Full Plant Points
Each distinct food in these groups earns one Plant Point per week in 30Plants:
- Vegetables: broccoli, carrots, spinach, tomato, mushrooms, and sea vegetables.
- Fruits: apples, berries, oranges, avocado, and dried fruit without regard to form.
- Whole grains: oats, barley, brown rice, rye, quinoa, buckwheat, and whole wheat.
- Legumes: lentils, chickpeas, peas, black beans, soybeans, and peanuts.
- Nuts: almonds, walnuts, pistachios, cashews, and hazelnuts.
- Seeds: chia, flax, pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, and hemp seeds.
A plant only scores once during the same week. Eating chickpeas in two meals still gives one point for chickpeas, while eating chickpeas and lentils gives two points.
Quarter Plant Points
30Plants gives 0.25 points to herbs, spices, coffee, tea, and extra-virgin olive oil. These foods can add variety and plant compounds, but they are often consumed in much smaller amounts than foods such as beans, vegetables, or whole grains.
Examples include basil, parsley, oregano, cinnamon, turmeric, black pepper, coffee, green tea, and extra-virgin olive oil. Each distinct item counts once per week.
Mixed dishes and recipes
Count the identifiable plant ingredients in a mixed dish, not the dish as a single plant. For example, a soup containing lentils, tomato, carrot, onion, celery, garlic, and barley can contribute seven distinct full-point plants. Herbs and spices in the soup count separately at quarter-points.
Only count an ingredient when you know it is present. There is no need to guess at a restaurant dish or an unlabeled product.
Common edge cases
Different colors or varieties
30Plants generally treats varieties of the same plant as one plant for weekly counting. Red and green apples are both apple. This keeps the score focused on distinct plants rather than product variations.
Processed plant foods
Processing does not automatically erase the original plant. Rolled oats are still oats, hummus can count chickpeas and sesame, and unsweetened cocoa can contribute cocoa. Highly refined ingredients may provide less of the original plant's structure, so the app does not treat every plant-derived additive as a separate point.
Potatoes, corn, and avocado
They are plant foods and count. The 30Plants score measures variety; it does not classify foods by calories, carbohydrate content, or culinary role.
Peanuts and quinoa
Peanuts are botanically legumes and quinoa is a seed commonly used like a grain. Both count as distinct plant foods. The category label does not change the point.
Fermented plant foods
Fermentation does not create a new plant. Sauerkraut counts as cabbage; tempeh counts as soybeans. Other clearly listed plant ingredients can count separately.
What the score does not measure
Plant Points do not measure serving size, calories, protein, micronutrient adequacy, or the overall quality of a diet. A varied diet can still be unbalanced, and a weekly score cannot diagnose or treat a health condition. Think of the number as a prompt to notice variety—not a complete nutrition grade.
Different programs use different rules. The conventions on this page describe the 30Plants app so your score stays consistent. They are not universal scientific definitions.
Ready to put the system into practice? Read How to Eat 30 Plants a Week, or review the research behind the idea.
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