Smart Food Choices for Healthy Aging
If you and your healthcare provider are worried about weight gain, you should choose nutrient-dense foods . These foods give you lots of nutrients without a lot of extra calories. On the other hand, foods that are high in calories for the amount of food are called calorie dense . They may or may not have nutrients. High-calorie foods with little nutritional value, like potato chips, sugar-sweetened drinks, candy, baked goods, and alcoholic beverages, are sometimes called " empty calories ." Can choosing a nutrient-dense food instead of a calorie-dense food really make a difference? Here are some examples of nutrient-dense choices side by side with similar foods that are not nutrient-dense , have more calories, or both. CHOOSING NUTRIENT-DENSE FOODS Lean Beef Hamburger patty, 4 oz. precooked, extra lean ground beef 167 calories Or Regular Beef Hamburger patty, 4 oz. precooked, regular ground beef 235 calories Apple Large apple, 8 oz. 110 c...