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i've been searching for this info sporadically for years. looks like i missed checking in 2016 (and 2017.. and most of 2018...)

Japanese Health Habit: Variety is the Spice of Life
https://food.ndtv.com/food-drinks/japan ... fe-1354191

i had thought it was 29 foods a day, not 30. all this time, i had only idea of the target, and no info about the 6 categories

for years and years i have been running counts on my meals because of this idea, but not necessarily tallying up the whole day. along the lines of 'nice - that was a 7 veg breakfast' on the weekend.

today's count so far:

1. steel cut oats
2. strawberries
3. blueberries
4. raspberries
5. cherries
6. milk
7. flax seeds
8. maple syrup
9. sunflower seeds
10. pumpkin seeds
11. cashews
12. walnuts
13. honey flax peanuts
14. dried cranberries
15. dark chocolate covered cacao nibs
16. leftover sliced lamb
17. brown rice
18. onion
19. olive oil
20. red pepper
21. mushrooms
22. broccoli
23. chicken
24. peanut butter
25. sesame seeds
26. sesame oil
27. fish oil (supplement)

that's me for today. if i had made that curried lentil/veg soup today like i meant to (will have squash, carrot and spinach), i would have had some at lunch and hit the 30 target easy. cool!

ps hmm i guess i double counted peanuts mea culpa

I have stumbled onto this concept in the past month out of necessity but it actually makes a lot of sense from a nutritional point of view. Thanks for posting it!

no probs!

i've been tending to the simplistic for the main 'weekend breakfast' lately. yesterday's rediscovery spurred a return to past more time-consuming efforts.

1. sprouted 12 grain rye toast
2. mushroom
3. red pepper
4. spinach
5. cheese
6. eggs
7. tomato
8. baked beans
9. bacon
10. milk/cream

soon it will be time to make that soup i gapped on yesterday

5 hours later....

11. olive oil
12. onion
13. lentils
14. parsley
15. homemade chicken stock (and curry paste)
16. carrot
17. butternut squash
17. spinach (not double counting)
18. coconut oil

and

19. pumpkin seeds
20. sunflower seeds
21. cashews
22. walnuts
23. honey flax peanuts
24. dried cranberries
25. dark chocolate covered cacao nibs

...

gearing up for leftovers..

26. brown rice
27. broccoli (and onions and mushrooms and red pep)
28. chicken
29. sesame seeds
30. sesame oil

DING DING DING

still enjoying quick 8-food week day breakfasts and instant 6-food week day snacks

soup is long gone; recently baked a noms 11-food pseudo-spinakopita with

onion
celery
parsley
dill
spinach
kale
eggs
light feta
olive oil
filo
plain yogurt for garnish

also a 7-food pasta salad (personally, scores +4 after cancelling repeats) with

onion
celery
bell pepper
5 grain fusilli
tinned salmon (bone and skin in)
olive oil (& vinegar & seasonings)
mayo

plus an 8-food pseudo-tabbouleh salad (personally, scores +6 after cancelling repeats) with

parsley
spearmint
onion
cucumber
tomato
quinoa
lemon
olive oil (& vinegar & seasonings)

30 is easy peasy

- that is not to say there are not days i'd personally need to count all the different grains in 12 grain toast or 5 grain pasta to get there mind you ;)

slackin for the weekend. a bona fide 'count all grains in the 12 grain toast' day.
still, made a sweet salad (+7) and soup (11 / +8 omitting repeats... +9 incl lamb) today

escarole
dill
lemon juice
olive oil
feta
dried cranberries
sunflower seeds

olive oil
onion
celery
tomatoes
parsley (& spices)
homemade stock (chicken/veg+lamb)
lentils
chickpeas
egg
lemon
pending: lamb

also, put down two butternut and a spaghetti squash in the freezer. have cleaned off the seeds; in a perfect world they'll be seasoned/dry roasted tomo ;)

well today has not been *awesome* so far, but things seem to be on the mend now that it's suppertime

typical weekday breakfast and snack, ie

water

tea

breakfast (+7)
steel cut oats
mixed berries and cherries (4)
milk
maple syrup
(no flax today booo)

coffee

water/supplements

am snack (+9)
mixed nuts and seeds (6)
dried cranberries
dark choc coverered puffed quinoa

coffee

water/supplements

leftovers for lunch (let's just call it +12) ie

ancient grains pasta (5)
homemade herbed tomato sauce
swiss chard
spaghetti squash
half a 'wild thing' sausage (pork with mixed funky stuff like dandelions, violets etc)

pm snack (+2 after repeats)
tomato
balsamic
feta

water/supplements

dinner pending
curried lentil veg soup (say +13)

onion
olive oil
coconut oil
minced garlic
minced ginger
bay leaves
mixed dry spices (mostly cumin, not adding to count)
red lentils
green lentils
chicken broth
a cup of frozen butternut squash,
a grated carrot,
150g frozen chopped spinach
1/4 c chopped fresh parsley

think i'll be well past 45 and headed for 50 diff foods by end of day today

oops i didn't have the soup yet, just made it. will have a small bowl in a bit before i put it away.

