Does diet quality or nutrient quantity contribute more to health?

Abstract

In summary, different lines of investigation suggest that "dietary quality" rather than "nutrient quantity" is a more reliable index for healthy nutrition. Any meaningful dietary intervention ought to extend far beyond the current focus on nutrient quantity and include the myriad qualitative aspects of food and food combinations, which would affect health and disease states. Given the enormous human and economic toll of diseases related to unhealthy diets, we are proposing that it is time for nutritional scientists to develop measurable and reliable dietary quality indicators that could be used for nutrition guidelines across diverse regions of the world.