The most nutrient dense foods on the planet
Ty Beal, researcher with an extensive background in nutrient deficiencies and child growth and development, recently published a paper, Priority Micronutrient Density in Food. Long story short, the “stunting" or lack of micronutrients given to young children has a generational impact, carrying from one generation to the next. It is estimated that 1.6 billion children under 5 years and women 15-45 years (childbearing years) have a deficiency in at least one micronutrient worldwide.
So what can we do to get the most nutrient dense foods for ourselves and our children? Ty and his research team came to the conclusion that there is a list of foods that provide us with the best bioavailable nutrient profile.
Here is a simplified list:
Organ Meats
Small Fish, canned fish with bones
Dark Leafy Vegetables
Bivalves (mollusks such as oysters, clams, mussels & scallops)
Crustaceans
Beef, Goat, & Lamb
Cow & Goat Milk
Now for the HOW. How in the world to we easily add these into our weekly staples?
A few ideas that kids will eat too!:
Any time you are making something with ground beef, add in ground organ meets such as liver, spleen, and heart. Hear me out on this one - you won’t taste it if you stick to an 80/20 ratio (80% beef, 20% organ meats). The possibilities are endless and chances are, you’re spicing that ground meat anyways. Some samples: chili, tacos, meatloaf.
Add sardines and small Scandinavian mackerel (canned with bones in) to your salads or have on crackers or with avocado toast.
Add dark leafy greens to smoothies, add a few cups to your soups or egg scrambles. See my post about embracing veggies to get some creative ideas.
Oyster fritter anyone? Or add things like scallops and shrimp to stir fry and pasta dishes. Remember the clam chowder from your childhood? Now is the time to look up some healthier clam chowder recipes and eat up!
Bone broth everything! Bone broth soups, bone broth hot cocoa, oatmeal cooked in bone broth!
Find a source for Raw Milk (cow or goat) locally. Did you know that many people that can’t tolerate conventional dairy, can actually tolerate raw milk? This is because of the enzymes that remain in milk when you drink it raw, versus pasteurized. The pasteurization process heats up the milk to burn off both good and bad bacteria. When you source raw milk from a. reputable source (see link), you can be confident in the cow’s health (vs. for pasteurized milk, it doesn’t matter…. it is all burned off anyways).
Do you have any other ideas on how to get some of these sources of nutrients into your diet? Please share with our community!