Nutritionally Dense Foods: What Your Body Craves
In recent years it seems like everyone is trying to eat healthier, but it can be difficult to know how to do that. Different philosophies advocate low carbohydrate diets, Paleo diets, gluten-free diets…so what exactly is good nutrition?
First of all, most of the diet fads are just that: fads. Gluten, for example, has been shown to be unhealthy only for the 1% of the population who has celiac disease, which prevents them from being able to digest gluten. For everyone else gluten is not particularly good or bad.
The best way to determine what constitutes good nutrition is to look at a food’s nutrient density, which is defined as the amount of nutrients a food contains compared to the number of calories in the food. Nutritionally dense foods contain a high level of nutrients in relation to its calorie count.
Dr. Joel Fuhrman developed the Aggregate Nutrient Density Index (ANDI) which scores food from 1 (low nutrient value) to 1000 (high nutrient value). Four foods score 1000 on the index: kale, collard greens, mustard greens and watercress. The four foods with the lowest scores are cola (1), corn chips (7), vanilla ice cream (9) and olive oil (10).
The important point to note about nutrient dense foods is that they are all whole — unprocessed — foods. Whole foods are those that are eaten in their natural, unaltered state. For example, a potato with the skin on is a whole food. Once you peel the potato and add butter and milk to make mashed potatoes, you are no longer eating a whole food. The most nutrient dense foods are fresh vegetables and fresh fruits, especially berries.
The standard American diet is mostly comprised of processed foods: breakfast cereals, chips, white and “wheat” bread (not “whole wheat” bread) pasta, canned fruits with added sugar and all “convenience” foods, including pizza, frozen dinners and snacks, baked goods and just about everything that is pre-packaged.
In order to boost your nutrition, try to eat as many whole foods as possible and limit the number of meals you eat in restaurants. This may be difficult to do at first, but keep at it — you’ll truly feel better, your body will work better (energy levels, digestion, skin condition) and you’ll naturally lose that extra weight — because nutritionally dense foods fill you up eating less.
3 ELEMENTS LIFESTYLE offers programs that encompass your workout, your recovery and your nutritional profile. Are you ready to look and feel better than ever? Please contact us today!
David Michael Gilbertson is the founder and president of 3 Elements Lifestyle, LLC., a Fitness and Weight Loss company that specializes in YOU!. With more than 15 years of experience owning, operating and managing clubs of all sizes, David lectures and delivers seminars and workshops on the practical skills required to successfully help you with your health and fitness goals. David also helps you build the teamwork, management and training necessary to open your own fitness center. Visit his Web site at: www.3elementslifestyle.com or email at daveg@3elementslifestyle.com or call 805.499.3030
