The Daily Dozen: Getting All the Nutrients You Need (on a Plant-Based Diet)
When I talk about a whole food, plant-based diet, one of the biggest questions I get is how to ensure you’re getting all the nutrients you need from a plant-based diet.
Even people who have researched this online often end up with more doubts than they had when they started thanks to the confusing and sometimes contradictory information out there.
I’ve been there. I can’t tell you how many hours I spent sifting through everything, nor can I tell you how relieved I was when I found The Daily Dozen from Dr. Greger in his landmark book, How Not to Die.
You can see the charts for Dr. Greger’s daily dozen with both imperial and metric counts, but it’s also useful to understand the “why” behind the list, which I’ll go into below.
I use this list to guide my eating decisions because it is evidence-based, and as a Certified Holistic Nutritionist, I can say the science backing it is pretty solid.
Let’s take a look at the 12 categories that deserve a place in your daily efforts to improve your health and well-being.
Beans
Servings: 3 per day
Serving Size: ½ cup of cooked beans, lentils, or tofu; 1 cup of fresh peas; ¼ cup of bean dip or hummus
Why: Beans are packed with protein as well as iron and zinc, which means they offer a lot of the nutrients found in meat, along with added bonuses in the form of fiber, potassium and folate. Best of all, they’re naturally cholesterol-free and low in saturated fat. In fact, one of the cancer prevention recommendations listed by the American Institute for Cancer Research is to eat beans at every meal!
Fruits
Servings: 3 per day
Serving Size: 1 medium fruit, 1 cup of cut fruit, or 1/4 cup of dried fruit
Why: Berries are a separate category that I’ll address below, so this refers to all fruits that aren’t berries. Mangos, apples, dates, kiwis, and citrus fruits all come with their own health benefits – just remember to eat the whole fruit rather than just the juice as the nutrients in fruit are often bonded to the fiber, which is lost when the fruit is juiced. You can eat the whole fruits, blend them into smoothies, or bake them for a deeper flavor.
Greens
Servings: 2 per day
Serving Size: 1 cup raw or ½ cup cooked
Why: Many experts, Dr. Greger included, believe that one of the best things you can do for your health is eat a lot of greens, like spinach. An analysis of food groups by Harvard University found that greens were associated the strongest with protection against major chronic diseases. Making a point of eating a big salad every day is one way you can accomplish this, and it’s also the perfect vehicle for other foods in the daily dozen, like other vegetables and nuts.
Flaxseed
Servings: 1 per day
Serving Size: 1 tablespoon ground
Why: Flaxseeds are full of soluble fiber, which can bring your cholesterol down and protect against all manner of disease. You can buy them in bulk and then grind them up as needed; you won’t get the benefits if you eat them whole. Use the powder in salads, in soups, over oatmeal, or even as a replacement for eggs in baking. Check out my article on 6 Plant-Based Ingredients for Healthier and Tastier Meals to learn more about flax.
Grains
Servings: 3 per day
Serving Size: ½ cup of cooked grains, pasta, corn or hot cereal; 1 cup of cold cereal; 1 slice of bread or tortilla; half a bagel or English muffin; or 3 cups of popcorn.
Why: There’s no reason to fear whole grains or stay away from gluten if you don’t have Celiac disease. A recent analysis showed that people who eat whole grains live longer than others by a significant amount, regardless of other lifestyle and dietary factors. While you could simply switch from white bread to whole wheat, you’d be missing out on some nutrient-rich grains like quinoa and barley that pair well with other daily dozen foods – not to mention my personal favorite and breakfast staple: oats.
Berries
Servings: 1 per day
Serving Size: ½ cup of fresh or frozen or ¼ cup dried
Why: Berries can boost your immune system, protect your brain and liver, and even potentially protect against cancer. One very big study found that the people who ate the most berries had a far lower likelihood of dying of cardiovascular disease. Berries get their bright colors from their rich antioxidant content. In fact, berries as a group have ten times more antioxidants than other types of fruits and vegetables. And did I mention they’re tasty and highly portable?
Cruciferous vegetables
Servings: 1 per day
Serving Size: ½ cup chopped (1/4 cup for Brussels or broccoli sprouts), 1 tablespoon horseradish
Why: It’s hard to overstate the benefits of cruciferous vegetables like broccoli. The sulforaphane in these vegetables can prevent all manner of disease and is a powerful anticancer agent, in addition to protecting your brain and eyes, reducing allergy inflammation and managing type 2 diabetes. Just be sure to chop up your broccoli or cauliflower about 40 minutes before cooking and let it sit to ensure you’re getting the maximum sulforaphane; add a little mustard powder to help the process along if you’re short on time.
