|
Nutrition By The Numbers by Christopher E. Ramsden, MD The Global Nutritional Quality Index (Global NQI) The Global NQI, which integrates the advantages of nutrient-based and food-based dietary guidelines, was designed to be this instrument. In fact, the Global NQI addresses each of the limitations of traditional guidelines. By taking advantage of the fact that wide ranges of total fats, carbohydrates, and proteins can be consumed as part of a healthy diet, the NQI is able to focus instead on quality of nutrients, a far more important determinant of health and disease. Like food-based guidelines, the NQI allows for selection of individual food items based on perceived health properties. However, because numerical rankings reflect precise molecular content rather than vague generalizations, the NQI is far more accurate. Individual food-items are rated in terms of overall quality of nutrient content, which is expressed as a numerical ranking between -10 to +10, with -10 signifying a food that will contribute to disease if consumed regularly, 0 signifying neutral health effects, and +10 signifying a food with profound health benefits. By focusing on all seven key metabolic processes (and the Big 7 epidemic U.S. diseases), rather than simply blood cholesterol reduction, the Global NQI takes a more holistic approach than traditional guidelines. Thus, the Global NQI preserves the simplicity and ease of application of food-based guidelines without sacrificing the precision afforded by more complex nutrient-based guidelines. In addition, because numerical scores reflect content of each nutrient as a percentage of water-free weight, subjective serving sizes and water content cannot obscure the true quality of food consumed. Unlike traditional guidelines, which require speculation about the value of different recommendations, the NQI appropriately "weighs" both beneficial and deleterious nutrients according to relative importance. As such, the NQI exposes tricky advertising schemes that may otherwise mislead consumers via use of trendy buzzwords. Perhaps the simplest way to use the Global NQI is to identify food items within your current diet with the lowest scores (the biggest "offenders"), and replace those items with higher quality choices. Alternatively, you may seek to consume more food items with outstanding health properties. For ease of application, the food items with the highest NQI ratings are listed at the beginning of each food category. As a versatile tool that can be easily used to improve dietary choices, the Global NQI will empower Americans to apply recent advances in nutritional biochemistry and preventive nutrition to their everyday lives. Whatever your specific goals, our hope is that the Global NQI will serve as a useful tool to guide your food consumption and improve your health.
|
