Professor Tim Spector is a distinguished professor of genetic epidemiology, physician and science writer, working on the relationship between nutritionthe intestinal microbiome and health. He is co-founder of ZOE, an app and project aimed at helping users make smarter food choices, and has published four books: the best-selling Identially Different, The Diet Myth, spoon-fed and food for life.

Spread olive oil on your toast

I drizzle and spread extra virgin olive oil on my toast rather than butter, for greater health benefits. That’s what they do in Spain, and it’s delicious.

Improve your breakfast

Instead of quickly reaching for cereal, eat full-fat Greek yogurt topped with nuts, seeds and berries. It contains less sugarand toppings will help you reach your 30 plants per week. Research shows that people who eat 30 different plants per week tend to have a more diverse gut microbiome than those who eat 10. A thriving microbiome can help the body fight infections, reduce the risk of self-illness, immune and regulate appetite and body weight.

Consume lots of colors

Eating the rainbow not only promotes your gut health and reduces the risk of disease, but also enriches your health. diet with a greater range of flavors and textures (and will also help you reach your goal of 30 plants per week). An easy and inexpensive way is to buy pre-mixed combinations; packets of multi-colored peppers are a good example, as are combinations of other root vegetables or a mix of nuts and seeds.

Add celery to your onion and garlic

Most good recipes start with onion and garlic, but try adding celery as well. It doesn’t taste as flavorful on its own, but chopped celery, garlic, and onions sweated in extra virgin olive oil are a great way to regularly introduce more flavor, polyphenols, and fiber in your meals. Studies have shown that such combinations release polyphenol chemicals that are even healthier for your microbes than when used individually.

Let your chopped vegetables sit for five to 10 minutes

Rather than chopping then throwing your garlic and onion directly into the pan, wait five to 10 minutes. Onion and garlicas well as cabbage and broccoli, are good sources of sulforaphane, a chemical that improves blood sugar control and cholesterol levels. Cooking destroys mirosynase, from which sulforaphane is derived. But if you let your vegetables sit for five to ten minutes before cooking, the sulforaphane is activated and survives the cooking process.

Brush your tomatoes with olive oil

It is proven that you extract more nutrients from tomatoes when they are cooked with extra virgin olive oil.

Replace the stock cubes with miso paste

The first are ultra processed and rich in salt. While miso paste is a pure food that contains protein and has a deep flavor from fermented soybeans.

Do not remove the skin from fruits and vegetables

If you’re worried about pesticides or insects, it’s usually best to wash your fruits and vegetables, although this won’t remove all the chemicals. Try not to peel them either if you can; For many plants, most nutrients, polyphenols and fiber are found in the outer layers.

Make your own oven chips

Replace your baked chips with chopped potatoes drizzled with a little olive oil, seasoned and baked. For an even healthier version, try sweet potato. And for an even better dish, replace the baked chips with roasted carrots, celery root or cauliflower: the bigger the mix, the better the variety.

Make Easy Carb Swaps

Simple things like swapping plain white rice for bulgur and white pasta for whole grain or chickpea pasta make a huge difference. Alternatives are less processed and contain more gut-friendly fiber.

Stock up on beans

Beans and legumes are one of the most nutritious plants we can eat in terms of fiber, protein and nutrients, yet we have been eating less and less of them over the past 30 years. Replace ground beef or lamb in chili or bolognese with black beans, kidney beans or lentils.

Replace ketchup with kimchi

Incorporating fermented foods into your meals can introduce beneficial live microbes into the food, improving gut health. The best way to do this if you’ve never tried it is to simply add a tablespoon to a meal and build from there. Mix kimchi or sauerkraut with cream cheese and put on toast. Replace the crème fraîche with milk kefir, which is less processed with gut-friendly microbes. Replace sweet chutney with kimchi, which contains less sugar, pickled pickles with sauerkraut, or ketchup with spicy kimchi sauces.

Try this cheap version of smashed avo

For an inexpensive version of mashed avocado, mash up some peas instead. The health benefits are similar, but it’s much cheaper. Cover the frozen peas with boiling water from the kettle and let defrost for 1 minute. Drain and add to a blender, adding some finely chopped spring onions, herbs, green chilli, lemon juice and olive oil if desired. Season and blend until smooth.

Don’t forget the vinegar

It doesn’t have to be expensive, or even apple cider vinegar, as it seems to be the level of acidity that is important for balancing blood sugar. There is now recent evidence in small studies to suggest that you can blunt your body’s blood sugar responses in the short term by using vinegar on your salads before the main course.

Eat salad before carbs

There is growing evidence that eating salads or other vegetable starters about 10 minutes before eating a high-carb meal can help you stay full longer and reduce blood sugar spikes from starchy foods. We also know from our work at ZOE on blood sugar that combining starchy foods with fats and fiber will slow absorption and make the meal more filling. This is why, in France and Italy, vegetables, such as raw vegetables, are often served as starters.

Eat more nuts and seeds

This is an important intake of fiber, omega-3 fatty acids and polyphenols that have been shown to improve the risk of heart disease, so think about ways to increase them. Add a handful to a salad or a mix of seeds to your breakfast granola and yogurt. Whole seed spices like coriander, cumin, fennel and caraway are all nutritious and delicious.

Consume two teaspoons of herbs and spices

Spices and herbs count toward your 30 plants per week, although they are traditionally consumed in much smaller quantities than leafy greens because they contain a very high concentration of plant chemicals. A study known as the “Singapore Trial” showed how powerful a few teaspoons of curry spices per day can be for the gut microbiome.

The Food For Life cookbook by Tim Spector, with Dr. Federica Amati, is now available

As told to Maria Lally