I'm using a website called nutrition data to check out whether my diet is nutritious. I'm trying to get as much of my vitamins/minerals from whole foods as possible, as they are better absorbed and confer other health benefits.
Unfortunately I can't seem to get my calories under 2000 and tick off most of the boxes. I'm still deficient in iron, B1, B5 and vitamin E.
How do you balance calories with nutrient density?
What are some excellent sources of foods that are low cal/ high nutrient that I may have overlooked?
Would you consider posting your typical diet? It's to know what you may have missed. I always try to include broccoli and, if I can avoid scarfing too many, almonds. Also Bragg's Nutritional Brewers Yeast for B vits. Iron is a tough one. Nutritionists often recommend cooking in iron pots.
my diet is changing quite a bit lately, but I post up what I eat on the June and July accountability threads. Thanks for the brewers yeast tip. What do you eat it with?
I sprinkle it on my salads and chicken/broccoli. I actually enjoy the taste, though the taste isn't that noticeable. In the past I would sometimes stir it into grapefruit juice. I'd say it's more of a savory taste, tho. Different brands taste somewhat different. I'd go with an organic brand if Braggs isn't available near you.
I'm iron deficient, and have an auto immune disease that affects absorption of nutrients, that's in full swing right now. Also I'm avoiding most grains, which worried me a bit until I found out that they aren't that nutritious anyway.
Calories were down to 1650 today with almost full nutrients, so I am getting better at this.
Pattience, the accountability threads are on this sub forum. They help me stick to it!
I took a nutrition class in grad school. For iron deficiency, I learned a great source of iron that's more readily absorbed is instant Cream of Wheat, the really super-fast cooking product. It's fortified with iron but for some reason the processing makes the iron more absorbable. Also, orange juice enhances the absorption of iron. It might be the that anything acidic does, I'm not sure. Fruit juice has a bad rap lately because it spikes blood sugar.
Pattience, I never thought to ask as it was back in a time when fruit juice was considered to be healthier than nowadays. The info may be out there somewhere, though. The instructor had said both the cereal Z& OJ were really effective with pregnant & lactating women.
The vitamin C (ascorbic acid) in orange juice is what helps increase absorption. Be careful with orange juice because it often has calcium added to it. Calcium competes with iron for absorption and decreases it's bioavailability. Anything with ascorbic acid would have the same effect.
Source: Undergraduate degree in nutrition (I know, I am hypocrite). :P
Nutrient Density is a concept that Joel Fuhrman, M.D. often speaks of in his books, or on his website. He has assigned Nutrient points, etc to food - and of course believes in whole foods not processed. Whole Foods was using his point system on foods throughout the store - not sure if they still are or not.
The Nutrient Density scores are mentioned in his book Eat for Health, and he has also written Eat to Live among other books.
Nutrient density vs calories
