Nutrient rich foods

October 28, 9:07 AMNutrition ExaminerAnnie Kay

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In the ongoing debate about what's healthy and how to communicate that to Americans, the USDA food guide pyramid gets a lot of grief. Deservedly so, because you can eat within the pyramid and still have a pretty nasty intake of sugar, trans and saturated fat and inflammatory chemicals. But consider that only a tiny percentage of Americans eat even as healthy as the pyramid and well, we need all the guidance we can get. 

Enter the Nutrient Rich Foods approach to eating. It is meant to work with the pyramid and emphasizes nutrient density. Nutrient density is the relative amount of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other nutrients a particular food has compared to others, calorie for calorie. For example, fresh spinach is a vitamin powerhouse with very few calories - it is highly nutrient dense. On the other hand, soda is loaded with calories and has virtually no vitamins, protein or other nutrients of value. It has poor nutrient density.

Because most Americans are overweight yet undernourished (meaning we seem to reach for the soda rather than the spinach every time), as we focus on weight and calorie control the quality of the choices we make is more important than ever.

The most nutrient dense foods include:

• Brightly colored fruits and vegetables
• A variety of vegetables like leafy greens, peppers and broccoli
• Whole grains
• Low-fat and fat-free milk and yogurt
• Lean meats, poultry, fish, eggs, beans and nuts

There's a coalition behind the nutrient density approach. It's a partnership of scientists, food educators and agricultural groups who determine how nutrient levels (and how little of nutrition underminers like sugar and saturated fats) are figured and which foods make the grade. They have a website with information on combining the pyramid with nutrient density where you can find shopping lists, ideas and resources. And you can see who's in the coalition and decide for yourself if coalition members present a conflict to choosing the healthiest foods - this one seems not bad.

This is one of several national education and labeling efforts underway to help consumers figure out what is really healthy and what's hype. There are two major healthy food labeling efforts underway - the Smart Choices Program  and  NuVal - a Nutritional Scoring System.  And just to pile it on, there is another effort by Hannaford markets to add a healthy designation, called Guiding Stars to shelf labels. Each of these efforts is the result of coalitions trying to educate consumers and market their point of view. With each  these efforts in their early stages, time will tell which will be helpful to people trying to choose healthy food. Hopefully there will be a coming together and the needs of eaters (rather than producers) will be served. Until then, it's all a little confusing. 

The New York Times reviewed supermarket based food rating systems last year.