Key takeaways

  • Nutrient-dense foods include salmon, garlic, kale, sardines, seaweed, and more.
  • Nutrient-dense foods include beneficial micro- and macronutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, protein, fiber, and healthy fats, like omega-3 fatty acids.
  • You can support your overall health by choosing foods with the greatest amount and variety of nutrients. No single food provides all the nutrients you need, so a varied diet is more nutritious.

To boost your nutrition, start by limiting or avoiding highly processed foods that are high in calories but low in nutritional value. Then, start adding nutritious foods to your eating plan.

The foods in this list contain nutrients that may offer health benefits, such as reducing inflammation and oxidative stress, regulating digestion, and lowering your risk of certain health conditions, such as type 2 diabetes.

Keep reading to learn which foods are most nutritious and how they support your health.

Oily fish, such as salmon, are high in omega-3 fatty acids. These are essential nutrients, which means you can only get them from foods. Every cell in your body needs omega-3 fatty acids. They are necessary for the correct functioning of your:

  • brain
  • eyes
  • heart
  • blood vessels
  • lungs
  • immune system
  • endocrine system

A 100-gram serving of wild Atlantic salmon contains about 2.2 grams (g) of omega-3s and 25.4 g of high quality animal protein. It also provides vitamins and minerals, including magnesium, potassium, selenium, and B vitamins.

Salmon tastes good and is fairly simple to prepare. It also tends to make you feel full with relatively few calories.

When buying fish, always check it comes from a sustainable source.

Sardines are small, oily fish that you can eat whole, including the organs, bones, and other nutritious parts. They contain a little of almost every nutrient your body needs.

Like other fatty fish, they’re also high in heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids.

Plus, they’re low in mercury compared to larger fish.


Kale is a green, leafy vegetable rich in vitamins, minerals, fiber, antioxidants, and various bioactive compounds. Brassicas like kale and cabbage also contain cancer-fighting compounds.

A 1-cup serving has around 9 calories. It provides the following nutrients:

  • vitamins C, A, K, and B6
  • potassium
  • calcium
  • magnesium
  • copper
  • manganese

There are many types of seaweed and various ways to use it in food. For example, many people use nori to wrap sushi.

Seaweed provides minerals such as calcium, iron, magnesium, and manganese.

It is also high in iodine, a mineral your body uses to make thyroid hormones.

Some test tube and animal studies suggest that polysaccharides and other nutrients in seaweed may also have antioxidant properties. This means they could help protect against oxidative stress, which contributes to inflammation and other health issues.

Garlic is highly nutritious and contains bioactive compounds that have confirmed disease-fighting properties.

Garlic provides:

  • vitamin C
  • protein
  • fiber
  • nitrogen
  • selenium

While more research is necessary, some evidence suggests allicin and garlic may help reduce the risk of heart disease by lowering:

Garlic may also offer anti-inflammatory and anticancer effects.

How to peel garlic

Clams, oysters, scallops, and mussels are types of shellfish that can be highly nutritious. They’re very high in important nutrients like vitamin B12 and zinc.

Clams are a good source of B vitamins, particularly vitamin B12. They also provide:

  • vitamin C
  • potassium
  • selenium
  • iron

As with other fish, be sure to obtain sustainable and safe shellfish, as some seafood can contain mercury and other toxins.

  • potassium
  • magnesium
  • iron
  • copper
  • manganese
  • vitamin C and most B vitamins

If you eat them with their peels, they provide a good source of fiber.

A 2021 study of data from adolescents in the United States found that those who eat potatoes are more likely to have higher levels of essential nutrients, such as B vitamins, fiber, protein, and a range of minerals, than those who don’t. However, there could be various reasons for this.

Potatoes are a high-satiety food and provide resistant starch, making them satisfying and filling. Older research from 2018 suggests they may be more filling than other high carb foods, such as rice or pasta.

