What is the Most Nutrient-Dense Food?

What Is The Most Nutrient-Dense Food?

People are always asking what is the food in our database with the highest nutrient density aka what is the food with the highest Nutrivore Score? This is a great question with a really unexpected answer…

After crunching the numbers on over 7,500 different foods, the most nutrient-dense food in our database is canned clam liquid (aka clam juice) with a Nutrivore Score of 14,744!

Wondering why it has such a high score? A one-cup serving of clam juice has only has 5 calories, making it a very low-energy dense food, but it a good source of many essential nutrients, delivering an impressive 500% DV vitamin B12 (cobalamin), 104% DV copper, 22% DV phosphorus, 18% DV selenium, 8% DV each manganese and potassium, 6% DV each magnesium and choline, 5% DV vitamin E, 4% DV each vitamin B2 (riboflavin) and iron, 3% DV each vitamin B3 (niacin), vitamin C, and EPA+DHA (omega-3 fatty acid), 2% DV each vitamin A, vitamin B1 (thiamin), vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid), calcium, and zinc, and 1% DV each vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) and vitamin B9 (folate)! That’s enough to land clam juice as a top 25 food source of vitamin B12 (#15) and copper (#17). A single serving of clam juice also contains 0.2 grams of net carbohydrates, 1.0 grams of protein, 0.1 grams of total fat, and 0 grams of fiber. However, a 1-cup serving also contains 22% DV sodium which is an important thing to keep in mind if you’re going to incorporate clam juice as part of a healthy diet. Since it can be high in sodium make sure to look for low-sodium options as high sodium intakes have been linked to higher blood pressure and greater risk of cardiovascular disease.

This DOES NOT mean that clam juice is a superfood linked with numerous health benefits such as lower blood sugar or cholesterol, weight loss, or lower risk of cardiovascular disease or that we should start drinking clam juice in large amounts, nor that we should create a clam juice supplement! Instead, think about incorporating clam juice into recipes such as linguini with clam sauce, clam chowder and other seafood soups so that we can benefit from the nutritional value associated with clam juice as part of overall healthy eating habits in every aspect of our lives. For instance, a popular cocktail in Canada is the Ceasar, made with Clamato Juice which is a combination of tomato and clam juice. Americans know this drink as the Bloody Mary (without the clam juice) or the Bloody Ceasar in certain places.

Even though clam juice is the top nutrient-dense food based on our calculations, if you have no desire to add it into your diet, that’s OK! All the nutrients found in clam juice can be easily obtained from other foods, especially seafood like shellfish. Choose high-quality, nutritious foods that you prefer!

If you want to learn more about nutrient-density and the remaining top 10 nutrient-dense foods, check out my video!

And if you want to learn all about the top 500 Nutrivore foods, check out my e-book here. It is an amazing reference deck of the top 500 most nutrient-dense foods according to their Nutrivore Scores. Think of it as the go-to resource for a super-nerd, to learn more and better understand which foods stand out, and why!