Why nutritionists are now recommending you eat 30 plants a week, and how to increase your intake

Nutrition is perhaps the most variable of categories across the whole of science, with the advice around what we should and should not eat constantly evolving.

From the rise (and arguably fall) of low-fat foods, to the popularisation of the “five a day” campaign, the guidance around what to eat is almost always changing as new research indicates where we can further improve our lives by mindfully selecting our choices.

One of the most recent developments in this area that is slowly becoming a key element of the mainstream nutrition narrative is the idea of consuming 30 different varieties of plants a week.

As a professional rugby player, you are no doubt highly conscious of what you put in your body. You need to know that the food and drinks you consume are contributing to optimal health that ensures you are able to train and perform at your very best.

You might well work with a personal nutritionist to help you find a diet and hydration strategy that gives you the energy to perform on the pitch and recover in the intervals off it. So, their guidance might already include some considerations as to the benefits of including more plants in your diet, and be built with extras included to help keep you at peak performance.

Whatever your current circumstances, it is worth being aware of the potential value of eating 30 plants a week, and how you could build more into your diet if you think it could be of assistance to you.

So, read on to find out about the science that has influenced this conclusion, and a few easy ways to add more plants to your diet.

Eating 30 plants a week can improve gut health, bringing a range of benefits with it

The concept of 30 plants a week is widely seen as an extension of the original “five a day” concept. While eating five portions of fruit or vegetables a day is linked to improved health, it appears that the variety of those plants is just as important.

As nutritionist Anita Bean explained in the January 2025 Waitrose Weekend, the concept was initially popularised by Tim Spector, a doctor and science writer who works particularly on the relationship between the gut microbiome and human health.

Spector led the UK arm of a 2018 study by the American Gut Project. In the study, researchers found that of a sample group of 10,000 people, those who ate 30 plants or more a week had a greater diversity in their gut microbe on average than those who consumed 10 or fewer.

Naturally, improving gut health has a positive impact on digestion. But crucially, it can also bring about good outcomes in other areas of your health, having been shown to:

  • Support brain health
  • Bolster your immune system
  • Contribute towards a positive mood
  • Reduce your risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease.

These outcomes could all be useful to you. The first three could help you stay fit and healthy throughout your rugby career, while the final points might contribute to your health long past your playing days, into your second career and perhaps beyond.

Eating across 6 key groups of plant foods could help you reach the target

A target of 30 plants a week might seem high until you understand the scope of what is included in the calculation.

While this is not a solid science in itself, it can be useful to eat across six categories of plant foods to help you bump up your weekly intake:

  1. Fruit, including dried, frozen, and tinned fruits but excluding fruit juices.
  2. Vegetables, also including tinned, dried, and frozen vegetables but excluding vegetable juices or purees.
  3. Wholegrains, including ingredients such as barley, bulgur wheat, oats, brown or wild rice, and products made from wholegrain wheat such as bread and pasta. White bread, pasta, and rice are all excluded.
  4. Nuts and seeds, including ingredients such as chia, flax, pumpkin, and sunflower seeds.
  5. Legumes, including common tinned or dried staples such as beans, chickpeas, or lentils.
  6. Herbs and spices, including fresh and dried varieties. Herbs and spices differ slightly from the other categories, as they each count as one-quarter of one whole plant.

Plants of the same type but different colours or varieties also count, such as red and white cabbage or yellow and green peppers.

Furthermore, there are some outlier foods that do not quite fit neatly into these categories but are included because they still contain beneficial plant compounds. For example, this includes:

  • Coffee
  • Tea
  • Popcorn
  • Olive oil
  • Dark chocolate (as long as it has a minimum of 70% cocoa solids).

You might well already consume foods like these readily, offering five easy “plant points” toward your weekly target.

It might be easier than you think to incorporate more plants into your routine

As well as thinking in terms of those six categories, it can also help to consider individual meals. Below are some suggestions for how you could add more plants to your diet by thinking about where they fit into your three main daily meals:

So, when you next go to enjoy any of your usual meals, consider trying some of these options to include a few additional plants in your diet.

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Please note

This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at retail clients only.

All information is correct at the time of writing and is subject to change in the future.