Readers wrote to tell me that when they shifted their meals to include
more of the World’s Healthiest Foods, they not only experienced
enhanced health, but—without even trying—those who wanted to
lose weight found that they were readily doing so. The research we
did helped us to more clearly understand why Readers lost weight
and why the World’s Healthiest Foods were so effective in weight
loss.
And now let me explain why it can work for you. The reason these
foods are so beneficial is that they are concentrated sources of a vast
array of health-promoting nutrients. Nutrient-richness is the term I
use to describe this remarkable feature of the World’s Healthiest
Foods. I want to explain more about the benefits of this key criterion
of the World’s Healthiest Foods, so you can fully understand why
it’s so important.
Nutrient-richness is a measurement of the concentration of nutrients
a food can deliver in exchange for the amount of calories it contains.
On the World’s Healthiest Foods website (www.WHFoods.org) and
in my book, The World’s Healthiest Foods, nutrient-richness is
shown both qualitatively (a food may be defined as a good, very
good, or excellent source of a particular nutrient) and quantitatively
(the numerical scores that a food achieves in association with each
particular nutrient).
Since we only have a limited amount of calories that we can consume
if we want to lose weight or maintain our weight while simultaneously
taking in a sufficient range and amount of nutrients to maintain our
health, it is essential for us to get as many nutrients as possible in com-
parison to the number of calories we consume. Fortunately, it’s easy
CHAPTER 2
Why Nutrient-Richness Can
Help You Lose Weight
Healthy Weight Loss — Without Dieting