Fiber Fueled

 Fiber Fueled is the name of a book recommended to me by a friend who’s a vegetarian. I don’t usually write about diets, but I think the information in this book is worth mentioning. The author, Will Bulsiewicz, is a respected gastroenterologist who, through the influence of his wife, became a true believer of the benefits of  eating fiber from a variety of plants as a way to maintain a healthy gut. His opinions, like that of many others who study such things, were developed as a result of new technology that has made it possible to identify the DNA of microorganisms in our bodies. The point is: the more diverse our gut microbiome, the better. We do this, according to him, by eating a diverse plant-based diet. (I wrote about the science behind a fiber-rich diet in an earlier post.) In addition to fruits and vegetables, plants, of course, include grains, nuts, and seeds.

Bulsiewicz refers to the work of Dr. Rob Knight, the founder of the American Gut Project, whose research has resulted in a massive database of gut microbes and their effects. What doctor Knight has concluded is that the more diverse our diets, plant-wise, the more diverse our gut microbiomes: “The single greatest predictor of a healthy gut microbiome is the diversity of plants in one’s diet.” Knight’s recommendation is to eat thirty different plants a week--a number that he found was the greatest predictor of microbial diversity. According to Knight, this doesn’t require being a vegetarian.

In my opinion, Bulsiewicz goes overboard with his advice, admonishing against eating dairy and meat. The menus he suggests include meals such as tofu scramble and citrus and mint salad, or quinoa chili with kale salad. This would never fly at my house. Still, I think the goal of eating thirty different plants a week is a good one—something to think about and shoot for. You don’t need to buy the book. It’s all you need to know.

Last week I tallied up the plants I ate, counting every little thing, such as two kinds of lettuce, two kinds onions, two kinds of peppers, herbs, garlic, nuts, and so forth. I hit the thirty plants mark!  

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