I’m going to try to keep a list this week

Higher doses of turmeric, other that normal cooking amounts, should not be taken with blood thinner medication either as it thins the blood further.

I have read that organic fruits and vegetables are no better for us than the less-expensive "ordinary" fruit and veg.

keepingquiet

Who has the time to write all this down?

If I eat one lettuce leaf a month does that count? Does tea and coffee count as a plant?

Bonkers.

😂😂😂

I'm ok if tea and coffee are counted!
And already had a bit of left over potatoes, broccoli and courgette today fried in olive oil (another plant).

Thanks Gwyllt. I’m taking turmeric supplements at the moment to help with my arthritis. Might need to rethink how long to take them for. I do add them to food rather than just taking them with a glass of water.

I'm pretty sure the normal western diet kills more people than turmeric and black pepper

I can’t help thinking this is a bit bonkers too. Sounds fun but rather worried well, and the variety can’t really make much practical difference. There’ll be another thread along in a minute about the air miles of all these, oranges, lemons, mangos, peppers.

Just another food fad I think. I appreciated Tim during Covid but now it's all getting bit silly.
Eat a normal varied diet, get some exercise, stop worrying- that's my mantra!

Me too, MissI.
It’s a good job I don’t eat fruit - maybe the odd grape, but that’s it.

Gwyllt the article is interesting but it does mention that the risk occurs with supplement use, not powdered turmeric.

I think it’s very important though to bear in mind that if something has been proved to work then it must have an effect on the body. If anyone is on medication they must always be aware the some things are contraindicated.
Anyway if one is trying to incorporate it into the 30 a week ‘challenge’ then one only needs a pinch.

There is nothing very unusual in this idea. It is merely saying 'eat a varied diet'. I have consumed 19 different plant species today (2 more than my original list on page 1) without even trying. Just eating my normal diet.

I need only add another two plant based products a day for the next six days to exceed 30 a week, and as the 30 includes herbs, spices, garnishes and condiments, I cannot see that being a problem.

mabon1 It depends why you buy organic fruit and veg. I do it to avoid consuming pesticides that can be bad for health even small quantities. I also buy it because organic farming methods, preserve the soil and are better for bio diversity.

Here is a link to a very comprehensive article on the subject www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/organic-food/art-20043880. If you google he subject you will find that the balance of research says that organie fruit and vegetables are higher in antioxidaants and flavinoid than conventionally grown crops. Both beneficial for good health.

Sparklefizz

I eat about 10-12 servings of fruit and veg a day, but can't manage 30 varieties as I have a lot of intolerances and allergies. All we can do is our best.

That’s an achievement, I love vegetables and fruit but have had to cut down recently because I have bouts of IBS if I eat too many.

Monica I agree and as I have a healthy and varied diet I think I won’t have a problem eating 30 this week. I just thought would be interesting to see how I go. So far today I my total has only been 14 so you are doing better than me.
I find it fascinating to read how the gut works much better with a wider variety of foods and how to boost your bacteria.

I have IBS too, but I know from the Monash list what triggers it now, so I either avoid my trigger fruit and veg. altogether or eat it in very small quantities. I have to avoid onions, which is tough, and stone fruits, particularly plums and apricots, both of which I love - I’ve had 12 so far, so I’m going to find 30 more challenging than M0nica is.

A spoonful of dried mixed herbs stirred into a pasta or rice dish, or a casserole should add at least 5 ticks to your list, depending how many different herbs are in the mix.

Remember the 30 plants a week doesn't mean portions of fruit and veg, it means any foodstuff, garnish or condiment that contains a plant. Cook mint with boiled potatoes and you can tick up 2 - the potatoes and the mint. Stir sage into a chicken casserole, scatter chopped basil over tomatoes, again 2 for the price of 1.

I realise I managed 20 today because I had some apple chutney with my evening salald

keepingquiet

Just another food fad I think. I appreciated Tim during Covid but now it's all getting bit silly.
Eat a normal varied diet, get some exercise, stop worrying- that's my mantra!

I think it’s only recently, though, that people have realised how important it is to eat pre and probiotics and Tim has been at the forefront of that research.

