Words by Molly
3 mins
You might recall from our previous blog that we’re leaving crash diets and quick fixes firmly behind us in 2019. If the idea of leading a healthy lifestyle without being on a diet makes your mind boggle with confusion, then you’re in the right place. We’re here to tell you how to eat well in 2020 without an Atkins, keto, no-sugar, paleo or vegan diet in sight (or any diet, for that matter).
Variety, variety, variety
If we said variety one more time it wouldn’t be enough. Diverse food intake is crucial for our overall health, arguably one of the most important factors full stop. The reason being is that if we eat a wide variety of foods we are, generally, far more likely to be reaching our macro and micronutrient requirements. Carbs, protein, fats, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phytochemicals. The whole lot.
The problem with restrictive diets is they tend to limit or completely cut out whole food groups. In these cases, you’ve made it harder for yourself to reach nutritional requirements before you’ve even started.
Dietary diversity is commonly considered a hallmark of diet quality in the professional nutritional world. And if that wasn’t good enough reason to embrace a little bit of everything, a diverse diet is also associated with reduced risk of multiple different types of chronic disease (think cardiovascular disease and diabetes).
Different foods offer us different nutrients
This true across the plant-based and meat-eating world. Red meat is rich in iron, B12 and zinc, chicken is rich in B6, oily fish is rich in omega-3 and white fish is rich in iodine. Plant based foods like fruit and veg are rich in fibre, phytochemicals and antioxidants (as well as some of the nutrients we’ve already mentioned, but usually in a different form to the animal-based version).
If you’re eating a diet purely of red meat or purely of broccoli you won’t be getting enough nutrition, regardless of how healthy you perceive that one individual food to be. A mixture of plant and animal-based foods is a great place to start if you want to get all your nutrition in, which is exactly why we promote grass-fed, high-welfare meat and sustainable fish alongside plenty of fruit, vegetables and other plantbased foods.
Gut health depends on dietary diversity
Gut health is splashed everywhere these days and this is a trend we can genuinely get on board with. A healthy gut is associated with reduced risk of inflammatory bowel disease, types 2 diabetes, obesity and depression, to name a few. It’s a relatively new area that’s gaining momentum every day, and we know that a healthy gut is one that’s filled with a rich variety of microbes.
So how do we cultivate a diverse gut? It’s simple. We eat a diverse diet. Different foods encourage different microbes to grow, which means the more the diverse the diet, the more diverse our gut microbiome becomes, and the more resilient we are to disease.
In terms of gut health, a diet which leaves out whole food groups will compromise gut microbe diversity and therefore health. The good news is, our food intake can significantly shift our gut microbes in as little as 3 days. So there’s plenty of opportunity to top up your diet with fibre rich veggies, pulses, grass-fed meats and omega-3 rich fish to get your dietary diversity (and gut health) in prime condition.
Variety is the spice of life
It’s an age old saying but we think there’s something in it. Nutritionists recommend aiming for 30 different types of plant foods per week, and setting these targets is a brilliant way to encourage diverse diets.
Mixing things up can also inspire us to get creative in the kitchen. Why not try making our own homemade spaghetti with a meaty ragu-style sauce, filled to the brim with onion, carrot, celery, tomatoes, parsley and a sprinkling of parmesan. That’s 5 (of your 30) plant foods in one. You could even get a partner or your family involved to make an afternoon of it, food is about enjoyment after all.
A positive way to embrace food and your diet
We are passionate about food being delicious, satisfying and enjoyable, which is why we’re sold on variety being the cornerstone of our diets in 2020. Keep an eye out for our delicious (and varied) recipes coming your way this January, not a crash diet in sight!
Molly is a Registered Nutritional Therapist.
The nerdy bit:
1. Heiman, M.L., & Greenway, F.L. (2016). ‘A healthy gastrointestinal microbiome is dependent on dietary diversity’, Molecular Metabolism, 5(5), pp. 317-320.
2. Nachvak, S.M., Abollahzad, H., Mostafai, R., et al. (2017). ‘Dietary Diversity Score and Its Related Factors among Employees of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences’, Clinical Nutrition Research, 6(4), pp. 247-255.
More to explore: