Nutritional value – More nutrition per bite: Smart shoppers usually look for value – whether they’re buying a car or a computer, they want to get the best bang for their buck. The same rule should apply to food, too. When the currency is calories, it’s smart to spend them as wisely as you can. Clearly stated, the concept of nutrient density is pretty simple. It refers to getting the most “nutritional value” for your “calorie intake.” Foods high in protein are going to give you an abundance of nutrients in exchange for relatively few calories. A healthy diet does more than just keep calories in check. If body weight were the only thing that mattered, you could keep your weight steady on French fries and chocolate cake, as long as you didn’t eat more calories than you burned off. But, of course, we need a complex array of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients from plants to keep ourselves in peak condition. Whether you’ve heard the term or not, if you try to eat reasonably well, you’re probably already eating a pretty nutrient-dense diet. Most people know what foods make up a healthy eating plan: fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, low fat dairy products. and whole grains – and these are some of the foods with high nutritional value. Part of the high nutrient-to-calorie ratio in these foods is their low fat content, which means they pack a lot of calories per bite. And, because water has no calories, watery foods like fruits and vegetables have the fewest calories per bite – but they’re loaded with nutrition, making them some of the best foods you can eat.
Posted on: Mon, 07 Oct 2013 08:34:15 +0000