A Father, a Fibre Crisis, and the Case for 30+ Plants a Week
If you look at the health landscape today, it’s hard not to feel like something has gone seriously off course.
We’re surrounded by “health” products, yet inflammatory conditions are everywhere. Mental health is under strain. Weight management feels harder than it should. Type 2 diabetes continues to rise. Digestive problems, fatigue, brain fog, skin issues, cravings – all increasingly common.
And again and again, the conversation (and the science) keeps circling back to one place: the gut.
Not as a wellness trend, but as a biological system that influences digestion, immunity, inflammation, metabolism, and even how we feel and function day to day.
This is the story of why I founded FiiHii – and why I believe plants (real plants, not “plant-flavoured” products) are one of the most underrated foundations of modern wellbeing.
FiiHii didn’t begin as a branding exercise. It began as a response to real life.
I went through a period of extreme stress during a High Court legal battle involving my son being abducted. In that season, my health unravelled: chronic stress, poor sleep, survival eating, and a wake-up call that forced me to reassess everything. It resulted in a small tumour diagnosis on my pituitary gland (whilst i was research the gut brain axis….the irony).
The same month the courts were concluded, my son was dealing with stomach issues that left him in real discomfort. As a parent, you can’t watch that and do nothing. I did what many parents do when something doesn’t add up: I went deep into the research.
That’s where the shift happened.
Your gut isn’t just “digestion”. It’s signalling, immunity, metabolism, and mood.
So when people talk about anxiety, low mood, cravings, fatigue, inflammation, or brain fog, it’s not always “all in your head”. Often, there’s a physiological foundation under it – and the gut sits right at the centre.
That’s when the mission became clear: make whole-food, plant-diverse nutrition simple enough for real people to do consistently.
Not with powders. Not with ultra-processed “health” snacks. But with actual plant diversity and fibre – the inputs our gut ecosystem evolved to depend on.
Our digestive system didn’t evolve in a world of emulsifiers, sweeteners, colourings, flavour enhancers, and shelf-stable meals.
Humans evolved alongside a vast ecosystem of gut microbes – and diet has always been a major driver of which microbes thrive, what they produce, and how they interact with our immune system and metabolism.
Here’s the key point: your gut microbes need inputs. The best inputs are diverse plant fibres.
Fibre doesn’t just “keep you regular”. It feeds gut bacteria, which then produce helpful compounds that support the gut lining and influence inflammatory signalling and metabolism.
Think of it like this:
When the fuel disappears, the ecosystem changes.
The modern diet isn’t just “less healthy”. It’s structurally different.
When we shift away from whole foods and towards ultra-processed, food-like products, we often lose the diversity of fibres and plant compounds the gut relies on – and replace them with refined ingredients, additives, and engineered textures.
Life is complex and food isn’t the only factor. But when the foundation is weak, everything becomes harder: energy, mood, focus, recovery, cravings, and weight regulation can all feel more reactive and less stable.
One of the most practical ideas in gut health is also one of the simplest: the number of different plant foods you eat each week matters.
Not 30 portions – 30 different plant types.
It’s a shift from “be perfect” to “build variety”. And it’s deeply aligned with vegan living at its best: compassionate, whole-food-forward, and rooted in the reality that our biology thrives when plants are the foundation, not an afterthought.
FiiHii exists to make those basics easy – especially for busy people and families.
“We created FiiHii Frinks® so someone can cover the hard part – fibre, plant diversity, and consistency – without needing time, blender space, or meal-prep energy.”
The goal is simple:
Here’s something that matters, especially in a Veganuary context.
At one point in development, we considered adding yoghurt to a product. It’s common in smoothies and it’s an easy way for brands to boost texture and mouthfeel.
But we didn’t do it.
Not because it was easier to avoid – but because we wanted to be true to the plant-based and vegan ideology. If we were going to build something around gut health and long-term wellbeing foundations, it had to be aligned not only with human health, but with what’s right for animals and the planet too.
So we went back to the drawing board. We tweaked, tested, adjusted, and refined until we got the texture and satisfaction right using plants – to prove (to ourselves first) that it is possible to do what we do as cleanly and properly as we believe it should be done.
That decision became part of the brand’s backbone: if we’re going to ask people to trust us with their health, we can’t cut corners on integrity.
If you’re doing Veganuary, here’s a practical goal that tends to be more effective than chasing perfection:
Aim for 30 plant types a week – minimum.
If you can build towards 40–50 over time, even better.
Count things like:
Easy wins:
FiiHii was built from a simple belief: when you nourish yourself properly, you become more resilient – physically and mentally – and you show up better for the people you love.
And if Veganuary is about anything, it’s about choosing a way of living that’s better for animals, better for the planet, and – when grounded in whole foods – often better for us too.
Plants aren’t the side dish. They’re the foundation.
Carl Joyce is the founder of FiiHii, a UK-based whole-food nutrition brand created to make plant diversity and fibre simple for modern life. FiiHii’s mission is to support gut health and overall wellbeing through clean, plant-based nutrition designed for busy people and families. Our vision is to become the Biotech company for families and busy lives, centred around fibre, gut health and real data and community.
