Thread by @thetimes

Beyond the obvious – more fruit and vegetables, less meat, refined carbs and alcohol – what should we really be eating to stay healthy?
thetimes.co.uk/article/245a98…

According to a team of researchers from the Friedman School of nutrition science and policy at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts, consumers are more baffled than ever about what to include in their daily diet.

Dariush Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and professor of medicine at Tufts, and his team have created and developed Food Compass, which they say is the most comprehensive system of ranking the healthfulness of foods to date.

Over three years they have tested and profiled 8,032 foods and drinks and used an algorithm of 54 different attributes for each item to rank them from best to worst.

Each food is given a score from 1 (the least healthy) to 100 (the most) based not only on the calories, salt and fat they contain, but also on a wide range of nutrients and levels of processing, additives and beneficial plant compounds, or phytochemicals, they contain.

Drinks 🥛☕️🍺

Best
🟢Celery juice.
🟢Tomato juice, unsalted/unsweetened.
🟢Skimmed milk cappuccino.

Worst
🔴Cola/lemonade/sports and energy drinks including. Gatorade/Monster.
🔴Sweetened cranberry juice with added vitamin C.
🔴Iced coffee mocha low fat milk latte.

Grains/pasta 🍝🍚

Best
🟢Quinoa.
🟢Wild rice.
🟢Wholegrain pasta.

Worst
🔴Noodles.
🔴White rice.
🔴White pasta.

Bread and cereals 🥖🍞

Best
🟢Shredded wheat.
🟢Instant porridge with plain water.
🟢Ethiopian injera bread.

Worst
🔴Cinnamon and raisin bagel.
🔴White hot dog roll.
🔴White pitta bread.

Fruit and vegetables 🍒🍓🍉🥕🥦

Best
🟢Blackberries, cranberries, grapefruit, raspberries, lemon, lime, orange, tangelo, apricot, cantaloupe, papaya, peach, strawberries, nectarine – fresh/raw

Worst
🔴Dried apple
🔴Maraschino and glacé cherries
🔴Fruit served in a pudding

Dairy/dairy alternatives 🥛🧋

Best
🟢Plain Greek yoghurt
🟢Unsweetened almond milk
🟢Soya milk

Worst
🔴Processed cheese slices
🔴Chocolate milk

Snacks/sweet desserts 🍬🥧🍪🍨

Best
🟢Frozen, low fat, dark chocolate yoghurt
🟢Dark chocolate covered almonds
🟢Air-popped plain popcorn

Worst
🔴Sweetened frozen yoghurt
🔴Croissants
🔴Marshmallow

Read the full story here: thetimes.co.uk/article/245a98…