As a parent, it can be challenging to figure out the best way to talk to your kids about nutrition. We live in a challenging foodscape: I don't want to make my children feel judged and restricted, but I also want to teach them how to make wise choices on their own. During our recent road trip, I occasionally stepped in to guide better nutrition choices, but for the most part, I let my kids make their own decisions. We were on vacation, after all. For one kiddo, this led to a diet with very few fruits and vegetables and a lot of greasy, energy-dense foods. Perhaps not surprisingly, he came home with gut troubles that we've been struggling to address.
You've probably heard that a diverse gut microbiome leads to better health outcomes, such as stronger immunity, appetite control, and improved metabolism. Unfortunately, the diversity of the human microbiome has been decreasing over the last 50 years. We have more food choices than ever, yet our gut health is underperforming.
You also might have seen the advice to eat 30 different plant foods over the course of a week to boost gut microbiome diversity. This recommendation comes from a study in which participants' gut microbiomes were analyzed through stool samples, and a survey asked how many plants participants ate over the course of a week. Those who reported eating 30 different plants had a more diverse microbiome. While there are several shortcomings to this self-report study (e.g., remembering exactly what you ate over a week, and no information on the quantity of each plant), it still serves as a great reminder to eat a wide variety of plants. This includes fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, legumes, grains, and herbs.
To get my kids back on track for their health, I proposed a 30-plants a week challenge. Surprisingly, the whole family was enthusiastic. We immediately grabbed a piece of paper to track everyone's progress, and we were off and running. Because the aforementioned self-report study was somewhat limited, we made some of our own rules. We’re only counting fresh herbs (to avoid easily hitting 30 by including all the dry herbs we use). We’re only counting items that are at least a “Girl/Boy Scout helping”—one bite doesn’t count, but 3 bites do. Only whole grains and minimally processed foods count. Sorry Lays fans, but we aren't counting the potatoes found in chips. Finally, eating the same item again the next day doesn’t count toward the total.
There are plenty of gut health websites with more specific--albeit not scientifically backed--guidelines. Hopefully, more studies will be conducted on this topic in the future. But for our family, the challenge to eat a wider variety plants over the week seems to be working, and 30 is an achievable goal for us. For me, it's a great reminder to snack on more fruits and veggies and to step out of my food habit zone. But the sweetest moment was when my 13-year-old voluntarily put bell pepper slices on his lunch plate. I just about fell over.
Action Items:
Brainstorm ways you can get a wider variety of whole plant foods into your diet.
Set an achievable weekly goal for eating these foods.
Consider ways to create a game or challenge to help you reach your goal.
When a goal becomes a game, you're more likely to see it through.
Invite others to join in to help you keep going. The more the merrier.
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