# Healthiest food **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 10, 2019, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthiest-food/836857 "2019-07-10T19:23:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthiest-food/836857/1 "2019-07-10T19:23:46Z")
What is the healthiest fruit? How about vegetable? Food item in general? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthiest-food/836857/2 "2019-07-10T20:04:51Z")
Individual food items aren’t healthy or unhealthy. The combination of the foods you eat make up a healthy or unhealthy diet. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthiest-food/836857/3 "2019-07-10T20:27:27Z")
As far as liquid refreshments go, I think **Beer** must be very healthy. I drink a good bit of it, and my health couldn’t be any better than it is. ETA: just saw Telemark’s comment. He is correct. Please add **Pizza** to my recommendations for perfect health. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthiest-food/836857/4 "2019-07-10T20:33:28Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > As far as liquid refreshments go, I think **Beer** must be very healthy. I drink a good bit of it, and my health couldn’t be any better than it is. Well not if you keep drinking all that beer it can’t. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthiest-food/836857/5 "2019-07-10T21:04:38Z")
I think I heard on NPR a long time ago that cabbage gives you the most nutrients per dollar. That is, there are other vegetables that may contain more nutrients, but they’re fairly exotic and expensive. Cabbage is pretty cheap and pretty nutritious. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthiest-food/836857/6 "2019-07-10T21:14:22Z")
A _McDouble_ gives you the most nutrients per dollar. A cabbage is basically just water. It has some vitamins, sure. But those are micronutrients. [Macronutrients](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutrient#Macronutrients) is where all the live-sustaining energy is at, and you aren’t getting very many of those from the cruciferous veggie family. ---
**Author:** ![Periwinkle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Periwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Periwinkle)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthiest-food/836857/7 "2019-07-10T21:40:41Z")
I think this article is a good reference. The 8 foods it lists are spinach, yogurt, blueberries, black beans, tomatoes, carrots, oatmeal and walnuts. It gives info on benefits, sources, and substitutions. > **[8 Healthy Superfoods You Should Eat Every Day](https://www.eatthis.com/8-superfoods-you-should-eat-every-day/)** > > Eat these eight healthy superfoods every day; each has amazing nutritional properties and can help burn belly fat to get you healthier and slimmer, fast. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthiest-food/836857/8 "2019-07-10T21:45:14Z")
Beverages like coffee, green tea or whey protein can have various health benefits. As far as fruits, pomegranates and blueberries supposedly have health benefits. Unsure what fruit is the most healthy though. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthiest-food/836857/9 "2019-07-10T21:45:29Z")
Who are you gonna listen to? Me with pizza & beer, or those guys with their cabbage and black beans? ---
**Author:** ![Periwinkle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Periwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Periwinkle)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthiest-food/836857/10 "2019-07-10T21:59:33Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Who are you gonna listen to? Me with pizza & beer, or those guys with their cabbage and black beans? I think I can guess which one they might prefer to visit. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthiest-food/836857/11 "2019-07-10T21:59:45Z")
For those of us on a kidney-friendly diet, everything is different. My healthiest foods are: Red bell peppers Cabbage Cauliflower Garlic Onions Apples Cranberries Blueberries Raspberries Strawberries Cherries Red grapes Egg whites Fish Olive oil ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthiest-food/836857/12 "2019-07-10T22:27:15Z")
Not only is it a matter of what combination of foods you eat and not just of a single food, but the best combinations (note the plural, there’s unlikely to be only one possibility) aren’t going to be the same ones for every person. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthiest-food/836857/13 "2019-07-10T22:53:45Z")
Eatthis is a site selling things. You cannot trust them to give out good information. American Cancer Society, among others, recommends that you eat a variety of foods. Firstly, different fruits and vegetables provide different (micro)nutrients, and they are not interchangeable. Furthermore, the science of nutrition is still fairly new. For instance, Lycopene was not a well known nutrient until sometime in the 90s. Vitamin research was only started in the early 1900s, so just over 100 years? And IMO, the definition of vitamins is fairly strict - to be a vitamin, there has to be a disease recognized to be caused by the deficiency of the vitamin. And as I understand it, except for a couple of vitamins that are not as easy to get so are commonly added to the food supply (such as Vit. D\*), the only way that deficiency is found is through people who are unable to consume food normally, such as people in comas. Recent research has been looking at anti-oxidants, which are purported to solve everything from the heartbreak of psoriasis to male-pattern balding\*\* But recent studies show that too much might actually increase your risk of cancer. If you’re looking for a rule of thumb, the one that fits best with the information I’ve read is “The more colorful, the better”. Considering that at least some of the micronutrients in question (I’m looking at you, beta-carotene and lycopene) are also the substances which are giving the fruits and veggies their color, I think this is a good way to choose your fruits and veggies. \*Iodine is also added to salt, are there any other nutrients that are commonly added to food? \*\* don’t get your hopes up ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthiest-food/836857/14 "2019-07-10T23:49:20Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > I think I heard on NPR a long time ago that cabbage gives you the most nutrients per dollar. That is, there are other vegetables that may contain more nutrients, but they’re fairly exotic and expensive. Cabbage is pretty cheap and pretty nutritious. weeelllll, if by “cabbage” you mean the typical white or red heads of cabbage, then no, they’re only slightly better than iceberg lettuce (which is basically crunchy water.) if by “cabbage” you include all of the cultivars and variants of _Brassica oleracea_ (of which white and red cabbage are members,) then they’re highly variable. Collards, kale, broccoli, brussels sprouts, etc. are loaded with micronutrients. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthiest-food/836857/15 "2019-07-10T23:53:30Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > For those of us on a kidney-friendly diet, everything is different. My healthiest foods are: > > Red bell peppers > Cabbage > Cauliflower > Garlic > Onions > Apples > Cranberries > Blueberries > Raspberries > Strawberries > Cherries > Red grapes > Egg whites > Fish > Olive oil Green grapes aren’t healthy? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthiest-food/836857/16 "2019-07-11T07:54:03Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Green grapes aren’t healthy? Not as healthy as red grapes, for someone with kidney disease. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthiest-food/836857/17 "2019-07-11T13:34:04Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Who are you gonna listen to? Me with pizza & beer, or those guys with their cabbage and black beans? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthiest-food/836857/18 "2019-07-11T13:49:18Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Who are you gonna listen to? Me with pizza & beer, or those guys with their cabbage and black beans? I expect we’ll all be hearing from the cabbage-and-black-bean guys whether we want to or not. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthiest-food/836857/19 "2019-07-11T13:51:44Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > I expect we’ll all be hearing from the cabbage-and-black-bean guys whether we want to or not. Leave it to the health nuts to toot their own horns! ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthiest-food/836857/20 "2019-07-11T14:58:09Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Not as healthy as red grapes, for someone with kidney disease. I didn’t know that. What’s the reason why? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthiest-food/836857.md?page=2)