In case you have been living under a rock, the newest buzz in the health field is the microbiome. Your gut is home to trillions of microorganisms including bacteria, yeasts, and other things that are far beyond my comprehension. Collectively your Gut microbiome is nothing short of a microbial metropolis. Like any good city, it thrives on diversity…more species, more metabolic pathways, more resilience, greater immunity.

Now here’s the hook, the foods you choose…especially the fruits and vegetables you chop, juice, blend, boil, or roast…act as “food” for your microbes themselves. For example, bacteria from the surfaces of fruits and vegetables actually show up in the human gut. To be clear, eating produce can literally transfer plant associated microbes into your gut microbiome, contributing to its diversity. ScienceDaily+2PubMed+2 So, by chomping on that kale, broccoli, apple, or mango, you’re not just ingesting fiber and vitamins…you’re also inviting a little microbial entourage over for dinner.

Why does variety matter? Imagine feeding your microbial city only pizza and soda. Over time the same set of microbes would dominate, while others would starve, collapse, or vanish. In contrast, when you provide a wide array of plant foods including lots of colors, textures, fibers, and phytochemicals…you feed different microbial niches, and raise different bacterial species and metabolic functions. My favorite study of all, found that people who consumed 30 or more different plant foods per week (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legume counted too) had greater gut microbial diversity than those who ate fewer kinds of plants. The Microsetta Initiative 

As a mom of three boys, two of them being teens…I am looking to ensure they get at least some kind of fiber on a consistent basis into their bodies since variety is everything, and teens are known for eating junk. My boys are off the reservation most of the time. All I can do is know (or maybe shall I say pray), when they move on to adulthood, they will return to their roots. The one and sometimes only shot I have at getting a VARIETY of fruits and veggies into them is a smoothie first thing every morning. Do they always drink it? Nope, they are teens. But more often than not they do, even if there may be a little over the top verbal and physical prodding involved. Every smoothie I make has a minimum of 4 plant foods. Four different plant foods a day, seven days a week is 28 plant foods based on one simple habit.

See? 30 different fruits and veggies a week sounds completely overwhelming but once it is broken down it isn’t…especially if you are like me and try to sneak a smoothie daily! Let’s dive in to this. First: aim for variety…not just “one apple a day” but an apple, a pear, a mango, a kiwi; a green leafy vegetable, a purple vegetable, an orange one, a red one, legumes, cruciferous veggies, root veggies. Eating your rainbow ensures different fibers, different phytochemicals, different microbial food. Second: consume these regularly, not just once a week. Some studies show frequency matters: the more often you eat fruits/vegetables (and the more varieties you eat), the stronger the associations with gut microbial diversity. ScienceDaily Third: whole foods matter more than ultra-processed equivalents…simply because of the lack of water content which is replaced by oils. Fourth: the “30 plants per week” concept is helpful as a guideline as it reminds you to not get stuck eating the same three vegetables over and over. Expand your palate, rotate in seasonal produce. This is more fun than it sounds. Think purple carrots, golden beets, heirloom tomatoes, starfruit, okra, bok choy, collard greens, blueberries, raspberries, and papaya when you head to the farmer’s market.

There are broader health benefits beyond just good gut bacteria. A resilient and diverse gut microbiome is linked with lower risk of chronic diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, even certain cancers. PubMed+1  You are in complete control of planting a beautiful meadow, instead of a boring lawn. The meadow resists pests, seasons better, and supports pollinators… the microbiome meadow resists imbalance, adapts to changes, supports your immune system and metabolic health.

Now let’s put it to work…I use this formula for all my smoothies. I always include at least 2 veggies, one usually being a leafy green. Spinach is sly as you can’t really taste it. Kale is a little more like the cat who ate the canary. Zucchini is a wall flower, celery and beets are definite extroverts. Banana is bossy Smurf and takes over when it comes to smoothies. Herbs can complete change the palette of an otherwise mundane smoothie. The key is trying different combinations…2 veggies, 2 fruits. If I am stuck, I do a simple search and can pretty much find a smoothie for every vegetable I may have on hand. Adopt this one habit and watch your health, immunity, energy, digestion and skin skyrocket!

If you have a favorite smoothie let me know! I am always looking for something new!