Rank every food on NutriScrolls by the nutrients it gives for each calorie, and the winner is not salmon, eggs or blueberries. It is spinach, with 1,256 points. Basil is a close second and coriander third. The first animal food, oysters, only turns up at number 14.
The list is real and it is useful, and it comes with a catch. The score works per 100 calories, so it favors foods that are mostly water and fiber, and it says nothing about how much of the food you will eat. Below you will find how the score works, the 10 leaders, why a sprig of basil is not a salad, and why walnuts score modestly and still earn their place on your plate.
How is nutrient density scored?
Take 100 calories of a food. For each of 27 nutrients, work out what share of the US Daily Value those 100 calories cover, and count it up to 100 points and no higher [1][3]. Add the 27 together. Then subtract saturated fat, added sugars and sodium, each as a share of its daily limit. The score never goes below zero.
The 27 are protein, fiber, 12 vitamins, 9 minerals, two kinds of omega-3 fat and two plant compounds, flavonoids and lutein with zeaxanthin. Omega-3 fats and plant compounds have no Daily Value on a label, so we measure them against daily amounts taken from studies [1]. The cap matters: without it, a food with a huge amount of one vitamin could outscore a food with a little of everything.
Not to scale: a diagram. The 27 nutrients and 3 limits are the ones used in the NutriScrolls score. Source: NutriScrolls method [1].
Scores of 200 and up count as high, 50 to 199 as moderate and under 50 as low. The most a food could score is 2,700, though nothing comes close. A nutrient that USDA did not measure counts as zero, so the score can undercount. USDA reports no flavonoids for legumes, grains, most nuts and many spices, for example [1].
The idea is not ours. It extends the Nutrient Rich Foods index, NRF9.3, which uses 9 nutrients to encourage and 3 to limit. A 2014 review explains why the index is built per 100 calories or per serving rather than per 100 grams: those versions matched a healthy-diet measure better (Drewnowski and Fulgoni, 2014). The original validation is worth a look, partly for what it does not support.
The 9-nutrient index NRF9.3, scored per 100 kcal, explained the most variation in the Healthy Eating Index of the indexes tested
Analysis of the foods eaten by participants in the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999 to 2002. Each food was scored with indexes that used 6 to 15 nutrients to encourage plus 3 to limit. Performance was best with 6 or 9 nutrients to encourage and declined as more vitamins and minerals were added, and the 100 kcal and serving-size versions performed similarly. One author works at Nutrition Impact, LLC.
That last finding is a fair warning. Our score uses 27 nutrients because USDA measures them and because vitamin B12, vitamin D and selenium would otherwise be invisible. That is our choice, and it has not been tested the way NRF9.3 was. Treat the score as a way to sort foods, not as a verdict on any one of them.
Which 10 foods score highest?
Here are the top 10 of the 141 foods on NutriScrolls that get a score, on the US Daily Values. Vegetables are in one color and herbs in another.
Drawn to scale. Points per 100 kcal of the raw food as listed on each food page, US Daily Values. Data: USDA FoodData Central via NutriScrolls [1][2].
Greens fill most of the table. Some of these are calorie-light enough that 100 kcal is a very large pile, which matters later. First, a short look at each leader.
1. Spinach: 1,256 points
Six nutrients reach the 100-point cap in raw spinach: vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, folate, manganese and lutein with zeaxanthin. A raw cup (30 g, about 7 kcal) gives 145 µg of vitamin K, 121% of the Daily Value (our arithmetic) [2][3].
2. Basil: 1,224 points
Five nutrients reach the cap in basil: vitamins A and K, copper, manganese and lutein with zeaxanthin. Vitamin C (87 points) and the omega-3 fat ALA (86) are not far behind. The default serving is 2 tablespoons chopped, 5.3 g and 1 kcal, which still gives 18% of the vitamin K Daily Value.
3. Coriander: 1,131 points
Coriander reaches the cap for vitamins A, C and K and for copper. A quarter cup chopped (4 g) covers 10% of the vitamin K Daily Value. Known as cilantro in the US, it is the second herb in the top three, and a reminder that herbs earn their place in small amounts.
