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Nutrition Analysis at a Glance

Posted at 9:17 PM on November 16, 2008 by Gina Keenan (3 Comments)

A few months ago in the magazine, "National Geographic", they had a one page article on the Overall Nutritional Quality Index. It is a system that ranks foods based on their nutrients, vitamins, sugar and salt as well as impact on other health concerns. The system was developed by Yale University Griffin Prevention Research Center. The system ranks food items from 1 to 100, with 100 being the best food value.

The list National Geographic provided was fascinating. At 100 were the expected food items of broccoli, blueberries, oranges. After that, the numbers were surprising. Here is an example, couscous comes out at 72; white rice at 57, and pasta is 50. New York Strip is 44; whole chicken with the skin is 28. Dark chocolate is a 10; center cut bacon is 13. Watermelon, a fruit I grew up thinking was lacking in nutrition, is 94. This one threw me for a loop, white bread is a 9; diet soda is 15. Saltine crackers are a lowly 2. Rounding out the bottom are regular soda and popsicles at a score of 1.

Check out the lists www.nuval.com. The system is in some grocery stores already, but it will be in more stores 2009. It will be interesting to find out if the popsicle and soda sales will change as a result, or will we continue to rationalize our consumption of these products?

Comments (3)

Hmmmmm...., I think our watermelon consumption will be increasing dramatically....it has always seemed like a tasty but somewhat worthless food, thanks for straightening us out :).

Hope you are well, Vera

Posted by vera schabicki | November 17, 2008 8:02 PM

This ranking system is a step in the right direction for the general public. However, I am frustrated with its overimplification of wholistic nutrition. The idea that one food is "better" than another is absolutely the wrong way to think about nutrition. The nuval system neglects the importance of a balanced diet, synergistic food combinations, and foods that score low but our body still depends on in small amounts. The design of the nuval algorithm is just rehashing the montra that saturated fat, cholesterol, and salt equal poor health, and paints an alarmingly simple picture of a complex subject which our nation is failing miserably to understand.

Posted by Dave | November 23, 2008 3:20 PM

I agree Dave, it does make it too simplistic, and once again puts food in compartments. I am guessing on the horizon will be an all-"100 point diet" or have your diet add up to "1000 points" a day diet.

But on the otherhand, like Vera, my opinion and consumption of watermelon went up afterwards. so there are some benefits to more information, we just have to be careful not to just have this information solely.

Thanks,

Gina

Posted by Gina | November 24, 2008 3:08 PM