A new scoring system makes it easier to eat healthy. I just read something very interesting: David Katz, a professor at Yale, has developed the NQ – the nutritional quotient. Or, eating using your head! What is particularly good for us is an NQ of 100 because the ratio of calories and nutrients is particularly favourable or the food contains ingredients that are great for our health many times over.
A total of 30 criteria have been defined by the professor, which are included in the calculation of points. For example, vitamins, dietary fibres and minerals score plus-points, while trans fats, salt or refined sugars will get you minus-points. The scale ranges from 1 to 100 – the maximum score is achieved with broccoli, kohlrabi, asparagus, cauliflower, spinach and green beans, all of which are due to ingredients that are proven to protect against cancer.
But also apricots, oranges and kiwis have it all: the latter, for example, not only taste great, but strengthen our defence system through their vitamin C content and tannic acid and can prevent nasty viruses from spreading. Apricots score points with a good portion of vitamin A, which, among other things, strengthens the eyesight.
And oranges not only deliver vitamin C and B, but with calcium and potassium are also real bone strengtheners. So: 100 points – not just for the taste, but also in terms of NQ!
The point system went over so well in the USA that it is already used in some supermarkets to characterize healthy food – under the name “NuVal”.
This is how it works: for an optimal diet, one should plan two-thirds of their daily diet from foods that reach more than 60 points. The remaining third may have fewer points.
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