According to Eat Right America, “Aggregate Nutrient Density Index Scores (ANDI), help you determine which foods are high in nutrient density (and which are low). ANDI scores are calculated by evaluating an extensive range of food factors, including vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and antioxidant capacities, based on an equal number of calories for each food” (from here). For additional ANDI information check out Fooducate.
| Veggies! | Fruits! | ||
| Kale | 1000 | Strawberries | 212 |
| Mustard greens | 1000 | Pomegranate juice | 193 |
| Watercress | 1000 | Tomato | 164 |
| Collard greens, cooked | 1000 | Plums | 158 |
| Bok choi, cooked | 824 | Raspberries | 145 |
| Spinach | 739 | Blueberries | 130 |
| Spinach, cooked | 697 | Orange | 109 |
| Brussels sprouts | 672 | Grapefruit | 102 |
| Swiss chard, cooked | 670 | ||
| Arugula | 560 | ||
| Radish | 554 | ||
| Bean sprouts | 444 | ||
| Red pepper | 420 | ||
| Cabbage | 420 | ||
| Romaine lettuce | 389 | ||
| Broccoli | 376 | ||
I love that my favorite veggies are top on the list (well, I usually eschew mustard greens); and I also love that these high-scoring veggies end up on my plate everyday. Though I was not at all surprised to see all leafy greens at the top of the list; I was most surprised to see radishes and romaine so high on the list, and broccoli so low. Broccoli is in the same big family (brassica) as collards, kale, bok choi, so it seems that it would be much higher (maybe the yummy broccoli leaves would score higher than the heads..?). Unfortunately, many of the high scoring fruits are absent from my diet, since they are hard to obtain locally. But bananas, mangoes, pineapples and citrus- which I have plenty of here in Hawaii- are not on the list!
Here’s a funny aside: while doing the research for this post I found Eat Right America’s home page, which offered a little survey to see how healthy I am…. so let’s check it out:
First question: I’d be happier if i could… (can I just be happy AS I AM..?)
- look and feel more youthful
- safely lose weight and keep it off
- improve my overall health
- have more energy
- reverse effects of my chronic illness
- get off my medications
Well, since I am a healthy young lady, how about ‘have more energy;’ cause we could all use that, right…?
Second question: I am 30 years old, and at 5’4 and 115 pounds, how much weight do I want to lose. Hmm, how about zero?
Third question: What medical problems do you have? (not, DO you have medical problems… it just assumes we all have chronic issues…).
- diabetes
- heart
- arthritis
- hypertension
- digestive issues
- headaches
- autoimmune disease
- none of the above…. CHECK
fourth question: Do I have any children under 18 (don’t think so…)
fifth question: How many servings of meat, fish, dairy, veggies, fruit, nuts, beans, processed things, do you eat everyday? After tabulation, the following pie chart is my result! They say, “Congratulations! We urge you to continue your efforts and look ahead to further refinements to your dietary habits to maintain a healthy lifestyle and live a long and active life”. But guess what? Because I said Iwanted to have more energy, they can sell me a NUTRITION PRESCRIPTION FOR ONLY $149.95!
Standard American Diet (blue is processed, greens is fruits and veggies, red is meat and dairy)
My diet (are all my baked goods making me blue? haha)
What are the ANDI ratings for stuff like Big Macs and such?
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