Thirty plants a week: the only gut rule worth following
Forget probiotics for a moment. The largest microbiome study to date found plant diversity predicted gut health better than any supplement.
Dr. Maya Krishnan
Head of Nutrition
7 min read
The American Gut Project sequenced samples from more than eleven thousand people. The strongest dietary predictor of a diverse microbiome was not organic, not probiotic, not fermented. It was the number of distinct plant species eaten per week.
Why thirty
People eating thirty or more different plants weekly showed markedly more diverse gut bacteria than those eating ten or fewer. Diversity matters because different bacteria ferment different fibres, producing short-chain fatty acids that feed your gut lining.
Thirty sounds daunting until you learn what counts. Herbs count. Spices count. Nuts, seeds, grains and legumes all count. A single well-built salad can carry twelve.
- Every herb and spice counts as a plant — a spice blend can add four in one spoon
- Different colours of the same vegetable count separately
- Whole grains, nuts, seeds and legumes all count
- Coffee and dark chocolate count, which I enjoy telling people
“Stop optimising for one superfood. Eat thirty ordinary ones instead. The evidence for diversity is far stronger than the evidence for any single ingredient.”
