What are the 30 plants?
But the 30-plants-a-week challenge circulating online suggests that, instead of only aiming to eat five servings a day, we should instead aim to eat 30 different plant foods per week to improve our health. Fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, wholegrains, herbs and spices would all count as a plant serving. You’ve likely heard about the concept of eating 30 plant points a week – a goal that focuses on variety rather than volume. The idea is straightforward: a point is given for every ‘new’ plant you eat in a given week (well, more or less – we’ll get into that later).
How to count 30 plants?
Now that we know that hitting the magic 30 can help gut health and overall health, how do we count the plant points? Each different fruit and vegetable counts as 1 point. Reassuringly, different varieties count as separate point, e. Fresh, dried, canned and frozen plants all count (always aim for no-added salt and sugar) Extra virgin olive oil, tea and coffee, garlic count as ¼ point (like herbs and spices) Vegetable stock counts as 1/2 point. Refined plants such as fruit and vegetable juices, white grains, etc.