Calorie Density and Nutrient Density
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Dear Jeff,
I hope that this message finds you very well.
You've had a variety of threads about balancing calorie density and nutrient density, particularly this one:
Finding The Sweet Spot: Balancing Calorie Density, Nutrient Density & Satiety
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=22432&p=217427
However, it seems possible that if we go too high in calorie density to try to meet greater caloric needs or promote more lasting satiety, we can crowd out nutrition for the day.
Thus, for those of us hoping to manage higher activity levels, or feeding children, have you found an approach that allows individuals to meet their calorie needs while also meeting their nutritional requirements?
For example, if someone were to use your SNAP template at home, either individually or with a family, would it be beneficial to encourage children, or the highly active, to eat a sufficient amount of the SNAP meals, which include generous servings of more nutrient dense foods, before resorting to higher caloric density foods to round out their calorie needs? (Either by increasing the ratio of starches to fruits/vegetables, or by supplementing with higher calorie dense foods, like flour products, dried fruits, or high fat plant foods, I presume?)
You were kind enough to share the open kitchen model you had with your daughter, here:
viewtopic.php?p=583169#p583169
... where you made sure there were flour products, dried fruit, and high-fat plant foods available to help meet her greater caloric needs as a very active child.
Were there ever issues with her filling up on the more calorie dense foods you had available and not leaving enough room for the more nutrient dense items? With your posts about hidden hunger showing no visible warning signs or symptoms, it seems that if an individual were to be going too low in nutrient density for optimal health, there would no real symptoms until the issues became very severe.
(Hidden Hunger: viewtopic.php?p=579235#p579235 )
Thus, for those of us hoping to achieve excellent results on the McDougall program, while also maintaining higher activity levels, I would be very interested to know if you have identified any strategies to balance nutrient density and calorie density.
Thanks, as always, for all of your insight, Jeff. I hope that you are having an excellent day.
Warmly,
Michael
I hope that this message finds you very well.
You've had a variety of threads about balancing calorie density and nutrient density, particularly this one:
Finding The Sweet Spot: Balancing Calorie Density, Nutrient Density & Satiety
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=22432&p=217427
However, it seems possible that if we go too high in calorie density to try to meet greater caloric needs or promote more lasting satiety, we can crowd out nutrition for the day.
Thus, for those of us hoping to manage higher activity levels, or feeding children, have you found an approach that allows individuals to meet their calorie needs while also meeting their nutritional requirements?
For example, if someone were to use your SNAP template at home, either individually or with a family, would it be beneficial to encourage children, or the highly active, to eat a sufficient amount of the SNAP meals, which include generous servings of more nutrient dense foods, before resorting to higher caloric density foods to round out their calorie needs? (Either by increasing the ratio of starches to fruits/vegetables, or by supplementing with higher calorie dense foods, like flour products, dried fruits, or high fat plant foods, I presume?)
You were kind enough to share the open kitchen model you had with your daughter, here:
viewtopic.php?p=583169#p583169
... where you made sure there were flour products, dried fruit, and high-fat plant foods available to help meet her greater caloric needs as a very active child.
Were there ever issues with her filling up on the more calorie dense foods you had available and not leaving enough room for the more nutrient dense items? With your posts about hidden hunger showing no visible warning signs or symptoms, it seems that if an individual were to be going too low in nutrient density for optimal health, there would no real symptoms until the issues became very severe.
(Hidden Hunger: viewtopic.php?p=579235#p579235 )
Thus, for those of us hoping to achieve excellent results on the McDougall program, while also maintaining higher activity levels, I would be very interested to know if you have identified any strategies to balance nutrient density and calorie density.
Thanks, as always, for all of your insight, Jeff. I hope that you are having an excellent day.
Warmly,
Michael