The Diet Quality Score

Not satisfied with any of the existing tools that individuals might use to manage their own dietary quality, I created the Diet Quality Score (DQS) a couple of years ago. The DQS represents a simple, practical, realistic, and holistic approach to measuring diet quality.

The Diet Quality Score divides foods into the following 11 categories: fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains, low-fat dairy, essential fats, refined grains, sweets, fried foods, full-fat dairy foods, and fatty proteins. Foods in the first six of these categories are considered “high-quality” and therefore add points to your daily DQS. The foods in the last five categories are considered “low-quality” and therefore subtract points from your daily DQS. To determine your DQS for any given day, all you have to do is identify the category for each item you’ve eaten, find the point total assigned to that category, and tally the points.

The DQS encourages balanced eating through its use of six separate high-quality food categories. To maximize your daily DQS, you need to eat foods in all six of these categories, in part because the point value assigned to foods within any given category declines as you consume more servings of them throughout any single day. The declining point value of high-quality foods with multiple servings encourages moderation, because it ensures that you cannot indefinitely increase your DQS simply by eating more.

Food Categories

I will be the first to admit that strictly defining some food categories as “high-quality” and others as “low-quality” is somewhat artificial. In truth, I don’t think it’s quite accurate to classify any food category as low-quality. A can of soda could save your life in the right circumstances, for example. Going a step further, I don’t even like the nearly universal practice of distinguishing some nutrients as “good” and others as “bad.” Consider the example of saturated fat. This nutrient is widely considered to be bad, but the human body uses saturated fats in all kinds of helpful ways. Saturated fat is good. It just so happens that the modern diet contains too much of it. In most cases, what we really mean when we label a certain nutrient bad is that we tend to consume it in excess.

The logic by which I developed the high-quality and low-quality food categories of the Diet Quality Score was this: I wanted a set of categories that would, in a practical if not a scientifically rigorous way, encourage individuals to consume enough of the nutrients (such as fiber) that most of us do not consume enough of and to consume fewer of the nutrients (such as sugar) that we typically consume in excess.

In order to use the DQS effectively, you need to know how to count servings for the various food types listed on the DQS table. With high-quality foods, I believe in using commonsense guidelines for serving sizes that are based on the amounts we typically eatThe primary reason I define serving sizes for low-quality foods is so that you will be sure to count your portions of such foods as two servings when you consume more than on serving’s worth of them!

High-Quality Foods

Here’s the basic information you need to know about the six high-quality food categories.

Fruit

The fruit category includes whole fresh fruits, canned and frozen fruits, and 100 percent fruit juices. Commonsense fruit serving sizes include one medium-size piece of whole fruit (e.g., one whole banana), a big handful of berries, and a medium-size glass of 100 percent fruit juice. Fruits are considered high-quality because they are rich in a variety of essential vitamins and minerals. In addition, fruits are packed with technically non-essential nutrients, known as phytonutrients, that function as antioxidants in the body.

Vegetables

The vegetable category of the DQS includes whole, fresh vegetables eaten cooked or raw, canned and frozen vegetables, and pureed or liquefied vegetables used in soups, sauces, and such. Commonsense vegetable serving sizes are a fist-sized portion of solid veggies, a half-cup of tomato sauce, and a medium-size bowl of vegetable soup or salad.

Like fruit, vegetables are loaded with vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients, contain large amounts of fiber and water, and are relatively low in calories, so they provide nearly everything your body needs to function healthily and promote a lean body composition. The benefits of eating vegetables, like those of fruit, are maximized at an intake level of three to four servings per day.

Lean Proteins

Included in the lean protein category are all types of fish, meats that are 10 percent fat or less, and nuts and seeds. Count your first serving of low-fat dairy as a lean protein as well. A commonsense serving of meat or fish is the size of your open hand. A commonsense serving of nuts is a palmful.

Whole Grains  

The whole-grain category includes brown rice and breakfast cereals, breads, and pastas made with 100 percent whole grains. Commonsense servings of whole grains are a fist-size portion of brown rice, a medium-size bowl of cereal or pasta, and two slices of bread.

