The Importance of Variety in Your Diet
By Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN, LD
It’s well known that eating a varied diet is important for overall health. In fact, you have probably heard this piece of advice too many times to count!
However, how and why variety in your diet contributes to health may be less clear. You may even be wondering what exactly counts as “variety” and if the quality of foods matters more than the quantity of different ones you eat.
Here is some insight into the benefits of a varied diet, including the 5 main reasons why you should incorporate an array of healthy foods into your weight loss meal plan.
1 – Eating different foods helps you meet nutrient needs.
Not all foods are created equal. The nutrition profiles of different foods, even ones in the same food groups like fruits and vegetables, varies widely. Oranges are rich in vitamin C, while almonds provide vitamin E. From a macronutrient perspective, animal foods and legumes have much more protein than most grains, fruits, and vegetables.
Mixing up the foods that you eat is therefore key to getting enough of all of the essential nutrients. However, it’s important to choose nutritious foods when aiming for variety. Enjoying an array of sweets and highly processed foods is not going to help you meet your nutrient needs and reap the benefits of a varied diet.
Instead, stick with vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, nut and seeds, dairy products, and lean proteins, but mix up your choices within those groups. Choose one new vegetable a week to try, experiment with less-common grains like freekeh or teff, and rotate through protein options to include fish, beans, tofu, and meats each month. When you eat a varied diet, you don’t have to worry about falling short on nutrients or needing to take supplements.
2 – A varied diet prevents boredom and makes cooking fun.
One of the most common complaints about healthy eating is that it’s boring and lacking in flavor. If you think of healthy foods as boiled chicken breast, dry salads, and steamed vegetables, then this complaint is certainly understandable. It’s easy to get stuck in a rut when you think your choices need to be limited to eat healthy.
In reality, eating healthy can and should include lots of foods and even more seasonings. Chicken can be slow-cooked, roasted, or grilled and marinated with herbs and citrus for maximum flavor. Vegetables can be enjoyed with a zippy sauce, and beans provide a blank slate for any seasoning under the sun.
Challenge yourself to branch out and try new foods and cooking methods. As a result, you may be more likely to stick with healthy eating and make progress towards your goals.
Here are some great ways to increase variety in your diet:
Shop at a farmers market to get inspiration for new foods to try that are in season in your area.
Get started with meal prep services or a diet meal delivery, such as Healthy For Life Meals. Our menus feature a variety of fresh and exciting recipes that will keep you from getting bored!
Experiment with different cuisines. Try Indian, Mexican, Israeli, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Ethiopian, Greek, Italian, or French foods. To keep things exciting, you can even invite friends over for a theme dinner party featuring foods from a cuisine that’s new to you.
Try different cooking methods. Instead of always roasting or steaming foods, prepare a meal in a cast iron skillet, slow cooker, or Instant Pot.
3 – Eating a variety of foods nourishes your gut.
Growing evidence suggests that a healthy gut helps maintain overall health and that eating a varied diet may play a role. It’s thought that a diverse diet contributes to greater diversity of microorganisms that live in the gut. A diverse microbiome may be better at preventing certain diseases than a limited one, especially if the gut contains healthy bacteria that grow off of fibers found in nutritious plant foods.
In other words, eating different foods and incorporating lots of plants to feed healthy bacteria are both vital for gut health. To increase the diversity of plants that you eat, try switching up the vegetables you enjoy and adding plants to dishes you already make. For example, swap the roasted broccoli you have a couple times a week with asparagus or green beans. Add vegetables to taco meat or meat-based pasta sauces, chopped nuts to baked goods, and beans to soups and salads.
You can also boost diet diversity by eating with the seasons. Enjoy apples when they’re in season in the fall and fresh citrus in the winter. Tomatoes, green beans, eggplant, and peaches are delicious in the summer, while squash and root vegetables shine in colder months.
4 – Having a diverse diet may help you live longer.
Eating a healthy diet may help prevent diseases and therefore reduce mortality. According to one study, a healthy diet with a variety of foods in particular may help you live longer.
This observational study included close to 60,000 women from Sweden. The results found that those who regularly incorporated 16 to 17 healthy foods into their diets were 42% less likely to die from any cause than those who regularly ate only 0 to 8 healthy foods. Each additional healthy food added to a diet was associated with a 5% lower risk of death.
The study defined healthy foods as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish, and low-fat dairy and unhealthy foods as red meats, refined carbohydrates, sugars, and foods with high amounts of saturated or trans fats. Interestingly, the study results did not find a link between eating a diet high in unhealthy foods and mortality.
Based on this single study, it appears that focusing on adding a variety of nutritious foods to your diet may be more beneficial than just taking away less healthy foods. However, more research is needed to fully understand the link between diet variety and longevity.
5 – Eating foods from different groups may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.
Food choices play a large role in the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes. A prospective study with over 23,000 adults found that regularly eating foods from all food groups — fruits, vegetables, dairy products, meats, and grains — was associated with a 30% lower risk of getting type 2 diabetes compared to eating foods from three or fewer groups. Plus, eating a wider variety of fruits, vegetables, and dairy products in particular was also beneficial in preventing diabetes.
Other research suggests that diet diversity is important for preventing complications in those who have diabetes. A case-control study in 210 women found that having a more diverse diet was significantly associated with a lower chance of developing diabetic nephropathy. So, eating a healthy, varied diet appears to be helpful for both preventing and maintaining chronic diseases.
Note from Healthy For Life Meals: Getting started with one of our plans is a great way to boost your diet diversity! We incorporate an array of different foods and update our menus with new meals often. Choose one of our plans to get done-for-you meals delivered to your door.