Nutrient Density

24 Jul Nutrient Density

Calories are the unit of measurement for the energy in food. We all need energy to fuel our bodies daily and the amount is determined by our gender, height, weight, age, and physical activity level. However, by comparison, two foods with the same amount of calories can have vastly different nutritional value. When we go beyond the amount of calories a food provides, we can identify macronutrients, micronutrients, and antioxidants, also known as nutrient density. In contrast, empty calories come from foods that primarily provide calories, but little nutrition – think sugary foods and desserts.

The American Heart Association says, “The basic concept of nutrient density is the amount of nutrients you get for the calories consumed.” The organization provides more information and tips to eat more nutrient dense foods in an article here.

There are a lot of pros to a focus on eating a nutrient-dense diet, such as high quality nutrition and targeting your health/fitness goals. A neat article by Eat This, Not That!, shares a variety of ways 100 calories can present, ex. half a cheeseburger vs 25 strawberries, plus many more.

So what do you think about the nutrition in your frequent food choices? Are they primarily nutrient-dense or empty?

Workout/Exercise Spotlight: Plyometrics

According to 8fit:

Plyometrics is a form of intense training that involves the use of a stretch and contraction sequence of muscle fibers to generate great strength at a high speed. With this type of training session, you will improve your overall power and explosiveness.

Read the full article here.

The Core Add-on

This week’s daily add-on exercise is Wood Chop, 10 reps per side. That brings us to:

10 plank toe taps

10 cobra pose reps

30 sec side plank each side

10 reps per side wood chop

Get after it!

By: Victoria Emmitt RD