Our top tips for building a nutrient-dense diet

One of the best things we can do to stay healthy is to eat food which is densely packed with nutrients. By eating this way your body will get all the vitamins, minerals and other essential nutrients it needs for health.

Many of the foods we eat today are full of ‘empty calories’ -  they provide energy, but very little else! Nutrients are essential for metabolism, immunity, and long-term health. By choosing foods like seafood and dark green leafy vegetables, that are packed with vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, and protein, every mouthful will support the body’s repair, recovery, and resilience.

Whether you're managing chronic illness or simply aiming to feel your best, a nutrient-dense diet helps ensure your body gets what it needs without unnecessary excess. Here we give you some tips on how to make your diet pack a punch to support your optimal health!

What is a nutrient-dense diet?

A nutrient-dense diet focuses on foods that deliver a high concentration of essential nutrients relative to their calorie content – more bang for your buck!

Some foods are densely packed with vitamins, minerals and other key nutrients, whilst other provide few nutrients, or you have to eat a huge quantity of the food to get enough useful nutrients. By choosing foods which are densely packed with nutrients, not only do you make sure to get your essential nutrients, but you also avoid energy-dense, nutrient -poor foods that contribute to poor health and weight gain.

When you compare foods for nutrient value per calorie, you can see major differences between foods. As an extreme example suggested by Ted Naiman, shown below, a portion of salmon and a doughnut contain roughly the same number of calories, but the nutritional content of the two foods is wildly different! They also have different effects on our hunger – protein-rich foods like salmon fill us up and make us fee satiated, whilst highly processed foods like doughnuts will make us want to eat more, whilst providing no essential nutrients!

What do we mean by essential nutrients?

Essential nutrients are those which:

• the body cannot produce on its own (or not in sufficient amounts) and,

• must be obtained through the diet.

These include:

• vitamins

• minerals

• essential amino acids (from proteins)

• essential fatty acids (like omega-3 and omega-6)

• water

All of these nutrients plays a vital role in keeping the body functioning—supporting everything from energy production and immune defence to tissue repair and brain health. Without adequate intake of essential nutrients, even basic biological processes can become compromised, leading to fatigue, poor recovery, or illness over time.

Maximising micronutrients

Vitamins and minerals together are classified as micronutrients and different foods contain varying amounts of these micronutrients. A study published by Ty Beal in 2022  assessed a range of different foods to measure their micronutrient content. He identified six essential nutrients – iron, zinc, vitamin A, calcium, folate and vitamin B12 and then measured the content of different foods for these micronutrients. He then compared  foods to assess which had the greatest quantity and number of micronutrients, and categorised foods into very high, high, moderate and low, in terms of nutrient density as shown below.

Nutrient density of various foods, assessed by Ty Beal, 2022 

Beal T, Ortenzi F. Priority Micronutrient Density in Foods. Front Nutr. 2022 Mar 7;9:806566. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2022.806566. Erratum in: Front Nutr. 2022 Apr 25;9:908592. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2022.908592. Erratum in: Front Nutr. 2023 Apr 11;10:1195752. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1195752. PMID: 35321287; PMCID: PMC8936507.

Our 8 top tips for a nutrient dense diet

Ty Beal’s assessment of nutrient dense foods is focused specifically on micronutrient content of foods. When considering our 8 top tips for a nutrient-dense diet we also considered the other essential nutrients our bodies need, such as essential amino acids and essential fatty acids, and we used these to compile our 8 top tips.

Here are our tips for a nutrient-dense diet!

Tip 1 : Increase protein in your diet

 

Protein-rich foods also contain many micronutrients as well as protein. By increasing the amount of protein in your diet you will automatically add more vitamins, minerals and other important nutrients. For example, Ty Beal’s micronutrient assessment shown above shows meat and fish amongst the foods containing the highest proportion of micronutrients.

Animal sourced protein including meat, fish, seafood dairy foods and eggs are amongst the most bioavailable and complete sources of protein and are also rich sources of nutrients such as iron, zinc, B vitamins. Whilst it is possible to get nutrients such as iron and zinc from plant foods they are particularly bioavailable in animal foods, so your body absorbs a greater proportion of the nutrients from the food.

The best plant based sources of protein are soybean and Quorn, a protein made from the made from a fungus. Soybean, edamame beans and foods made from soybean, such as tofu and tempeh, are the most nutrient-dense plant-based protein options, as they are rich in important vitamins and minerals, including B vitamin, calcium, iron, copper, magnesium and zinc as well as being a good source of complete protein.

If you want to increase your protein intake, it's probably best to start with breakfast - as this is the meal where most people miss out on a good dose of protein - think eggs, yoghurt, fish, meat, nuts and seeds!