Vegetables
Servings: 2 per day
Serving Size: 1 cup of raw leafy vegetables or ½ cup of raw or cooked nonleafy vegetables; 1/2 cup of vegetable juice; or ¼ cup of dried mushrooms
Why: There’s a reason that the standard nutritional advice we hear pretty much universally is “eat more vegetables”. We’ve already talked about greens, but what about everything else? You should still be eating plenty of other vegetables, whether it’s traditional ones like bell peppers and carrots or sea vegetables like nori. And mushrooms also fall under this category. It’s not enough to choose a favorite and stick with it – variety counts here as different vegetables are good at fighting different cancers and carrying out other health-related functions. I admit I eat some more than others, but I do try to vary my veggie intake.
Nuts
Servings: 1 per day
Serving Size: ¼ cup nuts or seeds, or 2 tablespoons nut or seed butter
Why: Packed with protein and a great source of healthy fat, nuts are the ideal quick snack and also work incredibly well at adding a creamy texture to various sauces when you grind them up. Walnuts in particular are a great choice as they have some of the highest levels of antioxidants and omega 3 of all nuts; they also outperform other nuts when it comes to preventing cancer. You can even mix them up with dried fruit to get in more of your daily dozen on the go.
Spices
Servings: ¼ teaspoon of turmeric per day
Why: This category doesn’t follow the pattern of the others because it’s really up to you. Use the spices you like in the amounts you want – but be sure to use them. Spices and herbs like ginger, cayenne pepper, cilantro, and peppermint all come with their own benefits, so spice up your life! Despite this flexibility, however, there’s one hard-and-fast rule in Dr. Greger’s daily dozen: make a point of consuming ¼ teaspoon of turmeric each day as its health benefits are too numerous to miss out on. Be sure to add a pinch of black pepper to help your body absorb it better!
Beverages
Servings: 5 per day
Serving Size: 1 12-ounce cup
Why: Drinking a lot of water is good, but you can get even more nutrients into your body by drinking coffee and certain types of tea as well. Instead of soda or cow’s milk, reach for green tea, rooibos tea, chai tea, or even hot chocolate to get your five cups in. Staying hydrated can reduce your risk of diseases like heart disease and bladder cancer and enhance your thinking and mood, so don’t forget to drink up!
Exercise
Servings: 1 per day
Serving Size: 40 minutes of vigorous activity or 90 minutes of moderate activity – but see my note
Why: Dr. Greger includes these exercise recommendations in his daily dozen, but I’d like to mention that I don’t really find this sustainable over the long-term. Although studies have shown this may be an ideal amount, I know that everyone has different levels of endurance and even time constraints. Instead, I prefer to aim for getting some movement every day without getting too caught up in the concept of “working out” or getting out a stopwatch. I explore this in greater depth in my article on making movement fun.
**B12 + Vit D3
These two essential vitamins aren’t part of the daily dozen proper, but you might have noticed them at the bottom of Dr. Greger’s chart as a footnote. They’re vitamins that many people struggle to get enough of, regardless of their dietary habits. If you don’t get plenty of sunlight, consider supplementing with 2,000 IUs of D3 per day. Dr. Greger also recommends 2500 mcg of cyanocobalamin once per week.
Keeping track of your daily dozen
If you’re the type who can’t function without charts and lists, you can download the free daily dozen app from the Android and App Store to help you keep track; it’s listed as Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen.
And by the way, there’s a modified version of Dr. Greger’s daily dozen in the same app that’s geared toward weight loss. Feel free to choose what works for you, but in this article, I’m talking about the original list because health is my biggest concern. If you focus on health, any unwanted or extra pounds you may be carrying will often be shed as a side effect of a healthier lifestyle.
However, I really think it’s best to use the daily dozen casually, almost like a checklist. Having a good relationship with food should be your priority; don’t start obsessing over every last detail as that’s truly unhealthy.
Instead, I find it useful to shift your mindset, with this information guiding your choices. Once you’re familiar with the list, you can start looking at your plate or whatever recipe you’re making and find ways to make it healthier.
For example, if you’re eating a salad, you could add some chopped nuts and dried fruit to it, which means you’ll have checked at least 3 boxes on the list. If you’re having pasta, opting for whole grain pasta and putting some frozen kale and ground flaxseed in the sauce will have you working through the list in no time!
Once you get used to thinking in terms of the daily dozen, I promise this will become second nature and you’ll be eating a well-rounded diet without sweating the finer details. How many of these foods have you had so far today?