Nutritional value - More nutrition per bite

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Nutritional Value – More Nutrition per Bite

Posted by Susan Bowerman, M.S., RD, CSSD, CSOWM, FAND – Senior Director, Worldwide Nutrition Education and Training

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Get the most out of your meals.

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. 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.

A single orange supplies a whole day’s vitamin C and a host of other nutrients, too—in just 70 calories. If you tried to meet your vitamin C needs from French fries, you’d need to eat about 800 calories’ worth. That’s because fats seriously dilute the ratio of nutrients to calories. Sugars do, too. Fats and added sugars are the flip side of nutrient density. They pack an abundance of calories but not much of anything else. This is why we call them “calorie-dense.”

Have three ounces of grilled fish for dinner, and you’ll get about 25 grams of protein, along with minerals like iron, zinc, and magnesium, all for about 120 calories—a true calorie bargain. Sure, you can get 25 grams of protein from a burger, but it will also cost you an extra 400 calories or so.

Everyone should aim for a nutrient-dense diet, but it’s particularly important for those whose calorie requirements aren’t that high to start with. A middle-aged woman who only needs 1400 calories to maintain her weight will be hard-pressed to pack all her nutrient needs in a small calorie package if she doesn’t choose carefully; she simply can’t afford a calorie-dense meal.

Don’t lose the forest for the trees, though. Of course it’s wise to eat as many nutrient-dense foods as you can, but there’s nothing wrong with a high-calorie treat once in a while. Focus on the quality of your diet as a whole. As long as your overall diet has a high nutritional value, that’s still smart spending.

Susan Bowerman, M.S., RD, CSSD, CSOWM, FAND – Senior Director, Worldwide Nutrition Education and Training
Susan is the Senior Director of Worldwide Nutrition Education and Training at Herbalife, where she is responsible for the development of nutrition education and training materials, and is one of the primary authors of the Herbalife-sponsored blog, www.discovergoodnutrition.com. She is a Registered Dietitian and holds two Board Certifications from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics as a Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics, and a Certified Specialist in Obesity and Weight Management. Susan is also a Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Susan graduated with distinction in biology from the University of Colorado, and received her master’s degree in Food Science and Nutrition from Colorado State University. She then completed her dietetic internship at the University of Kansas. Susan has taught extensively and developed educational programs targeted to individuals, groups and industry in her areas of expertise, including health promotion, weight management and sports nutrition. Prior to her role at Herbalife, she was the assistant director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, and has held appointments as adjunct professor in nutrition at Pepperdine University and as lecturer in nutrition in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Susan was a consultant to the (then) Los Angeles Raiders for six seasons, and was a contributing columnist for the Los Angeles Times Health Section for two years. She is a co-author of 23 research papers, 14 book chapters, and was a co-author of two books for the public: “What Color is Your Diet?” and “The L.A. Shape Diet” by Dr. David Heber, published by Harper Collins in 2001 and 2004, respectively.