Nutrient dense or calorie dense foods

Foods may be nutrient dense or calorie dense. Nutrient-dense foods are opposite of opposite of calorie-dense.

Nutrient-dense foods provide healthy nutrition while calorie dense foods provide empty calories without any significant additional nutrients. Given a choice, prefer a nutrient dense foods as compared to calorie dense.

Consider the following:

• There are 6 nutrient components of food: carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and water.
• Nutrient dense foods include whole-grain breads, cereals, rice, beans, pasta, vegetables.
• One cup of strawberries contains only 150 calories, but 3.5g fiber, and high in vitamin C and folate.
• Empty calories or calorie dense foods include candy bars, donuts, and cookies which contain carbohydrates and fats but only insignificant amounts of vitamins and minerals.

Bottomline about nutrient-dense versus calorie-dense: If you have a choice between snack of fruit like strawberries or apple versus a candy bar or donut, prefer a the fruit.

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Comments

[Michael Belini]

Let's not forget that stabilized rice bran is one of the most nutrient-dense foods around. It is well worth considering as part of a nutritional regimen.