I like to rise to a challenge. I saw one recently that I thought I’d accept!
Anna Mapson from GoodnessMe Nutrition said that the more diverse our diet, the more we’ll encourage a wide variety of good gut microbes. The result of that is better health and decreased inflammation.
The challenge? To eat 30 different foods a week, including plenty of vegetables.
I did the challenge for two weeks. The first week went pretty well so I wanted to check that it wasn’t a fluke!
I feel a bit nervous now revealing the foods I ate, but here goes!
Week 1
| Carbohydrates | Vegetables | Fruit | Pulses | Dairy | Meat/Fish | Other foods |
| Multigrain bread | Lettuce | Apple | Baked beans | Cheese | Tuna | Mayo |
| Potatoes | Cucumber | Orange | Chickpeas | Butter | Minced beef | Marmite |
| Rice | Cauliflower | Jackfruit | Lentils | Crème fraiche | Smoked mackerel | Peanut butter |
| Chapatti | Carrot | Pineapple | Black beans | Yoghurt | Salmon | Mixed seeds |
| Pasta | Butternut squash | Dried apricots | Chicken | Hazelnuts | ||
| Rye crackers | Tomatoes | Dates | Pork | Biscuit | ||
| Sweet potato | Courgette | Lamb | Chocolate | |||
| Oats | Onion | Cake | ||||
| Ginger | Peanuts | |||||
| Garlic | Eggs | |||||
| Mushrooms | Cashews | |||||
| Peas | Olive oil | |||||
| Celeriac | ||||||
| Fennel | ||||||
| Mint | ||||||
| Coriander | ||||||
| Parsnip | ||||||
| Beetroot | ||||||
| Green beans | ||||||
| Beansprouts | ||||||
| Chilli | ||||||
| Parsley | ||||||
| Cavalo nero | ||||||
| Sugarsnap peas | ||||||
| Broccoli | ||||||
| Edamame | ||||||
| Kale | ||||||
| Cabbage | ||||||
| Celery | ||||||
| Peppers | ||||||
| Mushrooms |
Week 2
| Carbohydrates | Vegetables | Fruit | Pulses | Dairy | Meat/Fish | Other foods |
| Shreddies | Avocado | Dried apricots | Lentils | Cheese | Pork | Eggs |
| Bread | Onion | Preserved lemon | Butterbeans | Yoghurt | Cod | Poppadoms |
| Rice | Mushroom | Pineapple | Flageolet beans | Crème fraiche | Beef | Marmite |
| Granola | Cavalo nero | Blueberry | Chickpeas | Butter | Chicken | Peanuts |
| Potatoes | Peppers | Banana | Olive oil | |||
| Couscous | Leek | |||||
| Veggie muffin (cauli, spinach, carrot, parsnip) | ||||||
| Edamame | ||||||
| Carrot | ||||||
| Baby sweetcorn | ||||||
| Beansprouts | ||||||
| Aubergine | ||||||
| Tomato | ||||||
| Broccoli | ||||||
| Radish | ||||||
| Sugarsnap peas | ||||||
| Green beans | ||||||
| Cucumber | ||||||
| Butternut squash | ||||||
| Mint | ||||||
| Parsley |
It’s really interesting to see it written down like this. I did well, I think! Week 1 was clearly better than week 2 but there is still a good variety of foods listed in both weeks, including plenty of vegetables.
It’s clear from this that I don’t eat much fruit or dairy, something for me to work on perhaps? I’m not a fan of either of these food groups (cheese excepted) so there’s my next challenge.
How do you think you’d get on with? Would there be any surprises in your list or will there be some new challenges for you to rise to?
If you’re struggling to include a wide variety of foods into your diet, meal planning can definitely help you. If you don’t know where to start, drop me a line and we can discuss which of my courses is right for you.