Eating nutrient-dense foods, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and seeds, can provide necessary vitamins and minerals while reducing calorie intake. Avoiding empty calorie foods, like candy and processed foods, can improve overall health and prevent disease.
For those who want to eat a more nutritious diet, nutrient-dense foods are an important addition to their daily caloric intake, allowing them to eat well and get the necessary vitamins and minerals, but also eat less and possibly lose weight and improve overall health. Foods that are nutrient-dense pack a high level of nutrition into a smaller serving, and are generally lower in calories, compared to foods that are less nutrient-dense. Choosing nutrient-dense foods for snacks and meals can help reduce calories and increase nutrition in the daily diet.
Common examples of nutrient-dense foods are fruits and vegetables, especially those with dark, rich colors, such as leafy greens, berries, and carrots. Others include whole grains, nuts, and seeds. These foods have a wide variety of vitamins and minerals, including the most important antioxidants that help prevent disease, reduce signs of aging, keep the brain functioning, and possibly even prevent cancer in the long run. Many foods considered to be nutrient-dense are also known as “superfoods” due to their extremely high levels of nutrients compared to their size. Low calorie foods like these should form the foundation of any healthy diet.
Unlike highly desirable nutrient-dense foods, many people turn to empty calorie foods, which are high in calories and have little to no nutritional value. Comparing the calorie content and available nutrients in a piece of candy with a handful of blueberries, for example, provides a vivid example of the difference between the two types of calories. In most cases, a nutrient-dense food will provide many times the amount of nutrition for half the calories.
Other empty calorie foods to avoid or, better yet, replace include processed foods like white bread and white rice, sugary sodas, sweets, and high-fat proteins. Lean proteins like chicken or beans provide more nutrition to fat and calorie ratio than red meat, and are also considered nutrient-dense foods. Many popular foods that have become staples of the American diet, such as French fries and soft drinks, have very little nutritional value. By replacing these empty calorie foods with those that contain more nutrients, as well as adding more fresh water, it is possible to greatly increase overall health, lose weight, reduce the risk of heart disease, lower cholesterol, and provide the body with plenty of Higher quality of fuel to work.
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