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Family & Consumer Sciences |
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Make Your Calories Count
March is National Nutrition Month®, and the theme for 2009 is short and sweet: Eat Right. Those two words can cover a lot of information, so the American Dietetic Association, the sponsor of National Nutrition Month®, has identified a few simple key messages to promote healthy eating.
The first message is “Make Your Calories Count.” Some foods are better sources of nutrients than others, and it is good to keep as many of these in your diet as possible. These are foods that are nutrient dense. They are foods that supply generous amounts nutrients – vitamins, minerals, protein, fiber, etc. - in relation to the amount of energy they supply.
For example, 12 ounces of orange juice and a 12-ounce soft drink have roughly the same amount of calories. However, the juice is more nutrient dense, because it has vitamin C and potassium. The soft drink provides only sugar or “empty calories”.
Nutrient dense foods include fruits and vegetables, especially those that are bright or deeply colored, lean meats, fat-free dairy foods and whole grains.
Less nutrient dense foods may be light or whiter in color, may contain a lot of refined sugar, may be more processed or refined products (white bread as compared to whole grains), or may contain high amounts of fat.
Eating more nutrient dense foods can be important in weight management, too. Many of them are high in fiber and help you to feel more full and make it easier to control how much you eat. A diet high in nutrient dense foods can help ensure that you get enough of all the essential nutrients even when cutting calories or limiting food intake.
When you buy food, you use food labels to help you get the most for your food dollar. You can also use the nutrition facts label to help you get the most nutrition or health benefit from your calories. The label tells you how many calories each serving of the food supplies, and it shows which nutrients it supplies and in what amounts. Picking foods that are lower in calories and higher in important nutrients is key to eating for good health.
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| Last Updated: 3/4/2009 8:20:54 AM |
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