A calorie count answers one question only: how much energy is here? It says nothing about what arrives alongside that energy. Nutrient density is the other half of the sentence — how much of a nutrient a food supplies per unit of energy. Set a portion, then switch the basis to per 100 kilocalories and watch what changes, what refuses to change, and what this way of looking still cannot see.
Six nutrients, one food
Energy in this portion0kcal
Six-nutrient index0
The mean of the six bars on a per-100-kcal basis, with each nutrient capped at 100% first so a single standout cannot dominate. Published density indexes are built this way. It is a summary of these six nutrients only — not a ranking of foods, not a score of a diet, and not a health verdict.
Matched at equal energyweightindex
Density is a ratio, and a ratio has two ends. A food can rise on this chart by carrying more of a nutrient or by carrying less energy. Raw spinach is not dense because it is loaded — a cup of it holds about 7 kcal — but because the denominator is so small. Both routes are real, and reading the ratio without asking which end moved is how the idea gets misused. strong evidence
Nutrients per caloriepick a food to begin
Portiongramsg
Weight changes the amounts. Switch the basis above to see what weight cannot change.
Matched energythe same kcal from each sidekcal
Tap a slot above, then tap a food. Both sides are then weighed out to the same number of kilocalories, and the bars show what each delivers for that identical energy.