Calculate Your Healthy Eating Score

Summary

The video explores a healthy eating index, focusing on the percentage of dietary calories derived from phytochemical-rich foods. It examines the typical American diet, revealing a low score of 12 out of 100 due to poor consumption of whole grains, vegetables, and fruits, with heavy reliance on processed foods and added sugars. Phytochemicals, crucial for disease prevention, are mostly found in plant-based foods. The video highlights the need for improvement, suggesting that a plant-based, whole-food diet could theoretically score 100, while most current diets score far below 20, leaving room for substantial dietary improvements.

Takeaways

• 😀 The Healthy Eating Score ranges from 0 to 100, representing the percentage of dietary calories derived from foods rich in phytochemicals.
• 😀 Phytochemicals (or phytonutrients) are compounds found in plants, associated with promoting a long, healthy life, though not essential for survival.
• 😀 A diet scoring 1 means only 1% of the calories come from phytonutrient-rich foods, while a score of 100 means all calories come from these foods.
• 😀 The average American diet currently scores 12 out of 100 on the Healthy Eating Index, indicating a poor intake of phytonutrient-rich foods.
• 😀 The standard American diet consists of 3% beans and nuts, 3% fruit, 5% vegetables, 23% grains, 17% added sugars, 23% added fats, and 26% meat, dairy, and eggs.
• 😀 Only phytonutrient-rich foods are considered in the Healthy Eating Index, which excludes added fats and oils, leading to a low starting score of 34.
• 😀 Whole grains make up just 4% of the American diet, while the rest consists of refined grains, significantly lowering the Healthy Eating Index score.
• 😀 A third of fruit calories come from low-phytonutrient juices, and two-thirds of vegetables are low in phytonutrients, mostly in the form of white potatoes.
• 😀 Potato products, including chips, are excluded from the Healthy Eating Index due to their low phytonutrient content, further lowering the score.
• 😀 A vegan diet that avoids refined grains, potato products, added sugars, and oils could theoretically score a perfect 100 on the Healthy Eating Index.

Q & A

What is the Healthy Eating Index (HEI)?

The Healthy Eating Index (HEI) is a scoring system that ranges from 0 to 100, which represents the percentage of dietary calories derived from foods rich in phytochemicals, or phytonutrients, that are associated with chronic disease prevention, treatment, and cure.

What are phytochemicals and how do they differ from nutrients?

Phytochemicals, or phytonutrients, are compounds found in plants that contribute to health. Unlike nutrients, which are essential for life, phytochemicals are not necessary for survival but are beneficial for long-term health.

How does the HEI score change based on the percentage of calories from phytonutrient-rich foods?

The HEI score increases as the percentage of dietary calories from phytonutrient-rich foods increases. If 1% of the diet is composed of these foods, the score is 1. If half of the calories come from phytonutrient-rich foods, the score is 50, and it can max out at 100 if the entire diet is composed of such foods.

What are some components of the standard American diet as described in the script?

The standard American diet consists of 3% of calories from beans and nuts, 3% from fruit, 5% from vegetables, 23% from grains, 17% from added sugars, 23% from added fats, and 26% from meat, dairy, and eggs.

Why are some foods excluded from the HEI assessment?

Foods like added fats (e.g., butter, margarine) and added sugars (e.g., candy, soda) are excluded from the HEI because they are not considered rich in phytonutrients, which are most strongly associated with disease prevention.

What is the impact of refined grains on the HEI score?

Refined grains, which have most of their phytonutrients removed, significantly lower the HEI score. While whole grains are rich in phytonutrients, only 4% of the American diet consists of whole grains, with the rest being refined grains like white flour and cornstarch.

How do potato products affect the HEI score?

White potatoes, especially in forms like potato chips, are low in phytonutrients and therefore do not contribute positively to the HEI score. A large portion of the American diet includes these low-phytonutrient potato products.

How much of the American diet is made up of phytonutrient-rich foods?

The typical American diet has a very low intake of phytonutrient-rich foods, leading to a low HEI score of 12 out of 100. This is due to a high intake of processed foods, added fats, and sugars.

What score would a perfect diet achieve on the HEI scale?

A perfect diet could achieve a score of 100 on the HEI scale. This would require a vegan diet that excludes refined grains, potato products, hard liquors, added sugars, and oils, and includes a high intake of phytonutrient-rich foods.

How does the American diet compare to a perfect diet in terms of the HEI score?

Most current American diets are unlikely to score higher than 20 on the HEI, indicating a significant gap between typical eating habits and a theoretically healthy, phytonutrient-rich diet.