Free Handout & Counter: Count Your Plant Foods With This Handy Counter: Can You Hit 30?

Recently, my FYP, or For You Page, on TikTok has had videos of people eating 30 plant foods a week. I thought I was sure I ate that many. So I googled the microbiome study showing it is beneficial to find out why. Then I counted and got to 47! I guess it is easier than you think if you strive to follow the DASH diet.

SCROLL Alert - scroll to the bottom for a free “Plant Counter” so you can count and print your intake PLUS there is a bonus PDF handout.

Why 30 plants a week?

People who eat 30 or more different plant foods each week have a more diverse gut microbiome than people who eat 10 or fewer. That is the finding from the Microsetta Initiative at UC San Diego, published in the journal mSystems.

The high-plant group also had more of the microbes linked to good health, including Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Oscillospira. These bacteria make short-chain fatty acids, which help feed and protect the gut lining. The researchers found that variety mattered more than whether someone called themselves vegan or vegetarian.

The benefits go beyond the gut. A 2023 review of 55 studies with more than 2.2 million adults found that people who ate more plant-based diets had lower risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and early death. The benefits were strongest when the plants were whole foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and beans (Wang et al., 2023).

Thirty sounds like a lot. It isn't once you build a simple routine. Here is a plan that gets you there.

What counts as a plant

Each different plant counts once per week, no matter how often you eat it. Count:

•      Fruits: fresh, frozen, or dried

•      Vegetables: fresh, frozen, or canned

•      Beans and lentils: black beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, edamame

•      Whole grains: oats, brown rice, quinoa, barley

•      Nuts and seeds: almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, chia

•      Herbs and spices: cilantro, basil, cumin, garlic

Red and green bell peppers count as one plant. Romaine and spinach count as two.

The daily plan

Follow this simple formula each day and switch up the plants you choose:

1.     Breakfast: 2 fruits

2.     Lunch: a salad with 4 different vegetables

3.     Dinner: add 4 more vegetables

4.     Dessert: a piece of fruit

That is 11 plant servings a day. Pick different ones on different days and you pass 30 in a week.

Sample week

Day	Breakfast (2 fruits)	Lunch salad (4 veggies)	Dinner (4 more veggies)	Dessert
Mon	Banana, blueberries	Romaine, cucumber, carrot, cherry tomatoes	Roasted cauliflower with hummus, red onion, spinach, garlic	Orange
Tue	Apple, raspberries	Spinach, red bell pepper, chickpeas, red cabbage	Bean chili: kidney beans, black beans, tomatoes, onion, corn	Pear
Wed	Strawberries, kiwi	Kale, shredded beets, edamame, radishes	Vegetable soup: carrots, celery, zucchini, green beans, potato	Grapes
Thu	Mango, banana	Romaine, cucumber, snap peas, avocado	Sheet pan: sweet potato, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, red onion	Cherries
Fri	Blueberries, apple	Mixed greens, tomato, carrot, sunflower seeds	Leftover chili topped with avocado, cilantro, green onion	Pineapple
Sat	Oatmeal with raspberries, walnuts	Leftover soup plus a kale and apple salad	Roasted cauliflower bowl with brown rice, spinach, hummus	Strawberries
Sun	Banana, mango	Spinach, bell pepper, cucumber, chickpeas	Vegetable soup or chili, your pick	Kiwi

This sample week has more than 40 different plants.

Three easy vegan dinners

Make a big batch of each and use leftovers for lunch.

Roasted cauliflower with hummus

Cut a head of cauliflower into florets. Toss with olive oil, garlic, cumin, and smoked paprika. Roast at 425°F for 25 to 30 minutes until browned. Spread hummus on a plate, pile the cauliflower on top, and finish with parsley and a squeeze of lemon. Serve over spinach or brown rice.

Plants: cauliflower, chickpeas (hummus), garlic, parsley, lemon, cumin, paprika

Bean chili with tomatoes

Sauté onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Add canned diced tomatoes, drained kidney beans and black beans, corn, chili powder, and cumin. Simmer 20 minutes. Top with avocado, cilantro, and green onion.

Plants: onion, bell pepper, garlic, tomatoes, kidney beans, black beans, corn, avocado, cilantro, green onion

Vegetable soup

Sauté onion, carrots, and celery. Add diced potato, zucchini, green beans, a can of tomatoes, low-sodium vegetable broth, and Italian herbs. Simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Stir in a handful of kale or spinach at the end.

Plants: onion, carrots, celery, potato, zucchini, green beans, tomatoes, kale or spinach, herbs

Shopping list for the week

Buy enough variety to cover all seven days. Frozen and canned count, and they keep longer.

Fruits	Vegetables	Beans and grains	Herbs, nuts, and extras
Bananas	Romaine	Hummus	Garlic
Blueberries	Spinach	Chickpeas, canned	Cilantro
Raspberries	Kale	Kidney beans, canned	Parsley
Strawberries	Cucumbers	Black beans, canned	Lemons
Apples	Carrots	Edamame, frozen	Walnuts
Oranges	Cherry tomatoes	Oats	Sunflower seeds
Pears	Red and green bell peppers	Brown rice	Cumin, chili powder, paprika
Kiwi	Red cabbage		Italian herbs
Grapes	Beets		Low-sodium vegetable broth
Mango, fresh or frozen	Radishes		Diced tomatoes, canned
Cherries, fresh or frozen	Snap peas
Pineapple	Avocados
	Cauliflower
	Broccoli
	Brussels sprouts
	Sweet potatoes
	Potatoes
	Zucchini
	Green beans
	Celery
	Onions, red onions, green onions
	Corn, frozen

Tips to hit 30

•      Keep a tally. Post a list on the fridge and check off each new plant.

•      Buy mixes. A bag of mixed greens, frozen stir-fry vegetables, or a trail mix adds several plants at once.

•      Season with plants. Herbs and spices count, so add garlic, cilantro, and cumin often.

•      Swap, don't repeat. If you had apples Monday, pick pears Tuesday.

•      Cook once, eat twice. Chili and soup taste even better the next day.

Start this week. Two fruits at breakfast, a four-veggie salad at lunch, four more veggies at dinner, and fruit for dessert. Your gut microbes will thank you.

Sources

•      30 Plants per Week, The Microsetta Initiative, UC San Diego

•      McDonald D, et al. American Gut: an Open Platform for Citizen Science Microbiome Research. mSystems. 2018;3(3):e00031-18. https://doi.org/10.1128/msystems.00031-18

•      Wang Y, Liu B, Han H, et al. Associations between plant-based dietary patterns and risks of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Nutrition Journal. 2023;22:46. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12937-023-00877-2

My 30 Plants a Week Counter

Check off each different plant you eat this week. Each plant counts once, no matter how often you eat it. Herbs, spices, nuts, seeds, beans, and whole grains count too.

0 of 30 plants

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Your score: Getting Started
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Based on research from the American Gut Project: people who ate 30 or more different plants per week had a more diverse gut microbiome than those who ate 10 or fewer (McDonald et al., mSystems, 2018, doi.org/10.1128/msystems.00031-18). Tool by Food and Health Communications.