Which Foods Complement Each Other Nutritionally? 86 Foods Compared with USDA Data

Analysis by Manik Goyal, PhD · September 20, 2026

Eating a variety of foods sounds simple. But variety does not necessarily mean nutrient variety.

Two fruits, beans, nuts, vegetables, or seeds can provide surprisingly similar vitamin-and-mineral profiles. Another pairing may add nutrients that the first food contributes relatively little of.

There is also a practical reason to ask this question. The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements notes that multivitamin and mineral supplements can help when people do not obtain enough nutrients from food, but they do not replace the variety of foods that contribute to a healthy diet [1]. Dietary diversity has also been studied as an indicator of micronutrient adequacy [2].

When we add another food, are we actually broadening the micronutrients represented—or mostly getting more of the same?

FoodMaya analyzed 86 reviewed foods using USDA FoodData Central records: 26 fruits, 15 cooked beans, 12 nuts, 26 vegetables, and 7 seeds [3]. Comparisons stay within each food category, using FDA Daily Values as the reference [4].

This is not a ranking of the “healthiest” foods. It is a comparison of their reported vitamin-and-mineral profiles.

Quick results

These partners are not necessarily the foods with the most nutrients overall. They rank highly because their micronutrient profiles are both substantial and relatively nonredundant with the starting food.

Explore all 86 foods in the interactive nutrient-pairing guide →

Which fruits complement each other nutritionally?

Fruit is a useful example of why similarity and profile broadening are different questions.

For apple, pear has the most similar micronutrient profile among the reviewed fruits, with a FoodMaya similarity score of 94.3%.

Pineapple, however, ranks first for profile broadening. Some of its strongest additions beyond apple in the model are manganese, vitamin C, and copper.

So the two questions produce different answers:

• Pear: Which reviewed fruit looks most like apple nutritionally?
• Pineapple: Which reviewed fruit adds a strong micronutrient pattern that is relatively different from apple?

Other fruit results include:

Blueberries provide another example. Plum is their most similar reviewed fruit, while cantaloupe broadens their profile more strongly.

None of this means pineapple is “better” than pear or cantaloupe is “better” than plum. The foods answer different questions about nutrient composition.

Which beans provide different nutrients?

Beans share many nutritional characteristics, but their micronutrient profiles are not identical.

For black beans, chickpeas rank first for profile broadening, with notable additions in manganese, iron, and zinc.

Other examples include:

The bean analysis uses cooked beans without added salt, reducing preparation form as a source of variation.

A result such as lentils → white beans does not mean someone eating lentils is deficient in calcium or should replace lentils.

It means that, among the reviewed cooked beans, white beans contribute a relatively different micronutrient pattern to the one represented by lentils.

Which nuts complement each other?

Nuts show substantial differences in micronutrient profile. For almonds, cashews rank first for profile broadening.

The reverse is also interesting: almonds rank first for cashews, but the nutrients they add are different.

The almond–cashew result illustrates an important point. A profile-broadening relationship does not mean one food is nutritionally superior. Each can contribute dimensions that are relatively weak in the other.

Which vegetables broaden each other's micronutrient profiles?

Vegetables contain some particularly clear examples of different micronutrient patterns.

Broccoli already provides strong amounts of vitamin C and vitamin K1 in the reviewed USDA record. White mushroom ranks first for profile broadening because its strongest additions fall elsewhere in the nutrient space, including copper, niacin, and riboflavin.

Other examples:

The sweet-potato example is intuitive. Sweet potato has a strong vitamin A contribution, while spinach adds strongly in directions such as vitamin K1 and folate.

FoodMaya is still measuring nutrient composition here—not taste, cooking compatibility, absorption, or whether these foods belong in the same recipe.

Which seeds complement each other?

The seed category is smaller, with seven reviewed foods. Fewer micronutrients can also be compared consistently because not every nutrient is reported for every reviewed seed.

For chia seeds, sunflower seeds rank first for profile broadening. Other results include:

This is one reason rotating among nuts and seeds can represent more than simply increasing the quantity of one favorite ingredient: their reported micronutrient profiles are not interchangeable.

