Jennifer Di Noia, associate professor of sociology at William Paterson University, did the work for us and reported her results in the Centers for Disease Control’s Preventing Chronic Disease. We’re told to add powerhouse fruits and vegetables to our diet, but we don’t have much guidance on which ones are really potent and which are coasting by on their color alone. Nutritionists point us toward anything dark green and leafy, for example, but it turns out that they can vary by as much as 70 points on how many nutrients they contain.
Di Noia focused on 17 nutrients considered by the food experts at the United Nations and the Institute of Medicine to be important to good health and to lowering risk of heart disease and cancer: potassium, fiber, protein, calcium, iron, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folate, zinc, and vitamins A, B6, B12, C, D, E, and K.
She then combed the scientific literature to calculate how many nutrients they contained per calorie of energy they provided (based on a 2,000-calorie-per-day diet); the higher the value, the more of a powerhouse food it was. “It gives people a way of thinking how to maximize the nutrients per calorie,” she says.
She admits that the list doesn’t include all the phytochemicals, or compounds that could add to a food’s nutritional profile but, she says, “now that we have a list of foods it can help consumers know what are the powerhouse fruits and vegetables, and maybe choose the more nutrient-dense foods over less nutrient dense ones.”
Here’s the list. And since this list is all fruits and veggies, it stands to remind you that you can’t really go wrong with anything listed here. That said: Who knew watercress was such a power-veggie?
| Item | Nutrient Density Score |
| Watercress | 100.00 |
| Chinese cabbage | 91.99 |
| Chard | 89.27 |
| Beet green | 87.08 |
| Spinach | 86.43 |
| Chicory | 73.36 |
| Leaf lettuce | 70.73 |
| Parsley | 65.59 |
| Romaine lettuce | 63.48 |
| Collard green | 62.49 |
| Turnip green | 62.12 |
| Mustard green | 61.39 |
| Endive | 60.44 |
| Chive | 54.80 |
| Kale | 49.07 |
| Dandelion green | 46.34 |
| Red pepper | 41.26 |
| Arugula | 37.65 |
| Broccoli | 34.89 |
| Pumpkin | 33.82 |
| Brussels sprout | 32.23 |
| Scallion | 27.35 |
| Kohlrabi | 25.92 |
| Cauliflower | 25.13 |
| Cabbage | 24.51 |
| Carrot | 22.60 |
| Tomato | 20.37 |
| Lemon | 18.72 |
| Iceberg lettuce | 18.28 |
| Strawberry | 17.59 |
| Radish | 16.91 |
| Winter squash (all varieties) | 13.89 |
| Orange | 12.91 |
| Lime | 12.23 |
| Grapefruit (pink and red) | 11.64 |
| Rutabaga | 11.58 |
| Turnip | 11.43 |
| Blackberry | 11.39 |
| Leek | 10.69 |
| Sweet potato | 10.51 |
| Grapefruit (white) | 10.47 |
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