Diversity Isn’t Just for People!

Plant diversity holds the keys to abundant health! Do you find yourself eating the same handful of fruits and veggies every day? I love me some carrots, apples, cucumbers, and peppers, but recently I’ve been alerted to the importance of getting a much wider range of colors and types into my diet. It turns out that whoever eats the most diverse plant diet wins in health! Mainly because our gut microbiome craves the variety of plants and fiber to feed the good gut bacteria. Even our brain health and most of our immune system is a result of the environment in our bowels and intestines, crazy right!

Does it give you a bloated feeling talking about plant diversity because of the thought of extra fiber creating gas? Following are some practical steps that you can start taking today to gently add diversity and fiber to your diet. Go slow, you can heal your gut, and work up to eating a fiber rich diet over time.

3 Ways to get more plant diversity in your diet

First Make your Salad in Jars – they will keep in the fridge for 5-7 days if you don’t mix in the dressing, keep it on the bottom until you are ready to enjoy. Also, they are very pretty and seductive when you open the fridge!

Instructions:

• Layer in order starting with 2 Tbsp dressing at the bottom of the jar, then add:
• Hard veggies like carrots and tomatoes
• Fruit like berries or apples
• Greens
• Top with seeds or nuts
• My favorite dressing is Balsamic Curry Dressing that works great as a dip or marinade as well. To make just whisk together ¼ C EVOO, ¼ C Balsamic vinegar, ½ Tbsp curry powder, ½ Tbsp Dijon mustard, 1 Tbsp brown sugar.

Second Enjoy Soups – this is a great way to pulverize and disguise tons of veggies!

A family favorite of ours is this Ginger Carrot Soup

Instructions

• Slice 7-8 large carrots thinly
• Dice a medium onion
• Chop half of a head of cauliflower
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 Tbsp freshly ground ginger
• Sauté in 3 Tbsp butter or EVOO with 1 tsp salt, do not brown, just soften for a few minutes.
• Add 4 C broth or miso
• Add juice of 1 lemon
• Simmer for 20 minutes
• Puree and serve with fresh herbs – Enjoy!

Third is to include Plant Based supplements

To increase the amount and variety of plants in my diet I rely on plant-based supplements. This helps me have the assurance that I am checking all the nutritional boxes every day. Look for products that have been tested in people, and that meet the highest purity safety standards. The one that I use is Juice Plus and you can check it out here:

https://suzylewis.juiceplus.com/us/en

I hope that this is some practical information for you to digest. You are are not alone in this journey to optimize your health. If you would like more help customizing a plan that will work for you, please reach out to schedule a consultation!