Low-Fat Dairy  

Low-fat dairy foods encompass all foods made with low-fat or skim milk, including milk itself. Goat and sheep’s milk count as well as cow’s milk. Commonsense servings of low-fat dairy include a glass of milk or the amount of milk you’d normally use in a bowl of breakfast cereal, two slices of deli cheese, and a single-serving tub of yogurt.

Essential Fats  

The best food sources of omega-3 fats are certain types of fatty fish (wild salmon, herring, anchovies), flaxseeds, and flaxseed oil. Experts recommend consuming omega-3-rich fish at least twice a week to avoid deficiency. I recommend that everyone, regardless of how much fish he or she eats, take a daily essential fat supplement. Chapter 14 will explain this recommendation in more detail.

Low-Quality Foods

Here’s the basic information you need to know about the five low-quality food categories.

Refined Grains

The category of refined grains includes white rice, processed flours, and all breakfast cereals, pastas, breads, and other baked goods made with less than 100 percent whole grains. Commonsense servings are the same as they are for the whole-grains category—a fist-size portion of white rice, a medium-size bowl of cereal or pasta, and two slices of bread.

Sweets

This category includes all foods and beverages containing large amounts of refined sugars, including soft drinks, candy, pastries, and other desserts. If you’re unsure about whether a certain food or beverage should be counted as a sweet, use the second-ingredient rule: If any type of refined sugar is the second or first ingredient, it’s a sweet. Commonsense serving sizes of sweets include one small cookie, 12 ounces of soft drink, one label-defined serving of candy or chocolate, one regular-size slice of pie or cake, and a scoop or bowl of ice cream.

This category includes all deep-fried foods, including potato chips, fried chicken, fried meats, and donuts. It does not include pan-fried foods such as stir fries and fried eggs. Commonsense servings of fried foods include one small bag of potato chips, one fried hamburger patty, three or four buffalo wings, one small bag of chips, one small order of french fries, and one donut.

Whole-Milk Dairy  

Substituting whole-milk dairy foods with low-fat alternatives is a convenient way to trim excess fat and calories from your diet. Commonsense servings of whole-milk dairy foods are the same as they are for low-fat dairy foods.

Fatty Proteins  

Fatty proteins are meats containing more than 10 percent fat. Eggs are an exception to this rule. Research has shown that, despite their high fat content and caloric density, eggs tend to support a lean body composition. Fatty-meat serving sizes are the same as low-fat meat serving sizes—enough meat to fit in your open hand.

Using the Diet Quality Score  

Now that you know how to calculate a one-day Diet Quality Score, it’s time to use the DQS to improve your diet. The first step is to calculate an initial score to establish a baseline. Write down everything you eat over the course of one day, determine the food types and the number of servings represented, and add up your positive and negative points. Having established your baseline, find ways to increase your DQS.

There are three ways to increase your DQS: (1) eliminate low-quality foods from your diet, (2) add high-quality foods, and (3) replace low-quality foods with high-quality substitutes. I recommend that you start by making substitutions. Eliminating low-quality foods is not the best way to start in most cases because it tends to reduce dietary satisfaction. By replacing low-quality foods with high-quality alternatives you maintain a steady level of eating while reducing excesses in sugar, fat, and total calories. It’s the least disruptive way to improve your diet quality. Table 7.3 illustrates that there are several types of substitution that almost suggest themselves.

The maximum possible score on the DQS is 29. You will achieve this score by eating four servings of fruits and vegetables, three servings of lean proteins, whole grains, and low-fat dairy, and one serving of essential fats, and by eating no low-quality foods whatsoever. You don’t need to hit a DQS of 29 every day—or ever, for that matter—to reach your racing weight and maximize your endurance performance and overall health. Instead of trying to achieve a perfect DQS, I recommend that you focus on improving your existing score until you are satisfied with the results you get. Once you have arrived at that point there is no need to improve it any further. Continue to calculate your DQS every once in a while to make sure you are hitting your personal target, whatever it is.

This excerpt was taken from “Racing Weight: How to Get Lean for Peak Performance” by Matt Fitzgerald with permission of the publisher. The book is available in bookstores; bike, tri, and running shops, and online. For more information, please visit velopress.com, or read our review.