Recommendations:

• Aim for 1.2 - 1.5g of protien/per kg of body weight daily

• Aim for 25 - 35g of protein at every meal

• Eat plenty of protein at breakfast

Tip 2: Eat oily fish every week

Oily fish, such as sardines, salmon, herring and mackerel are highly nutritious as they are good sources of protein, calcium and vitamin D.

But oily fish are also rich in important omega 3 fatty acids – EPA (Eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid), which cannot be made by the human body, so need to be eaten in food. Omega 3 fatty acids are especially important for brain health and for the immune system.

Recommendations:

• Eat oily fish two or three times each week.

• If you are vegetarian take an algae-based Omega 3 supplement

Tip 3: Include some highly-nutrient dense foods in your diet

Try to include some of the highest nutrient dense foods in your diet on a regular basis. These are foods which contain the highest number of key nutrients, so provide the greatest level of nourishment per calorie. These special foods include:

Recommendation:

• Include highly nutrient-dense foods in your diet every week

Tip 4: Don't fear healthy fats

We need fats in our diet for many reasons, including energy, for maintaining cell membranes and protecting our organs. Another reason why fat are so important is that it is required for the absorption of fat soluble vitamins – vitamins A, D, E and K. Nowadays we are more aware of the importance of including healthy fat in the diet.

Recommendations:

• Include natural fats in your diet and avoid industrial vegetable oils

• Include a source of fat such as butter or olive oil with your vegetables so you can absorb vitamins from the food

Tip  5: Eat dark green leafy vegetables often

We know how important it is to eat plenty of vegetables, but dark green leafy vegetables, such as kale, chard, rocket, spinach, Swiss chard, collard greens and Bok choy are particularly important as they are very rich in vitamins and minerals. These vegetables are rich in vitamins A, C, K and calcium. As with all vegetables it’s important to protect the nutrients in your greens when you cook them, so steam or sauté them rather than boiling, don’t overcook and serve them with butter or olive oil to help with absorption of fat soluble vitamins.

Recommendations:

• Eat green leafy vegetables regularly

• Steam or sauté, rather than boiling vegetables, and serve with butter/olive oil

Tip 6: Include nuts and seeds

Nuts and seeds are an important source of a number of key vitamins and minerals, some of which are more difficult to get from animal sources. So, if you’re trying to cover all bases when it comes to nutrients, it’s good to include some nuts and seeds. Most nuts and seeds contain magnesium, and many contain manganese. Almonds, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts and sunflower seeds are rich in vitamin E, sesame seeds, cashews, sunflower seeds and hazelnuts are all good sources of copper, and Brazil nuts are great for selenium. All nuts and seeds are also rich in fibre, but chia seeds and flax seeds are particularly good sources.

Recommendations:

• Include a range of nuts and seeds in your diet

• Include chia seeds and/or flax seeds for fibre

• Eat a small handful (no more) of Brazil nuts every week for selenium

  
  

Tip 7: Fermented foods every day

Looking after your digestive system can help you to make sure you can absorb nutrients from your food. Eating fibre and regularly including fermented foods in your diet can help support a healthy gut. By fermenting food we improve the bioavailability of protein and vitamins in foods such as legumes, grains, fruits, and vegetables. Fermentation also breaks down anti-nutrients in plant foods, and the process of fermentation can produce vitamin B12 and other important vitamins as detailed here.

Recommendation:

• Regularly eat fermented foods such as kefir, komucha, kimchi and sauerkraut.

Tip 8: Eat a little dark chocolate

This might surprise some people – but cocoa is rich in important minerals such as magnesium, phosphorus, copper, iron, manganese and zinc.

Recommendation:

• Eat a little dark chocolate, preferably 85% cocoa solids regularly.

Summary

Certain foods are packed with nutrients, and it's well worth including these foods in your diet on a regular basis. You don't have to each huge quantities - just by including these nutrient-packed foods you'll soon be covering all the bases in terms of your nutritional needs. Nutrition is complicated, but by following our 8 simple tips you can ensure you're getting all those important nutrients needed for good health.

A SUMMARY OF OUR 8 STEPS

1.   Plenty of protein

2.   Oily fish every week

3.   Include highly nutrient-dense foods

4.   Don't fear healthy fats

5.   Lots of green leafy vegetables

6.   Include nuts and seeds

7.   Eat fermented foods

And finally, don't forget to:

8. Add a little dark chocolate!

References

Beal T, Ortenzi F. Priority Micronutrient Density in Foods. Front Nutr. 2022 Mar 7;9:806566. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2022.806566. Erratum in: Front Nutr. 2022 Apr 25;9:908592. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2022.908592. Erratum in: Front Nutr. 2023 Apr 11;10:1195752. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1195752. PMID: 35321287; PMCID: PMC8936507.

Maria L Marco, et al. Health benefits of fermented foods: microbiota and beyond. Current Opinion in Biotechnology, Vol 44, 2017. Pp 94-102,

ISSN 0958-1669, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copbio.2016.11.010.