We have more Nutrient-Dense Foods on our list so read on.
How to Increase Nutrient Content in Your Diet
Are you ready to up the nutritious content of your meals? Here are some suggestions for incorporating the most nutrient-dense foods into your diet:
1. Avoid consuming highly processed foods.
According to author and speaker Michael Pollan, there are 80,000 known edible plant foods, roughly 3,000 of which have been or are still in frequent usage in the human diet. Despite this, four highly subsidized, industrialized crops account for more than 60% of global calorie intake: corn, rice, soy, and wheat.
This is an issue since it means that people get a large portion of their daily calories from foods that are low in nutrients.
While natural foods supply a variety of critical elements at a low calorie “price,” processed meals give the opposite – a lot of “empty calories” with little nutritional benefit.
What foods are low in nutrients? Low nutrient-dense meals and beverages include:
- Meats that have been processed (bacon, salami, cold cuts, etc.)
- Noodles in a flash
- Meals prepared in a fast food restaurants
- Beverages with added sugar (soda, sweet tea, juice, sports drinks)
- Vegetable oils that have been refined
- Chips made with potatoes
- Margarine
- Cookies, cakes, and pastries from the store
- Sweeteners made from artificial ingredients
- Fries (French fries)
- Bars of granola
- Sweetened yogurt and ice cream
- Cereals for breakfast
- Grain refinement
- Chocolate bars
- Fast food
2. Purchase Organic (and preferably Local) Produce
Purchasing organic vegetables is a positive step toward avoiding harmful chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, and GMOs. However, buying Organic isn’t always required, nor is it always your greatest bet for increasing the nutrient density of your diet.
While I encourage purchasing organic goods wherever possible, I believe it is equally (if not more) important to purchase local, fresh foods. We would all want to have year-round access to local, organic, nutrient-dense foods, but that is not always practical.
Do your best rather than attempting to be flawless. Shop at farmers’ markets, join a community-sponsored agriculture club or try growing some foods organically yourself during the warmer months of the year.
3. First and foremost, prioritize eating whole foods.
People have a tendency to oversimplify things in the human diet. However, foods cannot be quantified and categorized solely on the basis of their particular nutrients.
Some processed foods, for example, may include synthetic vitamins, but this does not make them nutritious. When you quantify foods based on their fundamental nutrients rather than the complex blend of substances found in whole foods, you lose sight of the overall picture.
In other words, it’s simple to slap a label on a cereal box proclaiming that it’s “high in omega-3s!”Of course, this does not mean that the product is necessarily good for you.” You should try to obtain as many nutrients into your body naturally as possible.
Another issue is that many antioxidant phytonutrients are currently “unnamed and unmeasured,” which means they can only be obtained by eating a variety of nature’s most nutrient-dense foods. We can also presume that foods with the highest concentrations of recognized nutrients (such as leafy green vegetables and berries) have the highest concentrations of beneficial but unknown substances.
4. Strive for balance and variety.
While nutrient density scores might help you choose nutritious foods, they aren’t the only factor to consider. For example, if you solely ate items with high nutrient density, your diet would be deficient in healthy fats.
If a very active individual simply ate foods high in nutrients, he or she would consume too much fiber and not obtain enough calories each day. This would be detrimental to the individual’s health, contributing to malnutrition, poor energy levels, a slowed metabolic rate, weakness, and mood-related issues.
Eat a range of actual foods that you enjoy from all food groups (including protein and fats in addition to plants), and you’ll be well on your way to a nutrient-dense, balanced diet. Instead of focusing on what foods you should be eating, try to think about what foods you should be eating.
What Causes Foods to Lose Nutrient Density
Many of us do not consume enough fruits and vegetables each day, but even those who do may not receive all of the nutrients they require. The term “nutrient degradation” refers to the loss of minerals, vitamins, and other nutrients in food as a result of causes such as depleted soils, food manufacture, processing, and shipping, and, to a lesser extent, cooking and heating foods.
The Globe and Mail and CTV News conducted a study of Canadian supermarket produce in 2002 and discovered that nutritional levels in fruits and vegetables had dropped drastically in only a generation.
When the researchers compared nutrient changes over a 50-year period, they discovered that the average store potato had lost:
- It contains 100 percent of its vitamin A.
- 57% of its vitamin C and iron
- It contains 50% of its riboflavin.
- Its calcium content is 28%.
- Its thiamine content is 18%.
Twenty-five fruits and vegetables were studied, and the results were comparable. Broccoli is regarded as one of the most popular superfoods; however, according to some research, current broccoli may have 63 percent less calcium and 34 percent less iron than broccoli from past centuries.
According to agronomist Phil Warman, contemporary farming practices and market emphasis are mostly to blame for nutrient deterioration. According to Warman, high-yield production and disease resistance are far more important to food producers today than nutritional content.
U.K. “It’s a matter of consumer rights,” says Professor Tim Lang. We consider an orange to be a constant, yet it is not.”
To receive the same amount of iron as your grandma, you’d have to consume five oranges today and around eight oranges to get the same quantity of vitamin A!
The Effects of Soil Depletion on Nutrient Density
One important issue with nutrient density is that industrial farms grow crops in soil with declining nutrient levels.
Despite the fact that this living biological matrix holds the key components that plants convert into usable nutrition, the National Academy of Sciences warns that American agriculture soil is eroding at a rate ten times faster than it can renew itself.
Topsoil regenerates at a pace of an inch or two per hundred years, but industrial agriculture, according to geologist David Montgomery, is interfering with the process. “It is estimated that we are losing about 1% of our topsoil each year due to erosion, the majority of which is caused by agriculture.” Globally, it is apparent that we are running out of dirt.”
The United Nations worries that global soil deterioration is contributing to an increase in malnutrition. Industrial agriculture’s farming methods provide soil little time to regenerate.
To Conclude
The most nutrient-dense foods are natural and unprocessed, as opposed to those that have been chemically altered, manufactured, or include synthetic components. They are high in minerals, vitamins, fiber, and antioxidants while being low in calories.
Due to reasons such as mass production of processed foods, soil depletion, and difficulty obtaining fresh, organic, local foods, it might be challenging to receive all of the nutrients you require today.
Other entire foods, in addition to fruits and vegetables, have high nutritional density ratings.
Purchasing seasonal/local produce, cultivating your own garden, and eating more healthful foods like leafy greens, berries, and various non-starchy vegetables are some of the best ways to boost the nutrient density of your diet.
Avoiding low-nutrient-dense foods (processed foods) is also vital for optimizing your diet’s nutrition.