Nutrient Density

This content has been archived. It may no longer be relevant

Food has never been so plentiful as it is today. I find it amazing we can get so many healthy foods almost any place we go. Hundreds of years ago you had to grow your own food, which was time consuming, seasonal, and depended on the environment you were living in.

Nowadays we have food on every corner, fresh blueberries year round, and green vegetables on the shelves. Target and walmart now carry fresh foods, while starbucks is also starting to carry healthy items, as do a lot of gas stations. However, we are much busier these days, and live in a world of constant stimulation and information overload. People don’t have time to cook and end up eating very low quality foods. Nutrient Dense and high quality foods are too often overlooked for their cheaper processed alternatives. This is a HUGE problem because Nutrient Dense foods have profound impacts on our health; they help our body composition, skin and bone health, mental health, digestive and gut flora, cell membranes,etc. Poor quality food choices effects all these bodily systems and can have crippling effects on the body.

The micronutrients, vitamins and minerals in nutrient dense foods are compounds in foods that aid the body in many bodily functions that many of us are unaware of. Cellular metabolism is extremely complex, with millions of chemical reactions going on in the body at any given time; if you don’t believe just take some biochemistry and physiology courses! Many of these chemical reactions rely on these nutrients to carry out daily tasks. Many of these compounds remain undiscovered such as the many different phytochemicals found in green plants and vegetables. When we look at a food label….IF we look at a food label, they will never tell us the “nutrient density” of the food. All most people look at is calories, fat, and/or carbs.  The most healthy foods don’t even have food labels…thats how you know they are good for you; untouched by manufacturing and industrial processes. The food industry has been known for its notorious food processing and labeling tactics. As Michael Pollen, author of Omnivores Dilemma, points out  there are 80,000 known edible plant foods, 3,000 of which have been in common use and yet over 60% of the caloric intake in the worldwide diet consists of four subsidized, industrialized crops: corn, rice, soy and wheat. We eat boat loads of sugar as in High Fructose Corn Syrup and Glutens found in wheat products. Ever hear of Type II Diabetes and Gluten Intolerance?

A calorie is NOT a calorie, because different foods carry different nutrients in them and have different metabolic effects when digested. 300 calories of french fries is not the same as 300 calories of oatmeal, which is NOT the same as 300 calories of spinach. Dr. Furhman, author of “Eat to Live,” suggests the formula

Health= Nutrient Density/Caloric Value

Basically the more nutrition that is packed into a food and the less calories it has the higher the “health” value. The higher the calorie content or denominator the lower the perceived health value, keeping the nutrient value the same. To give you some perspective consider this, Dr. Furhman developed a scale rating different foods on their Density score. According to him you would have to eat 4 bowls of oatmeal to equal the nutrient density of just one bowl of strawberries and 20 bowls of oatmeal to equal one bowl of kale! To put another way every couple hundred calories you save by eating high density foods saves you about 30-45 min on the treadmill walking.

Now this does not mean you should eat only kale the rest of your life, as you would be missing out on the macronutrients like fats, and proteins, and other non starchy carbs. Eating healthy is really not that hard, but the foods you eat should align with your diet, which should align with your lifestyle. If your lifestyle is not allowing you to eat the foods you want, then behavior modification and lifestyle changes are the first priority.