4. Parsley: 1,053 points
Parsley is the only herb here at the cap for flavonoids, along with vitamins A, C and K, folate and lutein with zeaxanthin. One tablespoon (3.8 g) gives 52% of the vitamin K Daily Value and 6% of vitamin C.
5. Kale: 1,043 points
Kale hits the cap for vitamins C and K, manganese and lutein with zeaxanthin. A raw cup (21 g) gives 68% of the vitamin K Daily Value and 22% of vitamin C. It also adds 56 points for calcium, more than spinach (33).
6. Garden cress: 966 points
Garden cress reaches the cap for vitamins A, C and K and for lutein with zeaxanthin. A cup (50 g, 16 kcal) gives 226% of the vitamin K Daily Value and 38% of vitamin C. Its default serving gives the second-biggest score in the top 10, after asparagus.
7. Bok choy: 951 points
Bok choy has the fewest calories of the leaders, 13 kcal per 100 g, so 100 kcal is about 770 g of it. It reaches the cap for vitamins A, C and K and folate, with 88 points for vitamin B6 and 62 for calcium. A cup shredded (70 g) gives 35% of vitamin C and 27% of vitamin K.
8. Endive: 948 points
Endive reaches the cap for vitamin K, pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), folate and manganese, and adds 65 points for fiber. A cup chopped (50 g) gives 96% of the vitamin K Daily Value and 18% of folate.
9. Arugula: 930 points
Arugula reaches the cap for vitamin K and for lutein with zeaxanthin, with 97 points for folate. At 5 kcal a cup (20 g), it is a handful that barely registers on a plate, which is why its per-serving score is the lowest of the vegetables here.
10. Asparagus: 873 points
Asparagus reaches the cap for vitamin K and copper. Its cup is the heaviest serving in the top 10, 134 g and 27 kcal, and it gives 46% of the vitamin K Daily Value, 28% of copper and 17% of folate. Per serving it scores the highest of the ten, about 234 points.
What puts spinach on top?
Not one superstar nutrient. Spinach wins by being good at many things at once. The chart shows its ten biggest contributions, each out of a possible 100.
Drawn to scale: a full bar is the 100-point cap. Our arithmetic on USDA values per 100 kcal of raw spinach (23 kcal per 100 g), US Daily Values [1][2][3].
Six nutrients hit the cap, worth 600 points. Ten nutrients together give 873, and the other 17 add 399 more. The deductions cost only 16, mostly sodium (79 mg per 100 g).
Look at what is missing. Spinach scores zero for vitamin D, vitamin B12 and the marine omega-3 fats EPA and DHA. A score that is simply a sum cannot warn you about gaps like these, so a day of nothing but high scorers would still be lopsided. That is where foods lower on the list come in.
Does a sprig of basil really beat a salad?
By the score, yes. In real life, no. The score is per 100 kcal, and 100 kcal of raw spinach or basil is about 435 g, nearly a pound. Nobody eats that. Multiply the score by the calories in an ordinary serving (our arithmetic, using the USDA household measures on each food page) and the order changes.
Drawn to scale, each chart with its own scale. Serving points = score x serving kcal / 100, our arithmetic on USDA household measures. Data: USDA FoodData Central via NutriScrolls [1][2].
A cup of spinach brings 87 points and two tablespoons of basil 15. An ounce of almonds, with a modest 138 per 100 kcal, brings 227, and a can of sardines brings 769, the most of the four. The serving sizes are doing real work here, so read the comparison as a lesson in method, not a ranking of meals.
The same shift happens inside the top 10. A cup of asparagus (234 points) and a cup of garden cress (155) give far more than a tablespoon of parsley (14) or a quarter cup of coriander (10). That does not make herbs pointless: a spoonful of parsley still covers half the vitamin K Daily Value. It means they are a seasoning that adds to a meal, not the base of one.
A note on vitamin K and blood thinners
Leafy greens and herbs are where vitamin K lives, and one serving of several top-10 foods covers anywhere from 18% to 226% of the Daily Value. That matters for people who take the blood thinner warfarin, because vitamin K works against it.
In patients on warfarin, a vitamin K-rich diet lowered the INR from 3.1 to 2.8 and a vitamin K-poor diet raised it from 2.6 to 3.3
Randomized crossover protocol in 12 patients with stable anticoagulation, who ate 4-day hospital diets 1 to 2 weeks apart, with a 500% increase or an 80% decrease in vitamin K compared with baseline. A second, observational part followed 39 outpatients over 230 visits. The INR is the blood test used to adjust warfarin. A small, short study.
