Incorporating nutrient-dense foods into your diet can provide more valuable nutrition for your body and help you lose weight. You should consume nutrient-dense foods from all the basic food groups, advises the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005, published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Essential Nutrients
Your body needs certain nutrients to function well. Your body cannot produce essential nutrients, or cannot produce enough of them. You must get these essential nutrients from the food you eat. The five essential nutrients are carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals. The typical American diet contains too much protein and too many calories from fat. Eating nutrient-dense foods deliver the nutrition your body needs without additional calories.
Features
Nutrient-dense foods provide a high amount of essential nutrients per serving, and are relatively lower in calories than other foods in the same food groups. These foods are high in vitamins and minerals your body needs. A healthy diet also includes lower amounts of saturated fat and unhealthy trans fats, found in many commercially baked snack products. Nutrient-dense foods are typically low in cholesterol, sugar, salt and alcohol.
Benefits
Nutrient-dense foods are low in calories, beneficial to healthy weight loss and prevention of obesity. Eat a combination of nutrient-dense foods from each of the food groups, each providing different amount of the 13 vitamins and 80 minerals your body needs for strong bones, teeth and muscles as well as sharp eyes and a keen mind. Nutrient-dense foods reduce your risk for developing medical conditions such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes mellitus.
Example
Read nutrition labels on packaged foods and choose items with high levels of vitamins and minerals while low in fat, salt and sugar. A slice of whole-grain bread contributes 69 calories, and contains 1.9g of dietary fiber, 0.68g of iron and 30mg of calcium. Whole-grain bread is low in sodium -- only 109mg of sodium. Only 10 calories come from fat in this slice of whole-grain bread, which is much more nutrient-dense than the same serving by weight as an order of french fries at a fast food restaurant. By contrast, french fries get about half their calories from fat. There is 127mg of sodium and almost no dietary fiber, vitamins or minerals in french fries.
Trades
Replace foods with relatively low levels of nutritional value with nutrient-dense foods. Choose fresh apples or berries instead of apple or berry pie. An apple provides only 72 calories but delivers more than 6mg of vitamin A and 3g of dietary fiber. One slice of apple pie contains about 475 calories, yet provides only 3mg of vitamin A and less than 2g of fiber. Opt for skim milk and low-fat cheese instead of their whole-fat counterparts. Low-fat milk has roughly the same amount of calcium but provides about one-third less calories than whole milk.
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