Diversify Your Gut Microbiome
For as long as most can recall, the USDA has engrained the “5-A-Day” messaging into the psyche of Americans, that is, to eat five servings of fruit and vegetables a day. More recently, as microbiome science has evolved, researchers are espousing the benefits of diversity over quantity in our consumption of plant-based foods—meaning, we should focus on incorporating different types of plants rather than focusing on daily servings. To be clear at the outset of this blog, recommending a vegan or a vegetarian lifestyle is not where this is headed.
Let’s start at the beginning. In 2018, when the American Gut Project (AGP) published their research, more than 10,000 “citizen scientists” from the U.S., U.K. and Australia self-selected to contribute stool samples and details regarding their diet. Stool samples were analyzed for beta-diversity, or variation in microbes. Those who self-reported consuming the greatest dietary diversity of plants demonstrated the greatest diversity of microbial species, regardless of whether participants self-identified as a vegan or an omnivore.
Why is microbial diversity in the gut important? The gut microbiome (GMB) is the ecosystem of bacteria, fungi and viruses living mostly in the colon and, to a lesser degree, in the stomach and small intestine. The science evolves almost daily, but a dysbiotic or imbalanced GMB ecosystem has been linked to mental disorders, cardiometabolic diseases, immune dysfunction, neuroendocrine function and neurodegeneration. A more diverse gut ecosystem is thought to make a person more resilient to disease and aging.
The GMB is mutable, affected by certain lifestyle choices including but not limited to diet, exercise and stress. When it comes to diet, plant foods deliver a type of fiber known as prebiotics (food/energy for the microbes living in your GI tract) and antioxidants to your GI, which in turn develop a more resilient and diverse GMB. Thus, more plants = more diverse GMB = better health.
The publication of the AGP research led to several social media challenges to consume 30 different plant foods a week, the creation of the “Hack Your Health” documentary smoothie and the founding of ZOE, which conducts its own research on plant diversity and gut microbial diversity. (If you visit the ZOE site, you’ll find they sell several products and services. I am not suggesting these are necessary in order to participate in the challenge.)
The concept of the challenge is to eat 30 different types of plants per week. Once you have eaten one plant once that week, that’s it—you cannot count it again for that week!
What counts? Fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, spices, grains and herbs are all on the list, and even your coffee, tea, chocolate and extra virgin olive oil count! Juice does not count, because it has been stripped of its beneficial fiber.
Admittedly, this challenge will likely require a great deal of planning, shopping and prep work. Smoothies, soups and salads are your friends here! Even if you don’t hit the 30-plants-a-week goal, you can still benefit from the attempt. It’s always good to expand our horizons—you may even come to realize you had been stuck in a food rut eating the same foods over and over again.
If you decide to tackle this challenge, there are many apps, logs, books, etc., that you can purchase online to help guide you. I suggest keeping it simple out of the gate, and I have provided a printable PDF to help you log your progress. June’s Motivated Mondays’ mini resolution through CCP will be to eat more fruit and vegetables, so there will be plenty of creative recipes provided to help you try new recipes. Click here if you’re interested in signing up!
