The Leguminatis
A plant-based music project I write and produce to both disseminate my research in an easier to understand format and simply because I find it quite meditative to write lyrics. It’s also a great way to recall more complex words so don’t be surprised to hear about glucosinolates, raffinose, and stachyose.
Having been a part of the plant-based community for nearly 8 years, I know that it can be seemingly daunting for some to start their journey. I wanted to break it down for others but also laugh at myself sometimes as I make water kefir or sprout seeds, all in the interests of improving my gut microbiome. There are even a few songs in there about my favourite dishes, such as Bang Bang Cauliflower, Green Goddess Loaded, or even a Simplicity burger made from fermented vegetables and mushrooms.
Each album pairs original songs with the real nutrition, gut microbiome, rewilding or environmental science behind them.
Beau, my Yorkshire Terrier, is a credited artist.
Albums
PLNT-001
The debut album introducing the Secret Society for Plant-Based Protein and combining the science of the gut microbiome and phytonutrients, with a love of plant-based eating. All tied together in ten original songs blending neo-soul with indie pop.
It all started with a fortnightly quiz…
We called ourselves The Leguminatis and bonded over our beans and lentils. We are the people who check the label twice, bring lentil loaves to Christmas, and have opinions about nutritional yeast that nobody asked for. We call it nooch. We know. We cannot help it.
Every track on PLNT-001 contains real, accurate science about the gut microbiome, phytonutrients, and the gut-brain axis. Short chain fatty acids, sulforaphane, the Nrf2 pathway, polyphenols, L-theanine, EGCG, the polysaccharide matrix of water kefir grains. None of it is dumbed down and none of it requires a degree to enjoy.
PLNT-001 sits at the intersection of nutrition science, cognitive neuroscience, and the gut-immune-brain axis. The thirty plants a week target, the diversity principle, the bidirectional communication between gut microbiome and brain, all of these are embedded in the lyrics, without losing a beat.
Explore PLNT-001 →
Rewild · PLNT-002
The second album is inspired by rewilding, marine recovery and the ground beneath our feet, from Knepp and a Sussex beaver release to the Lyme Bay reef and the science of fermentation.
This album stems from my One Health perspective, recognising that optimising our own gut microbiomes is closely linked to many factors, from the animals we share our life and planet with, to the plants, the soil, and the very air that we breathe. All factor into our own health and our environment’s health. Biodiversity in our gut is reliant on biodiversity in the soil, which gives the nutrients to the plants that we eat.
I have always found David Attenborough’s documentaries inspirational and the first song is to celebrate his 100th birthday. He reminds us that, if left alone, habitats can rewild and thrive, as witnessed at the Knepp estate in West Sussex. Life’s ability to “Begin Again” is mirrored in the last song, “Connected”, reminding us all that it is never too late to reset our relationship with the planet, and our gut.
“In front of us is a chance to protect our climate, our food, our home.” (Sir David Attenborough)
Explore PLNT-002 →
Replant · PLNT-003
The third album is about replanting, from soil bacteria and B12 to protein pairing, algae-derived omega-3, and the fungi feeding it all. Ten songs on rebuilding what got stripped away, featuring Beau.
Replant started with a question: what happens to the body, or a plot of soil, once you’ve taken more out of it than you’ve put back. The answer is less about grand gestures and more about the unglamorous basics nobody puts on a supplement label.
Some of the songs on this album correct things I hear constantly. B12 isn’t made by animals or by plants, it’s made by soil bacteria, which is why everyone, whatever they eat, needs to think about where theirs is coming from. Protein rarely travels alone either. Pair it with fibre, as beans and lentils already do, and your gut bacteria ferment the pair into compounds that keep your gut lining strong, rather than the compounds it produces when protein arrives on its own.
Other tracks go a little deeper. The omega-3 in fish oil started life in algae, not in fish. We can equally obtain ours from different seaweeds, such as wakame, which has a nice ring to it in a song. Mushrooms, don’t even get me started, I eat them almost daily. They make an interesting antioxidant called ergothioneine that our own cells can’t produce. Beau also gets his own song as he is always full of beans, quite literally.
Replant, in the end, is the same idea as Rewild, just aimed inward: give a depleted gut microbiome the right things in the right order, and it knows how to come back.
Explore PLNT-003 →