in the meantime a plate of supper (+3 - not counting chicken and chicken broth separately)
pickled beets
green beans
half a potato
some leftover chicken.

that's 45, conservatively

had a 10km hike instead of lunch today :S

at least enjoyed a bit of that lentil soup upon return, and am on track for the next multi-ingredient homemade wonder aka a nice pot of chili

1. olive oil
2. minced garlic
3. onion
4. celery
5. chili powder
6. ground beef (grass finished heritage galloway)
7. green pepper
8. red pepper
9. butternut squash
10. chopped frozen spinach
11. tomatoes (juiced plus some chopped fresh)
12. kidney beans
13. black beans

am out of frozen corn or that would be in there as well (a la 'three sisters' corn beans and squash chili)

soon to be enjoyed with a bit of brown rice

other than that enjoyed standard +7 breakfast, +9 snack and +13 soup for 29, after repeats the chili makes it +7 more so back in the 30s zone shortly

japan x harvard healthy eating plate FTW

weekends are weird. but:

1. eggs
2. spinach
3. cheese
4. bacon
5. 12 grain sprouted rye toast

then out to volunteer (2 hrs physical activity) and home again to

homemade lentil veg soup with plain yogurt (+14)

homemade chili (+8 omitting repeat soup ingredients)

bringing today's total so far to 27 and finally

28. 1/2 a potato
carrots (repeat)
29. cauliflower
cheese sauce (cheese repeat)
31. collard greens
31. pickled beets
32. ham
33. mustard

and i think that is that for today. not too shabby

today's 30

breakfast: typical +7 oats and mixed fruit etc

morning snack: typical +9 mixed nuts, seeds and fruit etc

lunch: +10 bean salad - 4 bean mix, vidalia, cucumber, radishes, corn, cranberries (repeat), oil&vinegar dressing

afternoon snack: +5 hummus (chickpeas (repeat), tahini, lemon and spices) with carrots, celery and multigrain chips

supper:
+6 leftover chicken, kale, squash, red pep, beets and butter

grand total 37.

i made but didn't have any of a batch of black bean soup. it's a +6 with
onion, herbs/spices (which don't count), celery, carrot, chicken stock, black beans and tomato.

having fun with it today. my brain decided it is now curry season
local goat keema, methi palak ka saag, brown basmati and faked a quick raita side to speed things up
i missed having some chutney with - will have to whip some up for next time!

this week, am using up party season leftover dips. breakfast is down by two berry types atm. starting to run out of things. lessons learned for next year's ratios.

so,
breakfast +6
-10 min steel cut oats
-black raspberries
-blueberries
-whole flax seeds
-milk
-maple syrup

am snack +8
1/4c trail mix -
almonds
walnuts
honey flax peanuts
pumpkin seeds
sunflower seeds
dried cranberries
dark choc covered quinoa puffs
dark choc chips

lunch +8
quesadilla w dips and garnish
-olive oil
-one multigrain tortilla
-old cheddar cheese
-black beans
-plain yogurt
-store bought salsa
-store bought guac
-kitchen-grown mixed sprouts (mostly alfalfa)

pm snack +5
1c homemade black bean soup
-olive oil
-onion
-carrot
-celery
-black beans (repeat)
-homemade beef stock

supper +8
-leftover roast chicken
-potato
-carrots (repeat)
-butternut squash
-beets
-collard greens
-cranberry sauce
-leftover gravy
-butter

35 total, not too shabby.

re est serving tally across categories/groups:

1. Meat, fish, poultry, egg, bean products (protein)..................................II
2. Small fish incl bones, dairy (calcium)................................................III (includes bits of milk/cream in 3 cups of tea/coffee)
3. Green and yellow vegetables (carotene, plus other vitamins and minerals)...II
4. Other vegetables and fruits (vitamin C, plus other vitamins and minerals)....IIII
5. Grains, potato, bread (carbohydrates)...............................................III
6. Cooking oil, nut and seed oils, nuts and seeds (fat)................................III

today i'm reading about two large early day food inputs being better in a few ways, than 6 small distributed ones. may try pushing more content earlier. not prepared to stop eating for the day at noon, mind you! less and less over the course of the day i can deal with.