When you think back to what you ate today, yesterday, three weeks ago or even last year, how different is the food on your plate?
Some people naturally include a wide range of diverse food when choosing their meals, but for many of us, it’s easy to fall into a trap of eating the same foods daily.
By eating a varied diet, you’re more likely to ensure that you consume adequate amounts of all essential nutrients. This not only reduces the risk of nutritional deficiencies, but it also provides numerous health benefits, like:
๐ญ. ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐๐
The gut microbiome is incredibly important to your overall health, and it’s best to have a varied population. The best way to achieve this variety in the gut? Eat a diet filled with assorted foods.
๐ฎ. ๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฅ๐ถ๐๐ธ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ ๐๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ด๐ & ๐๐ป๐๐ผ๐น๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ
When you eat the same food again and again, you increase your risk of developing a food intolerance or allergy to that food. Researchers determined that a decrease in food diversity at 6 and 12 months of age had an association with hay fever & asthma. Another study found that infants who ate a diverse diet rich in veg & fruit, as well as meals prepared at home, had fewer incidences of food allergies compared to children who consumed a less diverse diet.
๐ฏ. ๐ก๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฆ๐๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ด๐
Numerous studies reviewing high intake of fruits & vegetables find correlated health benefits, including preventing heart disease & cancer. When you consume a variety of food, you gain from thousands of phytonutrients acting together to provide you with many advantages to your health, some of which have yet to be identified.
๐ฐ. ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ป๐ณ๐น๐ฎ๐บ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
Inflammation is associated with several chronic illnesses, including diabetes and heart disease. One study found that a variety of fruit & vegetable intake was inversely associated with lower amounts of the inflammatory biomarker, C-reactive protein. In this study, ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ถ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ต๐บ.
Wondering what’s in my hand? They’re West Indian Raspberries I foraged in Hawaii!
