A top nutritionist explains her alternative ‘5 a day’ food rule, which makes caring for her gut health easy

• Federica Amati is a nutritionist who has her own version of the '5 a day' rule for good gut health.
• She eats five key food types every day, including whole grains and omega-3s.
• She shared how she gets the five foods into her diet every day.

We've all heard that it's important to get your "five a day," meaning five servings of fruits and vegetables.

But Federica Amati, the lead nutritionist at ZOE, a science and nutrition company, told Business Insider she has her own take on the rule that she follows for a healthy gut.

Amati, who is also a postdoctoral medical scientist at Imperial College London, incorporates five types of food into her diet every day to maintain diversity in her gut microbiome: nuts and seeds, legumes, omega-3 fatty acids, fresh fruit, and whole grains.

The gut microbiome is the collective name for the trillions of microorganisms in the digestive tract that help digest food. It's important for overall health because it impacts other systems, such as the metabolism and immune response. A diverse, nutritious diet helps the microbiome to thrive, because different microorganisms use different types of food as fuel.

Amati based her five a day on the findings of a 2019 study published in the journal The Lancet. The study looked at the effects of diet on the participants' risk of dying. It used data from thousands of sources in 195 countries, including censuses, hospital data, and existing studies.

It found that an unhealthy diet — meaning one that is high in sodium, low in whole grains, low in fruit, low in nuts and seeds, low in vegetables, and low in omega-3 fatty acids — contributed to more deaths than any other risk factor, including smoking.

Amati shared how she incorporates each of her "five a day" foods into her diet.

Nuts and seeds

Amati said she snacks on mixed nuts — her favorites are walnuts and almonds — two or three times a day. She keeps a pack of nuts in her bag so she can eat them while she's out. She also sprinkles a mixture of seeds on her meals, including chia seeds, flaxseed, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds.

Nuts and seeds contain lots of fiber and are also a great source of plant-based protein.

Legumes

"I eat legumes every day," Amati said. "Beans all day — often for lunch, but also at dinner, and sometimes breakfast. I don't discriminate."

She keeps jars of uncooked lentils and beans in her kitchen, as well as ready-to-eat beans, which she can warm up for a quick lunch.

For example, a recent lunch consisted of cheese, spring onions, beans, and microwaved eggs topped with seeds, alongside some bread and extra virgin olive oil for dipping.

For breakfast, she has butter beans or chickpeas on toast, sometimes with tomatoes or mushrooms.

"Beans and pasta are also a match made in heaven," she added.

Like nuts and seeds, legumes contain lots of fiber and are also an environmentally friendly source of protein.

Omega-3s

Amati gets omega-3 fatty acids from chia seeds, walnuts, and oily fish, which she eats two times a week. She often adds a tin of sardines to her salads.

She also includes prawns and shellfish in the category of "oily fish" because they are good sources of omega-3s.

Omega-3s can help reduce chronic inflammation, lower blood pressure, reduce the risk of heart disease, and improve eye health.

Fresh fruit

Amati said she always has some fruit with her to snack on, like an apple or banana. And when she's not eating beans for breakfast, she often yogurt or porridge topped with frozen fruit.

Berries are especially high in fiber, with raspberries containing 8g per cup, compared to 3g for one cup of chopped apple.

Blueberries are high in antioxidants, which help protect against cell damage, while kiwis are high in vitamin C, which supports the immune system.

Whole grains

Most mornings, Amati eats oats in some form — either cooked as oatmeal or as overnight oats with kefir and chia seeds.

When making a stew or soup, she often adds whole grains like spelt into the dish. Or, when she's short on time and wants a quick lunch fix, she'll have microwaveable whole grains, such as quinoa, with vegetables or oily fish.

Whole grains are a great source of fiber, and they contain nutrients such as B vitamins, iron, folate, selenium, potassium, and magnesium.