We all know it’s a good idea to eat our fill of fresh produce, and that’s one of the best things about fall. There’s still a bounty of fresh produce and it also happens to be hearty, comforting and so often beautifully orange.
But which fall produce is actually providing us with the best nutrition? We turned to the Center for Disease Controls and Prevention (CDC) for that. According to the CDC’s powerhouse fruits and vegetables list, we ranked 10 popular fall produce choices in order from least to most nutritious.
The CDC determined the nutritional density of these common fall produce options by looking at how well they fulfill the average person’s daily requirement for 17 important nutrients: potassium, fiber, protein, calcium, iron, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folate, zinc, and vitamins A, B, B, C, D, E and K.
They assigned each food a specific nutrient density score, on a scale of 0 to 100, that calculates to what extent 100 grams of each produce item includes the daily recommended amount of these 17 nutrients, assuming a 2,000 calorie diet.
Here’s what they found: