Is eating the same thing every day bad for us?

Barack Obama did it, Steve Jobs did it, and Mark Zuckerberg still does it: he wears the same outfit every day because it saves him time.

Many of us have the same eating habits. Since he was eight years old, my 44-year-old brother has had Just Right for breakfast every day. Despite the fact that David Beckham enjoys everything from jellied eels to risotto, his wife, Victoria Beckham, does not engage in his gastronomic escapades.

"Unfortunately, I'm married to someone who has eaten the same thing for the previous 25 years," the soccer player admitted earlier this month on a podcast. "She has only eaten grilled fish and steamed veggies since I met her, and she rarely deviates from that."

What difference does it make? Is it really that important, as sad as it may be, not to embrace the unlimited possibilities and passion of eating? It saves time and reduces cognitive strain by eliminating the need to decide what to eat at each meal. Is it, however, harmful to our health to eat the same item every day?

"It depends on the type of meals, however... "There is a risk of nutritional inadequacy," explains Anna Debenham, a trained practising dietitian. "It's very common." Every day, people eat the same three or four vegetables or fruits."

The diets of 2624 French adults and 1275 Americans were studied in a study published in January.According to the findings, 68% of people eat the same breakfast at least twice a week. Only 9% of respondents ate the same supper, which the researchers attributed to people having varied eating goals. For most individuals, breakfast is utilitarian, whereas dinner is more likely to be for enjoyment – and thus diversity.

"The most important thing is to eat nutritious food. But the second question is, how diverse is your diet?" says Debenham, co-founder of The Biting Truth.

According to Felice Jacka, a nutritional psychiatry and gut health specialist and author of There's a Zoo in My Poo, the more diverse your diet, especially your plant food intake, the more diverse your gut microbiota is.

"It appears that a more diversified gut microbiota is connected to improved health outcomes," says Jacka, director of Deakin University's Food and Mood Centre. "If you think of a rainforest, one with a vast range of plant and insect life appears to be healthier and more robust, whereas one with a monoculture, or an ecosystem where one or two species dominate, appears to be less strong and resilient."

People who ate more than 30 plants per week had more diversified gut microbiomes than those who ate 10 or fewer types of plants each week, according to a big study.

"It doesn't have to be a wild mix of different meals," Debenham argues. Simple modifications can have a significant impact."

Adding different fruits and veggies to your daily smoothie, as well as utilizing different proteins, herbs, and vegetables in your salads, all provide variety.

Plant foods, according to Jacka, include herbs, nuts, seeds, legumes, and other types of whole grains, in addition to fruits and vegetables. Breakfast oats with some berries, nuts, and seeds on top delivers at least four distinct types of plant nutrients in one bite.

But that doesn't imply you should eat that for breakfast every day of your life.

"You really need to diversity your plant foods to create a more diversified community in your gut," adds Jacka, who recommends alternating meals like oats one morning, rye toast with peanut butter the next, and eggs with mushrooms and herbs the next.

"I'm an incredibly lazy cook who is also extremely busy," she says, "so at the store, I'll grab muesli with a variety of grains, seeds, and nuts, as well as pre-cooked rice with brown and red rice and quinoa – three different plant foods right away."

Why is gut bacterial diversity so important?

Our gut microbiota and its functions affect almost every area of our health and function, including our skin, weight, energy, sleep, emotion, and immune system.

"When you consume, it affects your stomach and the molecules produced by your gut as it breaks down plant fiber and polyphenols within hours." "Those chemicals, or polyphenols," Jacka continues, "move out into your body and affect practically every system." "So it's very concrete and very immediate: what you eat will affect your health and the way your body functions literally within hours."