So if you take warfarin, ask your doctor or anticoagulation clinic before you change how much leafy green you eat. The goal is steadiness, not avoidance: a review of case reports concluded that a consistent intake of vitamin K matters for stable anticoagulation (Booth et al., 1997).
Which low scorers are still good for you?
Nuts, avocados and olives land in the moderate tier, olives only just, because they are rich in calories, and the score divides by calories. Walnuts score 180, almonds 138, avocados 136 and olives 52. An ounce of nuts or half an avocado carries about 160 to 185 kcal, so the points per serving look better than the points per 100 kcal suggest: 333 for an ounce of walnuts, 227 for an ounce of almonds.
Drawn to scale. Points per 100 kcal; the ticks at the top mark the 50 and 200 tier limits. Data: USDA FoodData Central via NutriScrolls [1][2].
What the score cannot see is what these foods do in studies. The best evidence on nuts comes from trials of blood lipids, and the best on olive oil from a large diet trial. Calories are not what those studies measured.
Each daily ounce of tree nuts lowered LDL cholesterol by 4.8 mg/dL in 61 controlled trials
Meta-analysis of 61 trials with 2,582 adults without cardiovascular disease, lasting 3 to 26 weeks. Per 28.4 g serving a day, total cholesterol fell 4.7 and triglycerides 2.2 mg/dL. Effects were stronger at 60 g a day or more, and the dose mattered more than the type of nut.
A Mediterranean diet with extra-virgin olive oil or nuts had about 30% fewer major cardiovascular events than advice to cut fat
Randomized trial in Spain with 7,447 adults aged 55 to 80 at high cardiovascular risk, followed for a median 4.8 years. Hazard ratios were 0.69 for the olive oil group and 0.72 for the nut group. The first report of this trial, in 2013, was withdrawn after protocol deviations such as some people not being randomized, and the revised analysis is the one shown here. It tested whole diets, with free oil or nuts, not one food on its own.
Each 28 g a day of nuts went with 22% lower all-cause mortality in 20 prospective studies
Meta-analysis of cohort studies. Per 28 g a day the relative risk was 0.78 for all-cause mortality, 0.79 for cardiovascular disease and 0.71 for coronary heart disease. Studies of this kind show an association, not proof that nuts caused the difference.
Lining these up, you can see why a per-calorie score is a poor judge of a nut: the meta-analysis standardized its results to one ounce a day, a modest portion. The same logic applies to avocados, a fruit eaten by the half, and to olives, which sit just above the low tier at 52 and are eaten by the handful.
How should you use the list?
Use it as a sorting tool and then eat for the whole day. Three ways to put it to work:
- Add a green to a meal you already eat. A cup of spinach, kale or arugula costs 5 to 7 kcal and adds a lot of points for very few calories.
- Fill the gaps the greens leave. They score zero for vitamin B12 and for EPA plus DHA. Oysters (700), wild salmon (459) and sardines (402) score 93 to 100 for both.
- Keep the foods that score low and study well. Nuts and olive oil earn their place in trials of cholesterol and heart disease, not on a per-calorie list.
The first food on the ranking is a leaf and the 79th is the egg (216). A per-calorie ranking is one view of a food, which is why each food page also lists every nutrient it has. The score is a flashlight, not a verdict. See the full lists on our vegetable, herb and spice and nut and seed pages.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most nutrient-dense food?
On NutriScrolls it is spinach, with 1,256 points per 100 kcal, followed by basil (1,224) and coriander (1,131). The top 10 are leafy greens, herbs and asparagus. The score measures nutrients per calorie, so it favors foods that are mostly water and fiber. It does not say how much of the food you will eat, and it ignores nutrients that greens lack, such as vitamin B12.
Is nutrient density the same as healthy?
No. It counts 27 nutrients per 100 kcal and subtracts saturated fat, added sugars and sodium, but it says nothing about a food’s other effects. Walnuts score 180, a moderate level, yet 61 trials found that tree nuts lower LDL cholesterol. Use the score to compare foods, then look at the evidence on the food itself.