One function of the liver is to store important nutrients for the rest of the body. As a food, this makes animal liver highly nutritious.

A 3.5-ounce (100-gram) portion of beef liver contains significant amounts of:

  • vitamin B12
  • vitamin B6, niacin, and folate
  • vitamin A
  • copper
  • iron, phosphorus, zinc, and selenium
  • high quality animal protein

Including liver in a balanced diet can help ensure that you get optimal amounts of these vital nutrients.

Many berries provide an excellent source of antioxidants.

Blueberries, for instance, contain anthocyanins and other polyphenols. Some research suggests these compounds can cross the blood-brain barrier and have a neuroprotective function.

The possible health effects of blueberries include:

  • improvements in thinking and mood
  • enhancing endothelial function, essential for healthy blood flow, such as in this study of postmenopausal people with low estrogen and high blood pressure
  • inhibit the growth of cancer cells

However, more research is necessary to confirm these findings.

Try these recipes to include more berries in your diet:

Whole eggs are so nutritious that some people call them “nature’s multivitamin.” The yolk contains most of the nutrients.

Eggs provide high quality protein and healthy fats and are a satisfying food. Their high satiety value means you are less likely to be hungry soon after eating. Because of this, eating eggs for breakfast may help with weight loss.

Egg yolks contain vitamins, minerals, and various powerful nutrients, including choline. They’re also high in lutein and zeaxanthin, antioxidants that can protect your eyes and reduce your risk of eye diseases like cataracts and macular degeneration.

They are also cheap, flavorful, and easy to prepare.

Momordica charantia, also known as bitter melon or bitter gourd, is a cucumber-shaped vegetable with antioxidant properties.

It is commonly grown across parts of Asia, South America, and Africa, and has long been a traditional medicine or medicinal food in some regions.

Research suggests the nutrients it contains may:

  • help manage blood sugar levels in people with diabetes
  • protect the brain and improve memory in people with Alzheimer’s disease
  • have anticancer properties

One 130-g cup of cooked bitter melon contains around 53 calories and also provides:

  • fiber
  • calcium
  • magnesium
  • potassium
  • B vitamins
  • vitamins K, C, and A

Cocoa powder contains iron, magnesium, copper, and manganese. A cup of cocoa with milk but no added sugar can make a nutritious treat.

Some research suggests that eating dark chocolate may help reduce the risk of certain cardiovascular risk factors, including essential hypertension.

However, the nutrients you can get from eating a reasonable amount of chocolate are unlikely to have significant health benefits.

The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends eating a little chocolate for enjoyment but not necessarily for its health benefits.

No single food can provide all the nutrients you need. Still, potatoes are high in nutrients and relatively easy to produce in many places, making them the most important non-cereal staple crop worldwide and essential for food security in many places.

However, fried potatoes and potato chips may be detrimental to health due to added fat and factors related to processing. Baked potatoes in their peels may be the healthiest option.

Other nutrient-dense options include whole eggs and fatty fish.

It is not possible to identify a single healthiest food, but the healthiest diet contains a variety of fresh, plant-based foods, lean protein, and a range of nutrients.

It is unlikely that a person could survive for long on a single food source. Still, the choice would depend on many factors, such as where you live, access to cooking facilities, water content (if you didn’t have access to water), and the availability of the food.

Dates are high in antioxidants, minerals, and other nutrients. They provide energy and can help sustain life in harsh desert conditions. Some research suggests they may have health benefits. However, they do not provide the protein or other nutrition you need in the long term.

People have also used potatoes as a survival food, but eating only potatoes would likely have a negative effect on your health.

Nutrient-dense foods are rich in nutrients relative to their calorie content. These include various foods such as whole vegetables, fruits, cocoa, seafood, eggs, and liver.

Adding these foods to your diet can make it more nutritious.

Typically, however, the best diet will always contain as wide a variety of fresh foods as you can obtain and afford, as no single food can provide all the nutrients your body needs.