Nutrition research and advice can be confusing and conflicting, even for someone diligently researching which foods to eat and which to avoid. A comprehensive new ranking system offers a bit of clarity and insight [into what is ranked healthiest].
“Once you get beyond ‘eat your veggies, avoid soda,’ the public is pretty confused about how to identify healthier choices in the grocery store, cafeteria, and restaurant,” says the study’s lead author, Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.
Mozaffarian and colleagues created what they call the Food Compass by applying the latest science on nutrition to examine both the healthy and harmful aspects of more than 8,000 foods and drinks — from raw veggies and natural juices to highly processed cereals, fast-food burgers, and even some popular mixed meals — and ranked each one from one (terrible) to 100 (best).
The full study is published today in the journal Nature Food. One catch: Without a subscription to the journal, for now, you’ll have to rely on my overview of the findings.
The study does not single out any one best or worst food item—hundreds of basic foods score at or near 100, and a slew of concoctions are at or near one, with thousands between.
The researchers encourage people to eat foods that score 70 or higher, avoid those that score 30 or lower, and consume the stuff in the middle in moderation. No surprise, some of the worst scores were among highly processed or prepared foods—those with lots of ingredients, often including added sugar, salt, butter, sour cream, and the like.
Lists of Ranked Healthiest to Not So Healthiest Foods
The average scores by category offer a broad sense of how anyone might approach healthier eating habits, though see the big asterisk* below:
- Raw fruits: Many are at or near 100
- Raw vegetables: Many are at or near 100
- Legumes, nuts, and seeds: Many are at or near 100
- Seafood: 67.0 overall, but many fish are near 100 if cooked simply
- Poultry: 42.7
- Starchy vegetables: 43.2
- Sugar-sweetened sodas and energy drinks: 27.6
- Beef: 24.9
- Snacks and sweet desserts: 16.4
*The big asterisk: Within each category is a wide-ranging batch of individual scores, dropping notably when “good” foods are laden with “bad” additives. For example, while most fruits and vegetables score at or near 100 raw, when they’re cooked or canned the scores tend to fall, and when sugar, butter, or other tasty stuff is added, many fall into the “moderation” category and even lower (think apple pie). Likewise nuts do worse when doused with salt or bathed in sugary yogurt.
A more detailed and specific list, available here, includes these gems and duds:
Examples of Food Compass rankings for a few healthy foods (scoring 70 or higher) and some very unhealthy foods (30 and lower). Image: Tufts University
I pawed through the even larger, unpublished list of all 8,032 items, provided to me by the researchers, to give you a select few additional rankings to chew on:
- Avocados: 100
- Quinoa: 81
- Plain oatmeal: 78
- Cappuccino with nonfat milk: 73
- Whole wheat bread: 64
- French fries: 55
- Pickles (cucumbers, sweet): 33
- Chicken Kiev: 20
- Apple pie: 19
- Tomato catsup: nine
- White bread: eight
- Teriyaki sauce: four
- Duck sauce, marshmallows, ready-to-eat pudding, and just about any candy bar you can think of: one
I’d type up a longer list for you, but I’m getting hungry.
Bottom line: If you seek to eat well, lean into fruits and veggies, nuts, seeds, and beans, skip the soda, pick your proteins carefully and don’t slather too much bad stuff into the cooking process, and pay close attention to what’s actually in any processed foods you buy. Nothing new there.
