Dr Monisha Bhanote has spent decades looking at cells under a microscope. Her advice for looking after them is almost disappointingly simple, and she is very clear that no supplement, device or protocol replaces it. In the third episode of the Sanno Health cellular health podcast series, she explains the two food habits she starts every patient with.
Why does she start with food rather than supplements?
"You can't outsmart your biology without the foundation," she says, and the foundation is what you eat, how you sleep, how you move and how you manage stress. Dr Bhanote holds five medical board certifications, three of them in pathology, and now practises integrative and culinary medicine. Her view is that most people have never been shown how much of their day-to-day function depends on these inputs, and that the job of a practitioner is to compress that education into something usable.
What does biological age mean?
Her opening example is two people who share a sixtieth birthday. One sleeps well, moves daily and eats mostly whole foods; the other is sedentary, eats a lot of ultra-processed food and drinks regularly. Their birth certificates say the same thing. Their cells do not. "We want to look at the impact of what our lifestyle is doing," she says, and the encouraging part is that the levers are the ordinary ones.
Why thirty plants, and why not a diet?
"Let's not focus on diet labels," she says. "What I want everybody to focus on is biodiversity." Her target is around thirty different plant foods a week, and the number is less arbitrary than it sounds: it comes from research associating that level of variety with gut microbiome diversity, which tends to change over the course of life.
The trick is in what counts. "I'm not just saying fruits and vegetables. I'm talking about herbs and spices and whole grains and lentils and legumes and nuts and seeds." Counted that way, a well-made salad can carry a dozen plants on its own. Her own record is thirty in one mason jar.
Her observation from patients' food journals is that most people eat the same breakfast, the same lunch and the same handful of vegetables every week. "There's more than bananas and apples. There's more than carrots and broccoli." Variety, not restriction, is the change.
What is the second habit?
One fermented food a day, with every meal if you can manage it. Kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut, miso, live yoghurt or a proper pickle all qualify. Her example is characteristically practical: if you are having fish and chips, eat the pickled onions.
Add rather than take away
The principle underneath both habits, and the theme of her book The Anatomy of Wellbeing, is that it is easier to add a good habit than to remove a bad one. "I always like to start with what can we add rather than take out." Plants bring fibre, polyphenols and a range of phytonutrients; fermented foods bring live cultures. Neither requires you to give anything up first, and both make the harder changes easier later.
She is direct about one exception. Alcohol is not part of a balanced approach, however it is rotated, and her suggestion for the pub is to have the one drink and then switch to the kombucha that more and more bars now keep on tap.
How do I actually count to thirty?
- Keep a running list on your phone for one ordinary week before changing anything. Most people land between twelve and eighteen.
- Count herbs, spices, nuts, seeds, pulses and whole grains. A pinch of cumin counts. So does the chilli.
- Swap, do not add volume: a different grain, a different green, a different fruit. Variety is the goal, not more food.
- Buy one unfamiliar plant each shop. Fennel, black beans, buckwheat, pistachios, radicchio.
- Batch a jar of mixed seeds and a jar of mixed nuts and put a spoon of each on whatever you are eating.
- Add one fermented food a day and treat it as non-negotiable.
Where do supplements fit?
Dr Bhanote's two habits are food habits, and we would not dress them up as anything else. Where the gut and digestion range on Supplement Hub fits is around them: fibre supplements for people who struggle to reach plant diversity through food alone, and products selected for their composition, sourcing and transparency rather than for promises about outcomes. Read what is in the tub, check the fibre type and the dose, and keep the thirty plants as the main event.
Frequently asked questions
Do herbs and spices really count toward thirty plants?
Yes. Dr Bhanote counts herbs, spices, whole grains, pulses, nuts and seeds as well as fruit and vegetables. Variety of plant type is the point.
Does the same vegetable count twice?
No. Broccoli on Monday and Thursday is one plant. Broccoli and cauliflower is two.
Is thirty plants a week a proven target?
It comes from observational research on plant variety and the gut microbiome. It is a practical target rather than a medical prescription, and thirty is not a magic threshold.
What counts as a fermented food?
Foods with live cultures: kefir, live yoghurt, kimchi, sauerkraut, miso, tempeh and traditionally fermented pickles. Vinegar pickles and most shelf-stable sauerkraut are pasteurised and do not contain live cultures.
Where can I hear the full episode?
Episode 3 of the Sanno Health Podcast cellular health series, produced with Amrita Nutrition Global and BodyBio, is available on the Sanno Health channels from 2 November.
Shop the range: Gut and digestion · Read the guide: What is cellular health?
Written by Kris Barnes for Supplement Hub. Reviewed for compliance with Regulation (EC) 1924/2006. Dr Monisha Bhanote appears in an educational capacity; she has not reviewed or endorsed any product mentioned. Quotes are from the Sanno Health Podcast, Episode 3 of the cellular health series, lightly edited for clarity.