What does “profile broadening” mean?

FoodMaya first expresses each micronutrient relative to a dietary reference amount. The public default uses FDA Daily Values [4].

The rankings use a standardized 100 g of each food. That is a comparison basis, not a recommended serving.

Very large nutrient values are mathematically compressed to reduce the influence of an unusually abundant nutrient on the whole profile.

FoodMaya then asks two separate questions:

• Similarity: How closely do the transformed micronutrient profiles resemble each other?
• Profile broadening: Does the candidate have both a substantial micronutrient profile and a pattern that is relatively different from the starting food?

The complete mathematical method, including the saturation transform and Gram-determinant calculation, is documented in FoodMaya's interactive Nutrient Pairing guide.

The nutrient labels in the tables—such as vitamin E, folate, riboflavin—are explanatory. The complete multidimensional profile determines the ranking. The labels identify some of the largest marginal additions after the pair has been ranked.

Why aren't all 21 micronutrients used for every category?

FoodMaya begins with a predefined set of 21 vitamins and minerals.

But nutrient databases are incomplete. USDA explains that an absent nutrient value can mean that the nutrient has not been analyzed rather than that the food contains none of it [3].

FoodMaya therefore does not convert missing nutrient measurements into nutritional zeros. Each category is compared using only the compatible micronutrients available for every reviewed food in that category.

Niacin is represented as niacin equivalents, incorporating the documented tryptophan contribution rather than comparing raw niacin directly with an NE reference. Incomplete NE observations are excluded from the category's common nutrient set; niacin is therefore not included in the fruit rankings.

This complete-data rule makes the categories slightly less uniform, but it avoids pretending that an unreported laboratory value is biologically zero.

Does eating these combinations guarantee better nutrition?

No. This analysis is deliberately narrower.

A systematic review of dietary-diversity measures found their most consistent usefulness as indicators of micronutrient adequacy; relationships with broader health outcomes were less straightforward [2].

FoodMaya also does not model every relevant aspect of nutrition. This pairing analysis does not currently include:

• dietary fiber;
• protein quality;
• carbohydrate or fat quality;
• fatty-acid composition;
• total, added, or free sugars;
• glycemic response;
• phytochemicals and polyphenols;
• allergens;
• cost;
• culinary compatibility;
• an individual's medical needs;

And the amount of a nutrient listed in a food database is not necessarily the amount ultimately absorbed and used by the body. Food structure, chemical form, processing, other meal components, and individual physiology can influence bioavailability [5].

A high profile-broadening result therefore means:

These two reviewed foods have relatively strong and nonredundant reported micronutrient profiles under this model.

It does not mean this is the healthiest possible food combination, that this pairing prevents disease, or that eating it means an individual does not need supplements.

Supplement needs can depend on dietary intake, life stage, diagnosed deficiencies, absorption disorders, medications, and other individual factors [1].

What is the useful takeaway?

The conclusion is modest but practical.

If you already eat one fruit, bean, nut, vegetable, or seed, another food with a substantially different nutrient profile can broaden the vitamins and minerals represented more than simply choosing a nutritionally similar food.

Instead of asking only “How nutritious is this food?”, we can also ask: “What does this food add to what I'm already eating?”

That second question is what FoodMaya's Nutrient Pairing explorer is designed to make visible.

Explore all 86 foods in the interactive nutrient-pairing guide →

References

1. [1] National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. Multivitamin/mineral Supplements — Fact Sheet for Health Professionals.
2. [2] Verger EO, Le Port A, Borderon A, et al. Dietary Diversity Indicators and Their Associations with Dietary Adequacy and Health Outcomes: A Systematic Scoping Review. Advances in Nutrition. 2021;12(5):1659–1672. doi:10.1093/advances/nmab009.
3. [3] U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central — Foundation Foods Documentation.
4. [4] U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels.
5. [5] Melse-Boonstra A. Bioavailability of Micronutrients From Nutrient-Dense Whole Foods: Zooming in on Dairy, Vegetables, and Fruits. Frontiers in Nutrition. 2020;7:101. doi:10.3389/fnut.2020.00101.