By Heather McKern From Diggers Garden Club Magazine Late Spring Edition 2020. Heather encourages us to increase our intake of dietary plant foods.
The old saying "variety is the spice of life" may be truer than ever. Studies into health are showing that eating at least 30 different plant foods a week is critical to gut health and considered key to a healthy diet.
Eating a broad variety of different plants not only increases the amount of fibre, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants we consume. That supports our immune system and lowers our risk of diseases like certain cancers, heart disease, diabetes and mental health issues.
There are six different categories of plant foods that are counted towards our weekly total, and excluding any specific Dietary restrictions we want to include a variety from each group. They are fruit, nuts, seeds, wholegrains and legumes.
To get the most benefit. We want our plants to be as close to their original state as possible. And to be mindful of what we or others do to prepare them before they are eaten. There is little benefit if you are having a large variety of greens in salads everyday but smothering those greens in oil.…

