Plant points: how to get 30 a week & why

Why 30 plant points?

We’ve all heard of five-a-day, and it’s still a useful place to start. But when it comes to our gut microbes, another part of the picture is variety.

Our gut is home to around 40 trillion microbes, and different microbes thrive on different types of plant foods. So rather than focusing only on how much fruit and veg we eat, plant points encourage us to think about how many different plants we feed our gut microbes across the week.

That matters because a more diverse community of microbes can do a wider range of jobs. Among other things, they help to:

• Fight off infection (around 70% of our immune cells live in the gut)
• Turn fibre into compounds that help keep your gut barrier healthy
• Produce a range of vitamins
• Regulate hormones, including oestrogen
• Stimulate our body’s own GLP-1 production (and other appetite-regulating hormones)
• Communicate with other systems in the body, including our brain

So where did 30 come from? The American Gut Project, one of the largest studies of its kind, found that people eating more than 30 different plants a week had a more diverse gut microbiome than people eating fewer than 10. That helped inspire 30 as a practical target. I translated the research for my patients, tested it at The Gut Health Clinic, and made it the basis of my plant points system, which was first published in Eat More, Live Well. Since then, it has become an international phenomenon, a real win for the globe’s gut health. 

But, in truth, 30 isn’t a magic number. It’s a useful prompt to think about variety, not a rule. Nobody needs to panic because they’ve only hit 27 by Sunday night. What matters is building more variety into your week from wherever you’re starting, with a target that works for your needs and goals.

What counts a plant point?

A plant point is simply one different plant food you’ve eaten during the week. Plant points are built around what I call the Super Six. Eating across all six helps broaden the mix, so your plants aren’t all coming from one group. Research from the University of Bergen suggests that eating more of these can add up to a decade of healthy years.

The Super Six

• Vegetables, like carrots, broccoli and spinach
• Fruits, like apples, kiwi and blueberries
• Wholegrains, like oats, quinoa and rye bread
• Legumes (beans and pulses), like chickpeas, lentils and kidney beans
• Nuts and seeds, like almonds, walnuts and chia seeds
• Herbs and spices, like cinnamon, turmeric and rosemary

This isn’t about going vegetarian. Plant diversity matters whether you eat meat and fish or follow a vegetarian or vegan diet. In fact, in the American Gut Project, plant diversity mattered more for good gut health than whether people were vegan or ate animal foods.

How do you count yours?

Each different plant you eat across the week counts as 1 point. It’s about variety rather than amount, so a few chickpeas in a salad and a whole tin in a curry both count as one point (we’ll come back to amounts later). Herbs and spices count as ¼, because we usually use them in small amounts. A few things to remember:

• Each different plant counts once, so two red apples are one point
• Different coloured fruit and vegetables (such as red and green apples) count as a new point
• Fresh, dried, canned and frozen plants all count (aim for no added salt or sugar)
• Extra virgin olive oil, cocoa, tea, coffee and garlic count as ¼ point, like herbs and spices
• If you use more than 10g of herbs or spices in a portion, they count as a full point
• Vegetable stock counts as ½ point
• Refined plants, such as juices, fruit syrup, plant milks and white grains like white rice, don’t count, so stick to whole foods where you can
• Start by focusing on diversity rather than portion sizes. Once you’re building plenty of variety into your week, portions become your next focus

Simple ways to add more plants

Most of us are creatures of habit. Especially when we’re busy, we buy the same foods, make the same handful of meals and reach for the same breakfasts. But the good news is that increasing plant diversity doesn’t have to mean completely changing the way you eat. Start simple and build from there.

Already hitting 30? Here’s where to go next

Variety is one part of the picture. But quantity matters too. Plant points encourage diversity, but they don’t tell us how much we’re eating. Thirty different plants in teeny amounts still won’t necessarily get you to the recommended 30g of fibre a day. So once you’ve built plenty of variety into your week, the next thing to look at is portions.

To help you reach 30g of fibre or more, aim for these each day:

• 5 portions of vegetables
• 3 portions of wholegrains
• 2 portions of fruit
• 1 to 2 portions of legumes, nuts or seeds

Not sure what a portion looks like? My fibre portions cheat sheet shows you how to use your hands as a guide.

When more fibre doesn’t feel good

Adding more plants is great for your gut microbes, but it doesn’t always feel comfortable straight away. If you go from very little fibre to lots in a short time, bloating is common. That doesn’t mean fibre isn’t for you. It’s just that your gut needs time to adapt. Think of it like training a muscle, or training for a marathon: build up gradually, and you’ll get what I call ‘fibre fit’.

It’s also worth noting that if you have IBS or another gut condition, you might find adding new plants can worsen symptoms too. Again, don’t take that as a sign plant diversity isn’t achievable for you; you may just need to go a little slower, or use a more tailored approach to building variety. Either way, trust me when I say it is achievable; after 17 years of practice, I still haven’t met a gut that can’t be trained.

If bloating is holding you back, my Bloating Masterclass can help you understand why you’re bloated and what to do about it. And for one-to-one support, my team of specialist gut health dietitians at The Gut Health Clinic can help you build variety in a way that suits your gut.

And a note on persistent gut issues. Please always speak to your GP or healthcare professional if you experience unexplained weight loss, ongoing loose stool, blood in your stool, persistent abdominal pain or symptoms that regularly disrupt daily life. It’s always best to get checked.