The Benefits of Food Diversity

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While some may love to eat their favorite food over and over, we need to recognize the great benefits that food diversity has for our health. This post was sponsored by Cool Beans but the content and opinions expressed are fully my own. I too am a creature of habit. I love to get into a routine of eating the same thing for breakfast, and even lunch, as it makes my day easier. But varying those meals is so important for many reasons. Tyler Mayoras is giving a glow-up to the world’s most under appreciated superfood: the bean. A passionate impact investor and entrepreneur, he co-founded Cool Beans with a vision of bringing sustainable, whole-food goodness to the frozen foods aisle. Inspired by his own journey to a plant-based diet, he’s making it easier than ever to eat clean, minimally-processed food that's good for your body, your soul, and the planet. What is Food Diversity? Food diversity basically means having a diverse number of plants in your diet. Each have different fibers and nutrients that are beneficial for your gut. When we eat a wide variety of nutrients, we more easily move toward better wellness. Some experts say we do best when eating up to 30 different types of foods a week! Cool Beans wraps gives you 24 of those! Between all five flavors, you get 24 different types if food. The Importance of Food Diversity The farming industry 200 years ago looks different than it does today. Farmers would grow 7-10 different types of crops and they would rotate each kind. This is because every plant takes something from soil and gives something to soil. Healthy soil is rich and biodiverse, having a variety of nutrients. So when we have a variety of plants growing, we then get a variety of nutrients from them. Healthy soil also holds moisture better. The moisture gives back to the environment and helps with getting us more rain. This helps grow plants better overall. Having a diet diverse in many foods is also really important for your physical health. Our gut is like soil. We are actually more bacteria than we are human. Bacteria helps tell us what we crave to eat based on what it wants and needs. You can actually replace your entire gut in a week by changing your diet! Eating more diverse foods helps you crave more nutritious food. Which overall even helps improve your immunity. How it Affects Health and Wellness Having a wide range of nutrients helps keep us moving towards optimal wellness. And this isn't just focused on our physical wellness, but it also helps our mental state. 90% of the seratonin in our body is created in the gut lining and comes from high fiber foods. We need serotonin to maintain a happy state of mind. When we feel our best, this also helps with our self esteem. While eating a diverse amount of food can certainly help us maintain a healthy weight, self esteem is not just focused on the way we look. When we are happy and filled with energy from all the nutrients we are eating, we are more successful and productive. This helps us feel good about ourselves and raises our self esteem. This isn't about a certain diet, or limiting one type of food or another, this is about a lifestyle where you bring a diverse amount of foods into your diet, focusing on more plants and less overly processed foods. Culture and Food Diversity Culture also plays a role in food diversity. Every region in our world includes different foods as staples. If we exclude ethnic foods, and only focus on our own culture, we are missing out on a many food options. Cool Beans started their business with a focus on cultural flavors. Both because they do not include sauce in order to avoid a mushy texture in the wraps, but also to have a diverse amount of ingredients in their wraps. The spices of each flavor of wrap really brings an amazing taste, along with all the incredible nutrients. You can find the following: