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30 Plants Per Week Challenge

POST 1

Starting July 15th, for thirty days, I challenge you to ADD 30 different vegetables, seeds, nuts, fruits and legumes to your weekly diet.

For those who complete the challenge and provide proof of your success (the food diary tracking sheet can be found as a link on this page) you get 1 free pass to Mission Health’s Revive Room that is housed in Mission Functional Medicine AND, even better, a healthier and more robust microbiome!

Almost everyone is aware of the health risks of processed foods.  According to U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates, 32 percent of our calories come from animal foods, 57 percent from processed plant foods, and only 11 percent from whole grains, beans, fruits, vegetables, and nuts.  Tooth decay, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cancer, and heart disease are just some of the consequences of our standard American diet. 

It doesn’t have to be this way.  By adding a few whole foods to your diet every day, you can easy hit 30 per week and reduce your risk of the consequences of the standard American diet.

Are you ready to join us for the challenge?

 

POST 2

 Have a look at this document for my personal Week 1 plan. 31 different plants and spices.

 

POST 3

 Reasons to decrease processed foods in the diet?

  • Increased cancer risk. A five-year study of over 100,000 people found that every 10 percent increase in consumption of ultra processed food was associated with a 12 percent higher risk for cancer.

  • Too much sugar, sodium and fat. Heavily processed foods often include unhealthy levels of added sugar, sodium and fat. These ingredients make the food we eat taste better, but too much of them leads to serious health issues like obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.

  • Lacking in nutritional value. Heavy processing strips many foods of their basic nutrients, which is why many foods today are fortified with fiber, vitamins and minerals.

  • Calorie dense and addicting. It’s very easy to overindulge in unhealthy food and consume more calories than we realize. For example, an Oreo cookie contains about 50 calories, while an entire cup of green beans is only 44 calories. Processed foods like these are also designed to stimulate our brain’s “feel-good” dopamine center, making us crave more of them in the future.

  • Quicker to digest. Processed foods are easier to digest than unprocessed, whole foods. That means our bodies burn less energy (hint: calories) digesting them. It’s estimated we burn half as many calories digesting processed foods compared to unprocessed foods. This fact combined with the calorie density of processed foods in general can make it easy to pack on the pounds.

  • Full of artificial ingredients. There are about 5,000 substances that get added to our food. Most of them have never been tested by anyone other than the company using them. That includes additives to change color, texture, flavor and odor as well as ingredients like preservatives and sweeteners.

 

POST 4

Spotlight on Walnuts

Not only are walnuts a good source of Omega 3 fatty acids and fiber but they also can decrease risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Our friends in the gut microbiome Bifobacteria and Firmicutes like walnuts.  One study showed that people who ate walnuts had less harmful clostridium bacteria and increased levels of bifidobacterial and firmicutes. The “dose” in the study was 21 walnut ½’s per day.

From the book Eat to Beat Disease by William Li

 

POST 5

Spotlight on Kiwi

One study on 6 women showd that two Kiwi fruits per day for 4 days increased lactobacillus by 35% within 24 hours of eating the Kiwi.  This bacteria makes small chain fatty acids which help maintain a healthy gut lining  and they improve glucose and cholesterol metabolism.

From the book Eat to Beat Disease by William Li

 

POST 6

Brassica vegetables. The name sound as bad as my opinion of them when I was a kid. This family includes broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, cabbage, kale, turnips and arugula.

This family of vegetables has many different health benefits.

·        Decreasing the presence of harmful bacteria in the gut.

·        Good source of fiber, vitamins (A, C, and K), minerals (calcium, potassium, and iron), and antioxidants

·        Antimicrobial, antioxidant, anticancer, immunomodulator, antidiabetic, hepatoprotective, cardioprotective

·        Research suggests that sulforaphane, found in broccoli, may help reduce inflammation by inhibiting the activity of certain enzymes that promote inflammation in the body.

 Antibiotics (Basel). 2023 Jul; 12(7): 1157.

 

POST 7

Olive Oil- One of my favorite medicinal foods!

Work on adding in 2-4 tablespoons per day of high poly phenol content olive oil (>350 polyphenol count).

A recent study In US adults, showed higher olive oil intake was associated with a lower risk of dementia-related mortality, irrespective of diet quality.

JAMA Network Open. 2024;7(5):e2410021

Add in Olive oil for your heart, blood vessels, blood sugar, joint pain, cancer risk and ALSO your BRAIN!