I Tried Eating 30+ Different Plants Each Week For A Month — Here's How It Went

While there's nothing wrong with biohacking, following detailed nutrition plans, or doing regimented workouts, living a long life doesn't necessarily have to be so complicated. Case in point: People who reside in the Blue Zones (areas of the world where living to 100 is most common) tend to take a slower, simpler approach—especially when it comes to nutrition. The philosophy of Blue Zone kitchens is simple: The more whole foods, the better.

If eating lots of whole foods is good enough for the centenarians of the world, I figured it was worth trying for myself. So, late last year, I set out to eat (and log) 30 or more plants each week for a month, just to see how it made me feel. 

Gastroenterologist Will Bulsiewicz, M.D., MSCI, previously recommended eating 30 or more plants each week on his episode of the mindbodygreen podcast. This number, he explained, didn't just come out of thin air—it's a research finding. 

"The American Gut Project conducted a study to understand more about the different kinds of bacteria present in the gut. In this study, researchers found not only that eating more plants, in general, can help improve gut health but that a specific number of different plants each week led to the healthiest microbiome in those participating," Bulsiewicz explained.

He continued, "What they discovered is that people who were consuming more than 30 varieties of plants per week had the healthiest gut microbiomes."

Because of this study, lifestyle dermatologist Naana Boakye, M.D., even recommended the challenge for those seeking brighter, healthier skin on an episode of mindbodygreen's Clean Beauty School. You can also find this recommendation on TikTok, with plenty of users showing off their veggie-rich meals.

"Each individual plant is feeding different families of microbes, and a variety of microbes within an ecosystem, including the gut ecosystem, is a measure of health. It's a measure of resilience. Variety on our plates translates into variety within our gut microbiomes, and that ends up becoming a win," Bulsiewicz said on the podcast. 

While your gut is benefiting from the diversity, so is your digestive system thanks to the increased fiber intake. According to board-certified internal medicine doctor and senior medical director at One Medical Hemalee Patel, D.O., this fiber boost helps with general inflammation as well. 

During these four weeks, I was consuming significantly less processed food. Because of that, I began to crave it less too (some processed foods can be addictive, after all!). 

This challenge inspired me to try fruits and vegetables I'd never had before just because—which made healthy eating way more fun. In fact, Ramallo encourages anyone trying this challenge to explore new territory rather than play it safe.

I'm proud to say that I did manage to eat 30 plants each week for four weeks. In fact, I often found myself hitting 50 or 60 plants a week (including herbs and spices) once I found my rhythm with grocery shopping and recipe building. 

While logging each plant I ate was tedious, I found this challenge to be a much more positive experience than any kind of diet I've tried in the past because of one major factor: It's all about addition, not subtraction. 

In this way, it does feel more like a challenge and less like a diet, which I found helpful for my mental health. There's nothing wrong with switching up your diet and limiting things you find unhelpful, but I just don't love the idea of restricting food (especially with my already vegetarian limiting factor). 

Eating a wide variety of whole foods is a fairly universal recommendation, but not everyone will find it equally enjoyable or beneficial. 

The 30-plants challenge was a great success for me, and I know experts recommend it for many people too—but this isn't an all-or-nothing challenge. If you're new to cooking or plant-based eating, then you might consider starting low, maybe with 10 or 15 plants a week and working your way up. 

"Any number of plant options are better than none. Focusing on incorporating plants with each meal is recommended over focusing on hitting a specific number," Patel suggests.

You also don't have to log your plants if it's too much. I certainly don't keep up with the list now because, at a certain point, eating 30 plants a week became a habit I no longer need to track on my phone.