Is this the same as the NRF index?
It is related. The Nutrient Rich Foods index NRF9.3 uses 9 nutrients to encourage and 3 to limit, and was checked against the Healthy Eating Index in a 2009 analysis. Our score extends the idea to 27 nutrients. That analysis found the match got worse as vitamins and minerals were added beyond 6 to 9, and our version has not been validated the same way.
Why are fish, eggs and beans not in the top 10?
They carry more calories per gram, so the per-calorie score is lower: wild salmon 459, sardines 402, lentils 227 and eggs 216. The score also rewards foods that are mostly water, as greens are. Fish give vitamin B12 and marine omega-3 fats, which greens score zero for, so they fill gaps the top 10 cannot.
Should people on warfarin avoid leafy greens?
Not necessarily, but they should ask their doctor or clinic. In a small crossover study of 12 patients, a vitamin K-rich diet lowered the INR and a vitamin K-poor diet raised it. Reviewers have noted that consistent vitamin K intake matters for stable anticoagulation. Do not change your diet or your medicine without medical advice.
Sources
- NutriScrolls. Nutrient density score: method as shown on each food page (27 nutrients per 100 kcal, minus saturated fat, added sugars and sodium; tiers high 200 and up, moderate 50 to 199, low under 50) and data sources at nutriscrolls.com/sources/. Scores for 141 foods, US Daily Values. Accessed 24 Oct 2026.
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, entries used on NutriScrolls: spinach, raw (FDC 168462); basil, fresh (FDC 172232); coriander (FDC 169997); parsley (FDC 170416); kale (FDC 168421); garden cress (FDC 168407); bok choy (FDC 170390); endive (FDC 168412); arugula (FDC 169387); asparagus (FDC 168389); almonds (FDC 170567); walnuts (FDC 170187); avocados (FDC 171705); olives (FDC 169094); sardines (FDC 175139); oysters (FDC 174219); eggs (FDC 171287); wild Atlantic salmon (FDC 173686); lentils (FDC 172421). fdc.nal.usda.gov. Accessed 24 Oct 2026.
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels. fda.gov/food/nutrition-facts-label/daily-value-nutrition-and-supplement-facts-labels. Accessed 24 Oct 2026.
- Fulgoni VL 3rd, Keast DR, Drewnowski A. Development and validation of the nutrient-rich foods index: a tool to measure nutritional quality of foods. J Nutr. 2009;139(8):1549-1554. doi:10.3945/jn.108.101360
- Drewnowski A, Fulgoni VL 3rd. Nutrient density: principles and evaluation tools. Am J Clin Nutr. 2014;99(5 Suppl):1223S-1228S. doi:10.3945/ajcn.113.073395
- Franco V, Polanczyk CA, Clausell N, Rohde LE. Role of dietary vitamin K intake in chronic oral anticoagulation: prospective evidence from observational and randomized protocols. Am J Med. 2004;116(10):651-656. doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2003.12.036
- Booth SL, Charnley JM, Sadowski JA, Saltzman E, Bovill EG, Cushman M. Dietary vitamin K1 and stability of oral anticoagulation: proposal of a diet with constant vitamin K1 content. Thromb Haemost. 1997;77(3):504-509.
- Del Gobbo LC, Falk MC, Feldman R, Lewis K, Mozaffarian D. Effects of tree nuts on blood lipids, apolipoproteins, and blood pressure: systematic review, meta-analysis, and dose-response of 61 controlled intervention trials. Am J Clin Nutr. 2015;102(6):1347-1356. doi:10.3945/ajcn.115.110965
- Estruch R, Ros E, Salas-Salvado J, et al. Primary prevention of cardiovascular disease with a Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil or nuts. N Engl J Med. 2018;378(25):e34. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1800389
- Aune D, Keum N, Giovannucci E, et al. Nut consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease, total cancer, all-cause and cause-specific mortality: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies. BMC Med. 2016;14(1):207. doi:10.1186/s12916-016-0730-3
Not medical advice
This article is general information, not a diagnosis or treatment. Talk to a doctor or registered dietitian before changing your diet, especially if you are pregnant, take medication or have a health condition. Read our medical disclaimer.
