The Food Medic - E8 Ask Dr Hazel: Hitting 30 plant points on a budget

Episode Date: August 23, 2022

Hello and welcome back to another episode of Ask Dr Hazel. In these 5 minute episodes we answer questions submitted by you. This weeks question is : “I read somewhere that we need to aim for 30 different portions of fruit and veg a week. As someone who lives alone, I batch cook a lot to try and keep costs down. I find that I eat a lot of the same thing in a week. Are there any budget friendly tips you can give me to get some more variety in, and do you have any tips for how I can meet this target?”Find out more on www.thefoodmedic.co.uk Thank you to everyone who has sent in questions already and if you would like to submit a question to the podcast - on any topic related to health, fitness, nutrition, or mindset - please send your voice recorded question to [e-mail]. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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mini episode of Ask Dr. Hazel. In these short five-minute episodes, I answer questions submitted by you. So let's hear from this week's listener. Hi Hazel and team I'm a huge OG fan of the podcast, blog, books, insta, everything. Thank you for all the hard work that you do. Question for you, I read somewhere that we need to aim for 30 different portions of fruit and veg a week. As someone who lives alone and batch cooks a lot to try and keep costs down I find that I eat a lot of the same thing in a week. Are there any budget friendly tips you can give me to get some more variety in and try and meet this target? Thanks so much. First of all, thank you so much for the love and amazing support that you've been giving us from the start.

And I absolutely love this question. So for optimal gut health, diversity is key. And so the 30 different plants or plant points comes from a study from 2018 that compared the gut microbiome of over 10,000 volunteers. The study found that those who consumed more than 30 different types of plants per week were more likely to have a healthier, more diverse gut microbiome compared to those consuming

less than 10 types of plants per week. So that's where it's come from. But this isn't just fruit and veg, it includes all types of plant-based foods. So yes, fruit and veg, but also beans and pulses, nuts and seeds and grains and even herbs and spices.

Each different plant-based food counts towards a point and herbs and spices count for a quarter of a point. And this is regardless of the portion size as it's the variety of food that makes all the difference. But if we're talking about five a day,

which we use here in the UK, a portion of fruit and veg is roughly 80 grams. So you asked for tips on how to get there. When it comes to snacks, it could be simply grabbing a mixed bag of nuts instead of a single nut, such as just cashew nuts or almonds, or a mixed fruit salad instead of a pot of mango, for example. You could try adding beans and lentils to your meat-containing meals instead of just meat or in addition to, like beans, chickpeas, lentils. They're also quite cheap sources of protein compared to meat and fish. And we have a ton of recipes on the website,

so you can check that out at www.thefoodmedic.co.uk. You can also buy mixed frozen fruit and veg for your smoothies or your porridge in the morning and try adding in mixed frozen veg to your stir fries and other dinners. When you're in the supermarket, maybe go for different colours of the same vegetable or swap out one of the peppers in your basket

for something different like a courgette or aubergine. And if you're buying salad leaves, buy mixed salad. So I know these symbols may seem really straightforward to you. But again, think of diversity. And if you can switch up what you're buying each week, or just go for mixed versions of fruit and vegetables and other plant based foods, it will get you to your 30 or at least get you near. Hopefully these tips will get you started. Thank you again for your question and to everyone else who is sending questions already if you would like to submit a question to the podcast on any topic related to health fitness nutrition or mindset please send your voice recorder questions

to lindsay at thefoodmedic.co.uk that's all from me see you again next time