What Does Nutrient Density Mean?

Our first thoughts when selecting vegetables to put on our plates might be about taste, look, or how it accompanies the other ingredients in our dish, not as much what nutritional value it brings to our bodies. Fruits and vegetables have general nutritional contents that we can use to determine nutrition. So what is all the chatter about nutrient density and what does that mean?

Nutrient density is the level of nutrients per unit calorie. When comparing different vegetables or fruits this is useful for deciding what holds the highest nutritional value for our bodies and how much we want to incorporate it in our diet.

More extensive research is now being done across the country on hydroponic, regenerative, organic, and conventional farms to test nutrient density between the same type of crop to see if the way they are grown can increase nutrition. A study by the Bionutrient Institue showed that tomatoes grown hydroponically have less minerals and polyphenols than soil grown tomatoes. This surprised many researchers since they are fed a direct source of these nutrients. This proves an important relationship between plants and soil.

One factor for loss in nutrients that should be considered is shelf life. How long did that unripe tomato, shipped from Mexico or California, sit on the shelf before it got to our plate in Maryland, verse the ripe tomato picked and sold locally for us to eat right away? Anyone who has had to endure a store bought tomato, aka pale disapointment, off season in winter can assume the nutritional content is way  lower than it should be just based on the knowledge of when it was picked.

Another consideration for what vegetables have more nutrition is based on color. Orange and especially purple cauliflower varieties have more vitamins and minerals than the white varieties. Purple vegetables in particular have a flavanoid called anthocyanin. These chemicals act as a protectant or sunscreen from intense UV rays  for the plant and deliver antioxidant and inflamation fighting compounds for us. Research is showing that foods rich in anthocyanins help lower blood pressure, reduce the risk of heart diease,  slows cancer growth, and prevents neurological diseases.

When we talk about nutrient density, it is about more than just what vegetable. What the vegetable was grown in and how, freshness, and color all play a role. The belief I share with many organic & regenerative farmers is that microbes in the soil really make a difference in the plants health and therefore the fruit, tuber, or leaf that we eat. Adding compost, manures, proper amounts of amendments, not using broad spectrum herbicides and pesticides, picking at peak ripeness and disturbing the soil as little as possible with minimal tillage is no doubt going to prove in the long run to produce the most nutriet dense foods we can consume. That is exactly what we want to provide here on our farm. Fresh and colorful produce grown with soil health in the forefront.

If you would like to learn more about nutrient density and read studies click here.

For more information on anthocyanins click here.