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Better Choices

Top 10 Green Vegetables by Nutrient Density

When you go into the produce section of Whole Foods, you’ll notice signs that say “ANDI Score” with a number associated with that respective food.

Created by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, ANDI stands for “Aggregate Nutrient Density Index” and ranks a food’s nutrient density on a scale from 1 to 1000.

The ANDI scores are calculated by evaluating an extensive range of micronutrients, including vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and antioxidant capacities, and by dividing the nutrient level of a food by its caloric content (N/C).

As such, the motivation behind creating this index was to emphasize the importance of eating foods that are rich in nutrients on a per calorie basis.

For example, kale, a dark leafy green, scores 1000 while soda scores 1.

As provided by Whole Foods, here are the top 10 most nutrient-dense green vegetables and their respective ANDI scores.

1. Mustard/Turnip/Collard Greens – 1000

2. Kale – 1000

3. Watercress – 1000

4. Bok Choy/Baby Bok Choy – 824

5. Spinach – 739

6. Broccoli Rabe – 715

7. Chinese/Napa Cabbage – 704

8. Brussels Sprouts – 672

9. Swiss Chard – 670

10. Arugula – 559

MY TAKE

1) I think the ANDI scores are an excellent reference tool, especially when you are shopping and are not sure about which food to purchase.

That being said, it is just one assessment and it is not the only guide that a person should use when deciding which specific foods to eat.

Take walnuts, for example.

Regarded by many people as the best nut available, walnuts are amazing source of omega-3s, manganese and potassium. Furthermore, they have very strong anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties, and contain a phytonutrient, the quinone juglone, that is not found in almost any other commonly-eaten foods.

Yet, walnuts only have an ANDI score of 34 and are rated as the 8th highest, nutrient-dense nut.

Another point to remember: Just because greens have the highest ANDI scores, this does not mean that greens should comprise one’s entire diet.

As legendary natural healer Dr. Bernard Jensen believed, the diet should consist of a rainbow of colors – meaning that we need foods that contain all of the colors.

2) When I went to go see Dr. Joel Furhman speak at the Whole Foods Wellness Club in Tribeca, he said that there was no distinction between the nutritional value of non-organic and organic foods.

I strongly, strongly disagree with him on this point for two reasons.

1) Recent research points to the contrary

A study completed at Washington State University regarding strawberries and the one at the University of Barcelona regarding tomatoes demonstrate the organic has higher levels of nutrients and antioxidants.

2) Common Sense

Putting empirical evidence aside, nutrition is all about soil quality.

If your soil is nutritious, vibrant, healthy and filled with vital micro-organisms, the plant will be nutritious. And vice-versa.

Conventional agriculture ravages the soil by spraying it with toxic pesticides, herbicides and insecticides, and practices monocropping, the practice of growing the same plant year-after-year on the same land, which kills the soil’s ecology.

From a purely intellectual perspective, I just don’t know how anyone can make the argument that the nutrition levels could be the same. In my mind, it just doesn’t hold at all.

The reason for Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s stance on this matter, however, may be for a specific reason.

Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s mission is to improve the health of the broad population by getting individuals to switch to a heavy plant-based diet.

And if pushing organic as well would dissuade people from eating more plant-based food because they can’t afford or don’t have access to organic, it is not helping achieve his overall mission.

While I incorporate many, many plant-based foods in my diet, my agenda is different. I promote organic. Why?

Unquestionably, it is the superior food on the planet and does not contain toxic chemicals, genetically-modified organisms, and artificial growth hormones.

And among other things, organic agriculture treats the soil with respect, which in turn provides us with the highest nutritional food possible.

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Living Maxwell

Better Choices

Another Reason to Eat Organic — GMOs and Weedkiller Found in Conventional Cereal

If anyone you know is still feeding their children conventional cereal, maybe this piece of news will get them to change their habits.

GMO Free USA, a non-profit that educates consumers and other stakeholders about the potential hazards of GMOs, just published its results of independent lab tests (verified by DNA analysis) done on Kellogg’s Froot Loops cereal.

Here’s what they found:

1) 100% of the corn in the Froot Loops was genetically-modified, containing DNA sequences known to be present in insecticide-producing Bt and Roundup Ready corn. This corn produces insecticides inside of the plant’s cells and cannot be washed off.

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A message from Tradin Organic

How Tradin Organic is Helping Coconut Farmers in The Philippines

For more than a decade, Tradin Organic has been working with local partners in The Philippines to bring a diversified range of organic products to the market, such as coconut oil, tropical fruits and even cocoa.

The company is helping to support local farmers by assisting them with technical support and organic certification, in addition to paying Fairtrade premium on top of the organic premium.

Learn more.

Living Maxwell

Better Choices

Another Reason to Eat Organic – It is Essential for Managing Climate Change

Ever since I started eating organic food in 2001, people have asked me – why do you eat organic?

The most common answer that I give is that I don’t want to consume toxic pesticides or GMOs. That seems to resonate with people and they can easily understand it.

Over the last few years, however, my answer has evolved.

Of course, I mention the pesticides, but I also talk about how the chemicals used in conventional agriculture ruin our water supply (94% of our water now contains Atrazine) and sicken farm workers (residents in the farming community of Central Valley, CA are forced to drink bottled water because the tap water has become so contaminated from pesticides).

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Living Maxwell

Better Choices

Why Organic Almonds? Because of the Super-Toxic Fumigant Propylene Oxide

As more and more people are moving toward a plant-based diet and migrating away from animal products, organic cannot be forgotten in this equation.

Unfortunately, I see far too many people who think that as long as it is plant-based, that is sufficient. It’s not.

Case in point: almonds.

In the early 2000s, there were a few outbreaks of salmonella traced to raw almonds from California, a state where nearly 100% of America’s almonds are grown. As a result, the USDA implemented a rule that required all almonds grown in California to be pasteurized. This holds true for both organic and non-organic varieties.

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