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Posted By MJ On April 28, 2011 @ 12:04 pm In Cover Stories,Food & Drink,Mind & Body

According to the ANDI scale, kale contains the highest

number of micronutrients per calorie. Photo by Kari

Sullivan

Maximize Your Micronutrients Back to article

Whole Foods Market s diet guru on a new way to pack the most

nourishment into your meals

by Vanessa Gregory

Eggs on wheat toast for breakfast, a turkey sandwich for lunch, and chicken with pasta

primavera for dinner. Sounds like a healthy diet, right? While many nutritionists say yes

some experts, like author Joel Fuhrman, tapped by Whole Foods Market in 2009 to help

develop a new nutritional program, argue that many diets — even those considered

healthy — are dangerously lacking in micronutrients: the vitamins, minerals, antioxidant

and phytochemicals (good-for-you plant chemicals) that doctors believe reduce the risk weight gain, obesity, and chronic diseases like cancer.

“Micronutrient-poor foods, like pasta, sugar, and soda, don’t just give you empty calorie

and make you fat; they also do damage to the body and cause disease,” Fuhrman says

“Without micronutrients to remove waste, cells become congested, DNA gets broken, a

the body doesn’t have the ability to repair itself. Eventually, you get sick.”

To prevent weight gain and disease, Fuhrman recommends what he calls a nutritarian d

— eating foods with the most micronutrients per calorie. Since most micronutrients aren

listed on labels, he created the 1,000-point Aggregate Nutrient Density Index (ANDI),

which ranks foods based on micronutrient concentration.

Leafy green vegetables dominate the upper end of ANDI, scoring between 500 and a

perfect 1,000, while vegetables like radishes, cabbage, and broccoli score in the 300 to

500 range. Fruit averages around 100; nuts and seeds (17–124) and beans and legumes (46–104) follow close behind, while whole grains (17–53)average lower. Meat and dairy fall at the bottom (2–39).

Last year, Whole Foods Market began posting ANDI scores in stores to help shoppers and employees eat more micronutrients. So far, the scale ha

worked, as sales of high-scoring foods have skyrocketed and employees who follow the diet have lost weight and reported feeling much healthier.

“Eating these foods is great for cardiovascular health and fighting high blood pressure and cancer,” says Manuel Villacorta, a spokesman for the

American Dietetic Association. “In every bite, you get hundreds of antioxidants and anti-inflammatories.”

While Fuhrman discourages regularly eating animal products, his food plan is not vegan: Humans have evolved to e

some meat and dairy, he says, and most people who exclude animal products end up living off micronutrient-poor

carbohydrates like white-flour pasta and bread.

Short of always consulting an ANDI scale, how do you eat more micronutrient-dense foods? Start by reducing your

meat and dairy intake, and make plants, beans, and nuts the focal point of meals. As for meat, look for nutrient-pack

bison — naturally lean and usually pastured rather than raised in feedlots — and opt for skim milk. Avoid high-calor

micronutrient-lacking foods like regular potatoes, pastas, and white flours. Opt instead for whole oats, the highest-scoring grain. Although the difference in ANDI rankings diminishes as you go down the scale — bison outscores bac

by only 27 points, for example — prioritizing higher-ranking foods significantly boosts your micronutrient load.

The easiest way to consume more micronutrients — and drop a belt size? Eat a big salad every day with greens, other vegetables, and nuts, Fuhrma

says.

—

THE BEST AND WORST FOODS ON THE ANDI SCALE

Rankings are based on a 1,000-point scale, with 1,000 indicating that a food contains the highest number of micronutrients per calorie.

FRESH FISH





High:

Tuna, yellow fin, cooked, dry heat (4 ounces) — 46

Flounder, cooked, dry heat (4 ounces) — 41

Sole, cooked, dry heat (4 ounces) — 41

Salmon, pink, cooked, dry heat (4 ounces) — 39

Mahi-Mahi, cooked, dry heat (4 ounces) — 39

Low:

Cod, Cooked, dry heat (4 ounces) — 31

Grouper, Cooked, dry heat (4 ounces) — 27Tilapia, Cooked, dry heat (4 ounces) — 18

BEANS/LEGUMES

High:

Lentils, boiled (1 cup) — 104

Red Kidney Beans, boiled (1 cup) — 100

Fava Bean, boiled (1 cup) — 100

Great Northern Beans, boiled (1 cup) — 94

Cannellini Beans (1 cup) — 94

Low:

Chick Peas (Garbanzo), boiled (1 cup) — 57

Soy Beans, boiled (1 cup) — 47

Lima Beans, boiled (1 cup) — 46

NUTS

High:

Brazil (0.25 cup) — 124

Pistachio Nuts, unsalted (0.25 cup) — 48

Pecans (0.25 cup) — 41

Almonds, unsalted (0.25 cup) — 38

Peanuts, all types, unsalted (0.25 cup) — 37

Low:

Pine Nuts or Pignolia (1 tablespoon) — 26

Macadamia Nut, unsalted (0.25 cup) — 17

Chestnuts (1 ounce) — 17

HERBS AND SPICES

High:

Basil, fresh — 475

Parsley, fresh (1 tablespoon) — 474

Spearmint, fresh (1 tablespoon) — 457

VEGETABLES

High:

Collard greens — 1,000

Kale — 1,000

Watercress — 1,000

Bok choy — 824

Spinach — 739

Tomato juice — 342

Low:

Green beans — 74

Cucumbers — 50

Potatoes — 43

GRAINS

High:

Oats, old-fashioned — 53

Barley, whole grain — 43





Wild brown rice — 43

Brown rice — 41

Barley, pearled — 32

Kamut, whole grain — 27

Low:

Oats, quick cooked — 19

White bread — 18

Couscous — 15

White rice — 12

MEAT

High:

Bison, top sirloin — 39

Pork tenderloin — 34

Ground beef, 95% lean — 29

Chicken breast — 27

Flank steak — 27

Low:

Bologna — 13

Beef prime rib — 12

Bacon — 12

Beef hot dog — 8

DAIRY

High:

Nonfat milk — 36

Nonfat plain yogurt — 30

Low-fat milk — 28

Eggs — 27

Low-fat plain yogurt — 24

Feta cheese — 21

Low:

Cheddar cheese — 11

Half-and-half — 10

Cream cheese — 4

FRUIT

High:

Cranberries — 236

Guava — 223

Strawberries — 212

Blackberries — 178

Pomegranate — 166

Plums — 157

Low:

Grapes — 31

Banana — 30

Raisins — 16

Coconut — 10

—

This article originally appeared in the May 2011 issue of Men’s Journal.

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men's journal » maximize your micronutrients » print

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