It is not generally possible to determine the healthiest food. What is super healthy for one person may be bad for another. However, if you look at the vital nutrients they contain, there are foods that are clearly among the healthiest in the world.
Jennifer Di Noia looked at the amounts of 17 vital nutrients found in food. She compared the proportion of nutrients such as vitamin A, B12 or fiber to the number of calories. The higher this value is, the healthier a food is.
Surprise: Only one food managed to provide 100 percent of the daily nutrients with 100 calories.
This is the healthiest fruit in the world
Who would have thought? Of the 41 foods examined that met the criteria, there were only seven types of fruit. The lemon made it to 28th place. This makes it the healthiest fruit in the world – because not a single type of fruit made it into the top ten.
Even if apples, blueberries and bananas don’t appear in the ranking, that doesn’t mean that they aren’t healthy. But the list was created according to very strict criteria, so that in addition to the lemon, only six other types of fruit made it into it.
The strawberries ended up in 30th place in the ranking. Although the collected nuts consist of 90 percent water, the remaining ten percent contain plenty of vitamins. With just a handful of strawberries you can cover your daily vitamin C needs. The red fruits are also surprisingly low in calories and fat.
In addition to lemon, other citrus fruits have made it into the healthiest foods. Orange, lime and pink grapefruit landed in 33rd, 34th and 35th place. The white grapefruit is also there and can be happy about 41st place.
The blackberry made it to number 38 of the healthiest foods. Eating blackberries frequently will protect your cells from free radicals and strengthen your immune system. The dark berries also have a positive effect on the optic nerve thanks to the provitamin A they contain and also stimulate digestion.
That’s why watercress is so healthy
Eating fruit is definitely always a good idea. However, vegetables are even healthier. The surprise is hidden in the first place: the healthiest food of all is watercress. In the study, the inconspicuous medicinal plant achieved 100 percent of the recommended daily dose of the 17 nutrients for every 100 calories.
If you’re now asking yourself “Watercress? “What’s that supposed to be?”, it’s entirely understandable. The plant is not widespread in this country. Watercress tastes wonderful in herb quark or fresh with potatoes, eggs or in salad. They give dishes a spicy, slightly spicy note. If you grow watercress yourself, you should make sure that it always needs to be supplied with a lot of moisture.
Chinese cabbage – the vegetable is so healthy
Chinese cabbage came in second place in the study. The vegetables are easy to digest and contain many healthy nutrients. Just 100 grams cover a quarter of your daily vitamin C requirement. Chinese cabbage is also rich in vegetable protein and high-quality amino acids.
Mangold takes third place
It stood in the shadow of the spinach for a long time: Swiss chard. But this should now come to an end once and for all. Because the green leafy vegetables made it into third place, ahead of spinach (fifth place) in the list of the healthiest foods.
Basically, green vegetables are among the healthiest foods in the world. The remaining places in the top ten are also occupied by greens. Beetroot leaves take fourth place, followed by spinach, chicory, leaf lettuce, parsley, romaine lettuce and collard greens.
Things get a little more colorful in the top 20: red peppers, chives, kale, broccoli and pumpkin. If you simply put everything together in a pan, you will have a delicious and, above all, extremely healthy meal in no time.
Olive oil prevents strokes and heart attacks
In addition to the numerous foods mentioned in the study, there are of course many others with health-promoting effects. For example, olive oil is said to prevent strokes and heart attacks. It is one of the best oils you can use for food preparation.
Important for a healthy diet
If you want to eat healthily, then you should, above all, eat a variety of foods. Eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables per day. A nutritious diet includes unsaturated fatty acids, such as those found in fish, avocado and nuts, as well as good carbohydrates, which you find in whole grain products.
Legumes are so healthy
Don’t underestimate legumes either. Beans, lentils, peas and soy products are particularly good for meeting your protein needs. Eating them will also keep you full for a long time. Legumes are particularly indispensable for vegetarians and vegans as they contain plenty of B vitamins and are one of the best plant-based sources of iron.