Are you dense?

Recently I read an interesting commentary on the Standard American Diet (S.A.D...what a clever acronym, don't you think?), that posited that the vast majority of Americans are actually undernourished... "Overfed, but undernourished," it said.

Because the food we are eating doesn't have much nutritional value, our bodies crave more. So we give it more and more of the same crap-tastic food, and the body still isn't satisfied. Sounds like a recipe for obesity, to me.

"Eat Right America" has come up with ANDI, the Aggregate Nutrient Density Index, that ranks foods based on their nutrients. The more nutrient-dense the food, the higher it is on the list. The foods are weighed in Calcium, Carotenoids: Beta Carotene, Alpha Carotene, Lutein & Zeaxanthin, Lycopene, Fiber, Folate, Glucosinolates, Iron, Magnesium, Niacin, Selenium, Vitamin B1 (Thiamin) Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin), Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Zinc, plus ORAC score.

Here is the index:

from the Eat Right America website:

"Keep in mind that nutrient density scoring is not the only factor that determines good health. For example, if we only ate foods with a high nutrient density score our diet would be too low in fat. So we have to pick some foods with lower nutrient density scores (but preferably the ones with the healthier fats) to include in our high nutrient diet.

Additionally, if a thin person or highly physically active individual ate only the highest nutrient foods they would become so full from all of the fiber and nutrients that would keep them from meeting their caloric needs and they would eventually become too thin. This of course gives you a hint at the secret to permanent weight control." 

So how does your diet measure up? Are you dense?