What Makes Food "Health" And "Nutritious?"

Terms such as "healthy" and "clean" are used by people, including myself, to describe the quality of food. The question a lot of people have is what quantifies the "healthiness" of a food? Luckily for you I am going to answer this right now.

Micronutrition

Forget about macros and calories for a moment, the micronutrition of any food really sets it apart from others. Specifically, we are interested in the vitamin, mineral, trace element and digestive enzyme content. The human body needs food which is abundant in micronutrition to sustain optimal health, complete internal biological processes, immune function, and digestion. Deficiencies in any of these things can potentially undermine your health radically.

Regarding the macros, we are interested in the type of nutrients the food contains - two whole organic eggs contain 10g of fat, about the same found in some candy bars. Guess which is more nutritious for you and better in terms of inflammation? You don't me to tell you.

Additive Free

Never before have so many additives such as monosodium glutamate, high fructose corn syrup, and artificial colorings such as Yellow 5 and Red 40 been present in the food people consume. My recommendation is to avoid processed foods which contain things like this (there are many more examples), to keep things "clean."

Chemical Free

The processing involved in bringing any food to your plate is relevant because it can expose it to harmful chemicals. The example I always use is raw carrot - if you eat a raw carrot which is not organic it will probably cause you to have gastric discomfort. If you eat an organic raw carrot, it probably won't. This is because of the pesticides used - now compound this impact across an entire diet for years and imagine the difference it makes!

What is the answer?

Natural, organic food from the Earth without the interference of man is usually the best answer. When giving a broad answer to an intricate question there are anomalies, but sticking to natural food which has not been messed with is usually the best policy in my opinion.