March is officially “National Nutrition Month.”
National Nutrition Month is an initiative created to emphasize the importance of making healthy food and fitness choices.
In the Spirit of spreading education, I offer you the ANDI Chart to help you make your choosing easy-peasy!
You’ve heard the expression “nutrient dense?” Dr. Joel Fuhrman, created the ANDI scoring system, “Aggregate Nutrient Density Index.” to rate the nutrient density of all foods. The ANDI system rates a wide-array of foods on a scale from 1 to 1000 that are richest in nutrition and lowest in calories, with 1000 being the very best!
Nutrient Scoring Method*
To determine the ANDI scores, Dr. Fuhrman evaluated an equal-calorie serving of each food. The following nutrients were included in the evaluation: fiber, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper, manganese, selenium, vitamin A, beta carotene, alpha carotene, lycopene, lutein and zeaxanthin, vitamin E, vitamin C, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B6, folate, vitamin B12, choline, vitamin K, phytosterols, glucosinolates, angiogenesis inhibitors, organosulfides, aromatase inhibitors, resistant starch, resveratrol plus ORAC score. ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) is a measure of the antioxidant or radical scavenging capacity of a food.
For consistency, nutrient quantities were converted from their typical measurement conventions (mg, mcg, IU) to a percentage of their Dietary Reference Intake (DRI). For nutrients that have no DRI, goals were established based on available research and current understanding of the benefits of these factors. To make it easier to compare foods, the raw point totals were converted (multiplied by the same number) so that the highest ranking foods (leafy green vegetables) received a score of 1000, and the other foods received lower scores accordingly.
Cheers to National Nutrition Month and you optimizing your health with the best nutrient-dense choices!
To see the rest of the chart and download a copy, just click the image above! (No opt in required.)
Post your thoughts below. I'd love to share some easy-peasy ideas to help you up level your healthy food choices!
Want a Guide full of nutrient-dense choices for breakfast to jumpstart you and your day? Click here.
