Cultured and Diet Diversity

Reading and immensely enjoying (thanks, Kevin!) Cultured: How Ancient Foods Can Feed Our Microbiome by Katherine Harmon Courage.  I know part of why I like it is that "I'm in the choir" (plants are good for you, your gut biome is important--especially for the brain), but it's also very readable, and fun to go on her travel adventures to discover / learn about cultured foods.

Anyway, it comes at the right time: my mood is low, I don't feel healthy, and I'm getting worried / frustrated with my diet restrictions.

Harmon talks about the benefits of a plant diet for their fibres and action as prebiotics, and concludes at some point that more fibres and more differnt types of fibres the better and that in the past, humans definitely ate a more diverse array of plants.  At one point she refers to 100+ species of plants as a benchmark for diversity in a type of cuisine.

Um... so back to examining my plate: What do I eat?  What can I eat right now?  My list has 78, but that's really over the whole year and most are occasional / seasonal*.  On a regular day, maybe between 5-10.

Though the premise might not be complete (what about our bodies and microbes evolving to handle seasonal availability of plants?), I think I will try to make it a goal to try new plants... once I'm OK with having more different kinds of foods.  I would also love to try more of these cultured foods -- I'm hoping they'll fill in the gaps of what I'm missing right now.

* Also, am I cheating by including spices?  Yikes, and how many of these are actually the same species and I'm just eating a cultivar / variation?

What I can / do eat right now:

1. Apples 
2. Oats
3. Rice (brown usually)
4. Flax 
5. Oranges (mandarin, navel, kumquats)
6. Onions 
7. Pears 
8. Bananas 
9. Carrots 
10. Garlic 
11. Grapefruit 
12. Cinnamon
13. Tomatoes (fresh, canned, sundried)
14. Celery 
15. Green Onions 
16. Grapes (Red and Green)
17. Amaranth (greens, seeds?)
18. Coconut
19. Mangoes 
20. Yu Choy 
21. Bok Choy 
22. Spinach 
23. Chickpeas 
24. Broccoli 
25. Cauliflower 
26. Ginger 
27. Lentils (red, green, brown) 
28. Lemon 
29. Cilantro (ground and leafy)
30. Blueberries 
31. Strawberries 
32. Peaches 
33. Plums
34. Bell peppers 
35. Quinoa 
36. Green beans 
37. Kidney beans 
38. Black-eyed peas 
39. Beets (roots and greens)
40. Potatoes 
41. Squash (Zucchini, Pumpkin, butternut)
42. Kale 
43. Cranberries
44. Cherries 
45. Apricots
46. Dates 
47. Swiss Chard 
48. Mushrooms (white, brown, cremini, shittake) 
49. Chia 
50. Avocado 
51. Sunflower seeds 
52. Rosemary 
53. Turmeric 
54. Cumin
55. Basil 
56. Oregano
57. Raspberries 
58. Blackberries 
59. Napa cabbage 
60. Olives 
61. Watermelon 
62. Cucumber
63. Eggplant 
64. Brussels sprouts
65. Daikon radish
66. Figs
67. Sweet potato
68. Asparagus
69. Yams
70. Lychee
71. Papaya
72. Pineapple
73. Tapioca
74. Bitter melon
75. Ya Pear
76. Mint
77. Mustard
78. Lettuce

Soon, maybe? Fingers crossed, I can add these back in: 

1. Almonds 
2. Peanuts 
3. Soy
4. Sesame
5. Corn 
6. Wheat 
7. Barley 
8. Cashew 
9. Walnuts 
10. Cocoa powder (who am I kidding? It'll be chocolate)
11. Pistachios