Boost Your Gut Health With a ‘Diversity Jar’

April 21, 2026

Close up of a woman's hands holding nuts and seeds in the palm of her hand

The latest gut health trend on social media has people filling glass jars with colorful layers of plant-based ingredients, then sprinkling them onto various dishes each day. These “diversity jars” look good on Instagram, but what’s in them and can they really benefit your gut?

“A diversity jar is like a healthy trail mix you can use in your meals and snacks to get additional nutrients – like fiber, vitamins, minerals and healthy fats – into your diet each day,” says Melissa Vajas, RD, a registered dietitian at University Hospitals.

What to Know About Diversity Jars

A growing body of research suggests that diversifying your plant food intake can help support gut health. “Sprinkling the mixture onto your food won’t provide all of the fiber and nutrients you need in a day, but it can help you get more,” says Vajas. How much more you might actually need will depend on what else you’re eating over the course of the day.

Getting into the habit of supplementing your food with a diversity jar mixture can add nutrition where it may be lacking (like if you sprinkle it on a bowl of cereal) or enhance already nutritious foods (if you add it to a salad). “Most people would benefit from including more plant-based foods in their diet,” she says.

Diversity jars combine a variety of shelf-stable, plant-based ingredients, which can include:

Nuts: Almonds, cashews, peanuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, walnuts
Seeds: Chia, flax, poppy, pumpkin, hemp, sesame, sunflower
Legumes: Dried or roasted edamame, peas, chickpeas
Whole grains: Rolled oats, oat bran, puffed quinoa or rice, popped popcorn
Unsweetened dried or freeze-dried fruits: Apricots, banana chips, berries, cherries, coconut flakes, dates, figs, raisins
Spices: Cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, cocoa powder, ginger, turmeric, curry powder, paprika, chile flakes
Other: Cacao nibs, dried herbs, mushroom powder, nutritional yeast, psyllium husk, roasted seaweed

What Health Benefits Can You Expect?

You can get a lot of beneficial nutrients from the ingredients in your diversity jar, but fiber is really the key component, says Vajas. “Fiber supports your gut health by feeding the good bacteria in your gut and helping with digestion.” It also supports overall health in other ways, she says. “It’s helpful in controlling blood glucose, supporting heart health and managing weight.” Eating more fiber may also help reduce the risk of chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes, diverticular disease and certain cancers.

Yet most Americans don’t eat nearly enough fiber. In fact, 95% of Americans are falling short of the recommended daily amount. “A diversity jar is one easy way to start adding more fiber to your day,” says Vajas.

To make sure you’re getting the maximum health benefits from your diversity jar, Vajas offers these tips:

Choose unsweetened dried fruit. Check the nutrition label and make sure no sugar has been added. For example, choose raisins over Craisins. “Craisins often have a lot of added sugar,” she says.
Watch out for sodium. “Seek out lightly salted or unsalted nuts and seeds,” she says. “This will help you avoid getting too much sodium.”
Be mindful of serving size. When consuming the mixture, aim for a quarter cup or less (about a small handful). “Calories from nuts and seeds add up really quickly,” she says. For example, a quarter cup of almonds has around 160 calories.

How to Make Your Own Diversity Jar

Stick with plant-based and shelf-stable ingredients. Beyond that, there’s no one right way to make a diversity jar. “It's really about using your imagination and combining plant-based ingredients that you like,” says Vajas. “The big thing is adding variety.”

Some ingredients, like nuts, can be expensive, so Vajas suggests starting out with a small Mason jar and just three to five ingredients. Not only does this approach help keep your diversity jar budget-friendly, it also gives you time to decide whether you like using it. If you do, you can add more ingredients each week and work your way up to a bigger jar.

When choosing ingredients, think about flavors, textures and how you’ll use the mix. You might try a breakfast blend for yogurt or cereal, a savory blend for salads and soups or a trail mix jar for snacking. Precise measurements aren’t necessary, but aim for balance.

“You want to have equal amounts of things, so about the same amount of nuts and pumpkin seeds as dried fruit, for example,” says Vajas. For herbs and spices, just a sprinkle adds a lot of flavor. “There are many ways to add more plant-based foods to your diet, and a diversity jar is just one option,” she says. “You can also support your gut health by adding an extra serving of fruits and vegetables, mixing an extra serving of beans or lentils into taco meat, soup or salad or simply eating a handful of nuts each day.”