As an orientation how a healthy, wholesome diet is designed, it is a valuable aid as a scheme.
The DGE (German Society for Nutrition) developed the Nutrition Circle for this purpose, but the nutrition pyramid developed by American scientists turned out to be more understandable. It shows that all foods are allowed if the consumption quantities are correct.
The pyramid makes it clear which foods should be used in abundance, moderately or only sparingly. It also signals that the daily menu should be as varied as possible.
The Base of the pyramid form:
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To assess the Quality of a food, taking into account the energy content, the nutrient density is used. It results from the quotient of the nutrient content (related to a certain nutrient e.g. Calcium) and calorific value of the respective food.
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The nutrient density is important for an energy-limited but nutrient-rich diet. The result is: the higher the nutrient density, the more favorable the ratio of energy content to the presence of a certain nutrient.
Formula for calculating the nutrient density:
Nutrient content (mg / mg / g per 100 g of food)
Nutrient density (mg / mg / g) = ------------------------
Calorific value (mJ per 100 g of food)
mJ = thousandth of a joule
This means that fruit and vegetables have the greatest nutrient density due to their low energy content. Naturally, the lowest nutrient density is found in foods that are rich in fat and sugar, such as sweets, cakes, etc. They have a very high energy content and a very low nutrient density. One also speaks of so-called "empty calories“.
In addition, low-fat, animal foods have a more favorable nutrient density than the high-fat products.
The energy density describes the ratio of the calorie content to the amount of a certain food. It indicates the amount of calories per gram.
The energy density is always highest when a very small amount of food supplies a lot of energy (kcal) and always lowest when large amounts of a food supply only very little energy (kcal).
$config[ads_text3] not foundThe energy density is calculated from:
Calorie content (kcal) divided by the amount in grams
50 g of milk chocolate contain an average of 280 kcal.
One calculates: 280 divided by 50 = 5.6 as the energy density.
500 g cauliflower contain approx. 115 kcal and this results in 0.2 as the energy density.
The following overview shows the classification of the various energy densities:
In calorie tables or nutritional analyzes, the Calories always specified for 100 g. For example: 100 g of cream cheese (cream) 189 kcal. Divide by 100 and get 1.8 as the energy density.
It is easy to see that the Assessment of food The recommendations for a healthy diet and weight loss do not change according to their energy density, but remain the same as before. You just give the child a different name.
The low-energy foods are water-rich, low-calorie foods, primarily vegetables and fruits.
Lean meat and fish and lean dairy products have a medium energy density.
The foods with a very high energy density are those rich in fat and sugar, such as sweets and cakes.
Be careful with drinks! They contain a lot of water and if they are judged by their energy density, Coca Cola, lemonade, juice etc. are also okay. These drinks contain sugar, don't fill you up and 500 ml of orange juice or cola add up to around 400 calories.
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So don't judge drinks by their energy density! All calorie-free drinks such as water, mineral water, unsweetened herbal tea and thin juice spritzers are ideal thirst quenchers.
More interesting information
All topics that have been published on the field of internal medicine can be found at: Internal medicine A-Z