I recently watched the comedy special “Old Man at the Pool” by Mike Birbilgila. He did a bit about his nutritionist. “Imagine your most annoying friend, and then imagine they start charging you. She’s like, you know what’s healthy? Vegetables. I’m like, I had heard that.. from EVERYONE. Have you been talking to everyone?”
You could perhaps replace nutritionist with naturopath. I am constantly telling people to eat more vegetables. But here’s the thing – eating a wide variety of vegetables and fruits will give you super powers. No, I’m kidding, it won’t actually give you super powers. But it feels little like that to me when I start to think of all the things they do. In addition to providing crucial vitamins and minerals, they also lower inflammation in your body and brain, and this improves physical and cognitive health. One of they main ways they do this is by providing food for your gut microbiome.
Your gut microbiome, which includes the bacteria and other organisms that live inside your intestines, is a major facet in your health. Studies show that having a diverse microbiome protects you against certain diseases, and lowers chronic inflammation. Those helpful little microbes in your gut eat the plant fibers that you ingest. Since different microorganisms prefer a different foods, eating a variety of vegetables helps you to have a diverse microbiome.
One important way that these microbes in your gut protect your health is by producing short chain fatty acids (SCFA). These compounds protect the integrity of your gut barrier (helping to prevent leaky gut), are anti-inflammatory throughout your body, and help you maintain healthy levels of glucose. Research also shows that they are also anti-inflammatory for your brain, and may improve cognition.
In short, eating a wide variety of vegetables in your diet is a great way to combat chronic inflammation and to improve your overall physical and mental health. In my practice I have patients aim to eat 30 different different types of plant fibers during the week.
Like Mike says, everyone knows that vegetables are healthy. Honestly, that is part of the power of this “treatment.” We are not stepping into unknown territory. I recommend approaching any dietary change from place of playfulness and curiosity. When you are grocery shopping, bring home a vegetable or two that you don’t generally eat, and look for some recipes to try. Play around with it. Another way to get added vegetables into your day is to add them into smoothies. Here is a link to some of my favorite fruit and vegetable smoothie recipes. Happy eating!
