Our hunter-gathering ancestors are said to have eaten over 2000 different foods, principally plant-based, by foraging berries, leaves, tubers, fruit, and anything which would give sustenance. Modern man now eats perhaps less than a hundred plant-based foods and many less than fifty.
Our health and vitality, depend on the nutritional quality and variety of our diet, not just for ourselves but for the millions of bacteria, and other microbiomes we all have to host to survive. These friendly microbiomes transform what we eat into essential nutrients for each of the cells in our bodies. This is important because the effective functioning of these cells is dependent on the variety of foods we eat and sufficient fibre, their essential food, which is only found in plant-based diets.
It is now recognised that the greatest health promotion and disease resistance is found amongst those who live on a whole plant-based diet of maximum variety.
How varied is your diet?
You can check Your Food Variety Index (FVI) using the table below. Tick every food you include in your diet, even if only eaten occasionally. Add the total and refer to the Food Variety Index Table to find your current FVI.
Please note; that all animal-based foods are excluded from this survey because they provide no essential fibre that feeds the essential microbes you host in your gut, and animal-based foods are shown to increase the risk of developing cancer, heart disease, neurological diseases, diabetes, and all chronic diseases.
The above list is not exhaustive, so add any other whole plant foods you eat that are not included above, to your count.
See the table below to check whether your diet provides all the nutrients for a long, healthy active life or whether it’s laying the foundation for one of the many dietary deficiencies associated with modern chronic diseases.
Michael Lingard – BSc(Econ).DO
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