Match What You Like to Eat With What's Good For You

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Match What You Like to Eat With What's Good For You

Tue May 28,11:58 PM ET

TUESDAY, May 28 (HealthScoutNews) -- You are what you eat. Here's a way to

find out if your food has the right stuff.

U.S. Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have developed an online

directory that makes it fast and easy for you to get nutrition information

for 1,147 common foods. There are 30 nutrient categories including protein,

fat, energy, and cholesterol, and carbohydrates.

The fiber champ is raw or pearled barley, which delivers a fiber wallop of

31.20 grams per cup. A 12-oz. can of soda pop, on the other hand, ranks 0 in

terms of fiber benefit.

And if you're trying to decide whether to get your calcium from milk or from

dandelion greens, milk is the winner. A cup of skim milk provides you with

301 mg. of calcium compared to 147 mg. of calcium in a cup of dandelion

greens.

The ARS scientists used sophisticated analytical techniques to determine the

nutrient content of the different foods.

More information

Here's where to access the nutrient directory.

http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/SR14/wtrank/wt_rank.html

For each nutrient, you also can select to have the directory sorted

alphabetically by the names of foods or have it sorted by nutrient content

where the foods are ranked highest to lowest.