Yes, but this isn't about pro-biotics.

keepingquiet
Perhaps if we all ate a very varied diet we wouldn’t need the type of probiotics that some people buy?
Better to do it naturally ? I have never bought a probiotic for myself but did tell my DD she should take them after a course of antibiotics.
Eating healthy food is silly?
You may know a lot already about a good diet and good gut health but look around, so many people haven’t got the message yet.

I thought it was Hugh Fearnley- Whittingstall ?

Hi i too suffer with IBS, So have to be careful what i eat including certain herbs and spices my doctor told me to follow a low fodmap diet, have you heard of it? You can get the app i think it cost about £4 but it is a life saver.

I am another who has to avoid eating very many plants thanks to IBS. Even some that will have no effect a couple of times will suddenly aggravate & I am stuck not leaving the loo for a couple of days. Eating out is awkward as I have to try to tactfully find what may be lurking in something that I would love to eat! My son has an even worse time as he has Crohns & has to avoid even more plant foods than I do. This kind of upset seems to run through our maternal family as both my DM & GM both had serious problems. My GM had similar symptoms to those that my son had but Crohns was not a recognised illness then. She was told that she had bleeding ulcers. She had to avoid eating certain things too. This was in the early 50’s when I was very young. No idea of my fraternal family as, sadly, were lost during the war!

PamelaJ1 do you know if the prof includes carbohydrate dense plant foods in his recommendations? Grains are plants, so popular foods like bread, rice and pasta are from plant sources, as is sugar.

I counted 20 different plants in a typical week and several are repeated on five days every week i.e. oats, four different seeds, two kinds of nuts, apple and prunes for breakfast. This takes a typical week's total to about fifty four, way more if you count tea and coffee and a splash out on summer fruits. I'm neither vegan not vegetarian.

I suppose I should read his articles. There are plenty of them!

PamelaJ1

keepingquiet
Perhaps if we all ate a very varied diet we wouldn’t need the type of probiotics that some people buy?
Better to do it naturally ? I have never bought a probiotic for myself but did tell my DD she should take them after a course of antibiotics.
Eating healthy food is silly?
You may know a lot already about a good diet and good gut health but look around, so many people haven’t got the message yet.

No, you still need the pre and pro biotics. They then need the varied foodstuffs to feed off. ( or something like that!)

SillyNanny321

I am another who has to avoid eating very many plants thanks to IBS. Even some that will have no effect a couple of times will suddenly aggravate & I am stuck not leaving the loo for a couple of days. Eating out is awkward as I have to try to tactfully find what may be lurking in something that I would love to eat! My son has an even worse time as he has Crohns & has to avoid even more plant foods than I do. This kind of upset seems to run through our maternal family as both my DM & GM both had serious problems. My GM had similar symptoms to those that my son had but Crohns was not a recognised illness then. She was told that she had bleeding ulcers. She had to avoid eating certain things too. This was in the early 50’s when I was very young. No idea of my fraternal family as, sadly, were lost during the war!

My biggest trigger is bread which I should avoid but still slip into the habit of eating. I did read years ago that we should always eat fruit before everything else as it digests quicker and if you’ve ate something else beforehand it sort of overtakes it and pushes everything through.

Would you consider publishing what it cost, as well, please?

Fruit and vegetables must be very cheap in the Uk, if you can afford this.

Here it would be impossible. I certainly cannot eat as much as one plum or orange a day .

I doubt too that any shop sells thirty different kinds of plants in one month! Never looked as cannot afford them anyhow.

I am all for a balanced diet, but if I eat cabbage for instance, I don't have potatoes the same day - the housekeeping money does not run to it. I treated myself to some plums that had reached their sell-by date last week, cooked them and had them as a great treat for three or four days. First time in months I have afforded such a luxury.

I wish these advisors would consider the cost of food before publishing these guidelines.

There is a ZOE podcast showing how you can follow their eating plan on a budget. I know I take a Macusave capsule daily because, in Trust Me I’m a Doctor they said it would cost a fortune to eat the things that would provide the vitamins and minerals they contain..I have looked at Tim Spector videos showing what he eats and thought well my daily budget was used up with the avocado you had for breakfast. I do think that ZOE is the way forward when it comes to making us healthier as a nation and I hope that he will work with future governments in much the same way that Jamie Oliver tried to regarding school meals.