Nutrient density

The person who first paid attention to the proportion between the energy value of foods and their actual nutritional value was doctor Joel Fuhrman. He created the Aggregate Nutrient Density Index based on micronutrient concentration of 34 components (fiber, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, copper, manganese, selenium, vitamin A, beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, lycopene, lutein, zeaxanthin, vitamin E, vitamin C, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B6, folic acid, choline, vitamin B12, phytosterols, glucozinolates, angiogenesis inhibitors, aromatase inhibitors, resveratrol) and on so-called ORAC Score (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) – the rate of anti-oxidant capacity of products.

The scale ranges from 0 to 1000, the more points a product is assigned, the bigger nutrient density it has. In this way a 100-calorie portion of broccoli contains 11 g of protein, the same size portion of Kale contains 7 g of protein, and a steak – 6 g. Calcium: 118 mg, 257 mg, 2 mg, respectively. And so on…

Doctor Fuhrman cracked down on a variety of foods, indicating 34 essential components in 100-calorie portions of foods. That is why the table of nutrient densities of foods came into being. You can print it and use when you are planning your weekly menu.

What the top of the scale looks like

The highest scores belong to leafy greens, and three of them share the maximum:

Scores come from doctor Fuhrman’s index and shift with preparation and portion, so treat them as an order rather than as exact figures. What the order tells you is worth more than any single number: the distance between a leafy green and everything else is far larger than the distance between two ordinary vegetables.

What the index does not measure

It measures nutrients per calorie, and that single decision explains most of the surprises in the table. Nuts, seeds, olive oil and avocado sit low on the scale not because they lack nutrients but because they carry a lot of calories alongside them, and the ratio is what is being scored. The same arithmetic pushes every fat and every oil down the list.

So a high score is a reason to add a food, not a reason to remove one. A diet built only from the top of the index would be short of fat, of protein in useful amounts and of the calories a day actually needs. The index answers one question well, which is how much nutrition a given calorie buys, and it answers no others at all.

How to use it when planning a week

The practical version is simpler than the table. Put something from the top of the list into meals you already eat, rather than rebuilding the menu around it: a handful of spinach into the smoothie, kale instead of half the lettuce in a salad, broccoli as the vegetable beside whatever else is on the plate. That is the whole method, and it costs nothing in time.

The point of the index is the comparison, not the score, and comparisons are only useful between things you would actually eat. If you would rather have the week already put together with the shopping list, the Diet & Training by Ann app does that part, and the vegetables in it are chosen for exactly this reason.

Frequently asked questions

We eat to live, not live to eat 🙂