans, peas, lentils, and soya)
- Nuts and seeds (including chia seeds and flaxseeds used as vegan egg replacers in healthy recipes)
- Herbs and spices (both fresh and dried )
- Coffee (including instant and decaf)
- Dark chocolate (over 70% cocoa)
- And more… (if it’s a whole food that grows in the ground – or the sea – it can usually be counted)
Try adding these immune-boosting foods to your week
You don't always need to completely change what you eat. Instead, use different plant-based toppings and inclusions through the week to increase plant diversity in your meals. Photo © vaaseenaa/Adobe Stock
5 recipes to help you eat 30 different plants in a week
It may sound like a daunting challenge, but it can be easy to eat 30 plants a week with minimal effort.
In fact, it doesn’t need to involve complicated meal plans or expensive products; it’s possible to eat 30 plants in a week with only a few veg-centric meals.
If you struggle to add more variety to your diet or are new to plant-based eating, the following recipes are a great place to start as they should fit easily into your week and contain 30 different healthy plants between them.
Include these five vegan recipes in your week and you’re guaranteed to hit your 30 plants with ease.
1. Vegan Chickpea & Potato Hash
Plant count: 11 | Cook time: 1 hour | Allergens: none
This recipe makes a brilliant weekend breakfast or brunch, and is nutritious while feeling like a real treat.
It takes a little while to cook, but most of this is passive cooking meaning you have plenty of time to enjoy the morning.
This filling potato hash offers seven different plants including peppers, mushrooms, avocado, spinach and, of course, chickpeas.
You’ll also get the benefits of four different herbs and spices to count towards your plant goals.
2. Triple Berry Vegan Smoothie
Plant count: 5 | Cook time: 5 minutes | Allergens: soya
When you’re in a hurry, a smoothie is a quick and easy way to pack more fruit and veg into your morning.
This simple crowd-pleaser contains three antioxidant-rich berries; blackberries, strawberries, and blueberries, plus soya milk and a pinch of cinnamon for extra plant power.
You can enjoy many more delicious smoothie flavours to help boost your plant count. Opting for frozen fruits or adding leftover fruits and vegetables to your blender to make your smoothies is a simple way to eat 30 plants per week on a budget.
3. Vegan Freekeh Salad
Plant count: 6 | Cook time: 45 minutes | Allergens: none
Whether you serve it as a side dish or pack it up for lunch on the go, this freekeh salad is a delicious way to add six more plants to your count, including a few that probably wouldn’t ordinarily feature in your weekly meal plan.
Freekeh, an ancient grain, is a great source of protein and fibre and offers plenty of other nutrients like calcium, iron and zinc.
This dish also features fresh, raw courgette and pomegranate seeds for a satisfyingly crunchy salad.
4. Vegan Turmeric Chickpea Buddha Bowl
Plant count: 10 | Cook time: 50 minutes | Allergens: sesame
The many components of this vibrant Buddha bowl take a bit of effort to make, but they can be made ahead to give multiple portions for the week making this a great lunch or dinner for meal preppers.
Along with a rainbow of peppers – and yes, you can count each colour as a separate plant – this dish offers the earthy flavours of roasted carrots and beetroot, iron-rich kale, and vitamin E from the sesame in the creamy tahini dressing.
5. One Pot Vegan Spaghetti Puttanesca
Plant count: 6 | Cook time: 30 minutes | Allergens: wheat, gluten
This incredibly easy dish is great for those weeks when you need an extra boost of healthy plants but can’t spend much time in the kitchen.
With simple ingredients that require minimal prep, especially if you choose pre-sliced onions and ready-to-use garlic puree, this one-pot meal is ready in under half an hour. And you get the added bonus of less time spent washing up!
This recipe is handy for using up any leftover onions and garlic from other plant-powered meals you’ve made, and adds pitted olives, capers, and sun-dried tomatoes to keep that plant count ticking up.
Opt for wholewheat spaghetti to score an extra plant point from this meal.
If you include all five of these easy dishes in your week, you’ll have already smashed your target with 30 different vegetables, fruits, and grains – and that’s not including the optional wholewheat spaghetti.
Plus, with a sprinkling of eight different herbs and spices across the recipes, you’ll be well on your way to getting even more.
Did you know that how you eat foods can be as important as what you eat? Here’s how to maximise nutritional benefits with food combining
Featured photo © Jenifoto/Adobe Stock
References:
- Appleton J. 2018. The Gut-Brain Axis: Influence of Microbiota on Mood and Mental Health. Integr Med (Encinitas). Accessed via: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6469458/
- Wiertsema SP, van Bergenhenegouwen J, Garssen J, Knippels LMJ. 2021. The Interplay between the Gut Microbiome and the Immune System in the Context of Infectious Diseases throughout Life and the Role of Nutrition in Optimizing Treatment Strategies. Nutrients. Accessed via: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8001875/
- Al Bander Z, Nitert MD, Mousa A, Naderpoor N. 2020. The Gut Microbiota and Inflammation: An Overview. Int J Environ Res Public Health. Accessed via: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7589951/
- Vijay A, Valdes AM. 2021. Role of the gut microbiome in chronic diseases: a narrative review. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Accessed via: www.drremo.com.au/uploads/165/7/Your-gut-microbiome-and-link-to-chronic-conditions.pdf
