How many plants do your kids eat in a week?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please cite. This is insane, from a historically biological perspective. I am not an expert.

I'm quite open to the idea that it's insane, but I'm not sure I buy the idea that historical diets are definitely the best. Historically life spans were pretty short.

Here is one source, but it's not the thing I read, I didn't save that link:

https://www.eastewart.com/recipes-and-nutrition/eat-more-plants-challenge/

Yeah this sounds like BS sorry. 30 *different* plants? I mean. That’s nice I guess.

NP. Why does it sound like BS? Doesn’t it make logical sense that you’d have a wider nutrient intake, which could promote a healthier microbiome.

[Anonymous]

Well, the biggies are:

rice
wheat
corn
oats
potatoes
sugarcane
almonds
peanuts

then all the fruits:
oranges
apples
grapes
tomatoes
berries
bananas
pineapple
pears
lemon
lime

and the vegetables:
lettuce
spinach
onions
celery
carrots
green beans
broccoli
zucchini

If you want to count herbs:
cilantro
parsley
garlic

So that's about 30 and it's a pretty normal week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please cite. This is insane, from a historically biological perspective. I am not an expert.

I'm quite open to the idea that it's insane, but I'm not sure I buy the idea that historical diets are definitely the best. Historically life spans were pretty short.

Here is one source, but it's not the thing I read, I didn't save that link:

https://www.eastewart.com/recipes-and-nutrition/eat-more-plants-challenge/

Yeah this sounds like BS sorry. 30 *different* plants? I mean. That’s nice I guess.

NP. Why does it sound like BS? Doesn’t it make logical sense that you’d have a wider nutrient intake, which could promote a healthier microbiome.

30 different plants in a WEEK is not at all hard or unusual.

[Anonymous]

These sort of questions are just loaded with judgment and classism.

[Anonymous]

I aim for 3-5 servings of fruits/veggies per day. She definitely eats more fruit then veggies but usually has veggies for dinner. I tend to eat more veggies then fruit. The goal a while ago was too make sure they’re different colors and I feel like we do this.

[Anonymous]

If you eat seasonally (which is important for many reasons), 30-40 is WAY too much. 15 different kinds of plants/week is a perfectly fine goal, if you're aiming to eat according to what grows seasonally, and isn't imported.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, the biggies are:

rice
wheat
corn
oats
potatoes
sugarcane
almonds
peanuts

then all the fruits:
oranges
apples
grapes
tomatoes
berries
bananas
pineapple
pears
lemon
lime

and the vegetables:
lettuce
spinach
onions
celery
carrots
green beans
broccoli
zucchini

If you want to count herbs:
cilantro
parsley
garlic

So that's about 30 and it's a pretty normal week.

You're counting sugarcane and herbs? Your kids eat lemons and limes? Clearly you had to stretch and you still didn't get to 30. Do potato chips doritos count because they are potatoes and corn?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids eat the same amount as I do. I guess it depends on what you count. As single, whole vegetables, we eat different veggies for dinner every night. Certainly have a salad at least one night with multiple vegetables. Snack veggies for lunches/snacks. And then all the vegetables that go into cooking our homemade dinners. Do we count legumes? Grains? Different varieties of veggies? If so, I think we do this without thinking about it. And most people who eat meals at home in a relatively healthy fashion are probably pretty close to that goal. Using a CSA helped us expand our vegetable palate.

It would be very common for us to all eat the following in a week:
carrots
snap peas
cucumbers
cherry tomatoes
snack bell peppers
broccoli
green beans
peas
cauliflower
corn
kale
spinach
swiss chard
various lettuces
cabbages (various kinds - napa, red, etc.)
olives
various onions
garlic
celery
beans
lentils
scallions
ginger
various potatoes

That's a nice variety, but it's still not 30-40. Thanks for proving the point that 30-40 is absurd.

[Anonymous]

I just got curious, so I decided to list our "plants" for this past week:

Apples, oranges, bananas, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, kiwis, mangos, pineapple, cantelope, honeydew, pear, grapes, strawberries
Tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, pepperocini peppers, green beans, cilantro, garlic, corn, asparagus, artichokes, romaine, mixed greens, spinach, cabbage, jicama, radish, beets, eggplant
Chickpeas, pinto beans, black beans, kidney beans, black lentils, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, potatoes, black-eyed peas, great northern beans
Quinoa, wheat, rice

FWIW -- it is very easy to eat a lot of plants in one of those Cava/Mezeh bowls. We also eat lots and lots of fruit and salads in our house.

So, ultimately, I vote yes. I think eating a high number of different plants throughout the week is easily doable given our accessibility to foods in modern grocery stores.

[Anonymous]

PP above. I forgot mushrooms, cashews, almonds, walnuts, and probably more

[Anonymous]

OP here,

I feel like as a parent my thinking has kind of evolved from:

Go for what will cause them to eat the most volume. For example, my kids consistently liked romaine with caesar dressing when they were little, so I served it multiple times a week.

Research and find what is the very most nutrition. So, I switched our salads from romaine to spinach (we have our limits and no one in our family likes raw kale).

Variety is what's important, so I buy mixed greens!

Which is right? Who knows?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LOL. I think they mean things like fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, grains etc . . .

Even herbs are included. Different greens in a salad etc.

[Anonymous]

If I buy a bagged salad mix that might be 5 types of lettuce and other leaves in one. Does that count as 5?

And then chocolate chip banana bread also has 5: sugarcane, wheat, cacao, vanilla, bananas. Or 6 if you make it with oil (or more if it's a vegetable oil blend, even though olive is probably healthier).

Should those be counted the same in this exercise?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If I buy a bagged salad mix that might be 5 types of lettuce and other leaves in one. Does that count as 5?

And then chocolate chip banana bread also has 5: sugarcane, wheat, cacao, vanilla, bananas. Or 6 if you make it with oil (or more if it's a vegetable oil blend, even though olive is probably healthier).

Should those be counted the same in this exercise?

According to the people who believe in this, the 5 types of greens, and the banana, and the wheat if it's whole wheat count. The sugar, cacao, vanilla, and oil have all be detached from their fiber, so they don't count. If you replaced the oil or egg with applesauce, then that would count.

And yes, buying bagged salad mix, as opposed to buying a bag of baby spinach is the kind of shift that people who believe in this would do. Or, for the kid like mine who takes nuts and an apple for snack most days, buying mixed nuts, and 5 different types of apples, instead of buying a bag of almonds and 5 honeycrisps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here,

I feel like as a parent my thinking has kind of evolved from:

Go for what will cause them to eat the most volume. For example, my kids consistently liked romaine with caesar dressing when they were little, so I served it multiple times a week.

Research and find what is the very most nutrition. So, I switched our salads from romaine to spinach (we have our limits and no one in our family likes raw kale).

Variety is what's important, so I buy mixed greens!

Which is right? Who knows?

But we do know what is right... variety. So you should have spinach salad, and romaine salad, AND mixed green salad during the week. Vary your salad toppings, vary your side of vegetables, vary your fruits. We usually eat fruit with every single meal. We add vegetables to all sorts of dishes -- scrambled eggs, nachos, pastas, burgers, sandwiches, etc.