Please note: this rating is not available in meal plans

 

 

It's important to note that some foods and meals can end up with higher or lower score due to different nutritional information. If you're ever unsure, double check that all nutrition values are correct and if you find any errors you can always either edit the item yourself or report it. We do our absolute best to verify the accuracy of the nutrition information. Although, we cannot guarantee its accuracy.

 

Each food is rated based on its distribution of macro - and micronutrients - carbohydrates, fat, protein, sugar, fiber, and sodium - its calorie density, and the type of food it is. Ratings are based on the nutritional value of 100 calories of the food.

Giving a rate per serving can lead to a positive rating for an unhealthy food since people tend to eat more than the recommended serving. Always ask yourself this question when you are evaluating the rating an item receives, 'Will I have up to 100 calories of this?'

Remember, these are suggestions aimed at helping you cultivate a healthier attitude to food. Some ratings will likely appear confusing or contrary to what you previously thought. For example, if you usually eat a piece of crispbread with some cottage cheese and some fruit for breakfast, you may be surprised to see that your 22 calorie crispbread gets a low rating (D or E on Android, sad smiley on iOS). It's likely getting this rating because it doesn't contain enough nutritional value per 100 calories and is a processed food. In this small quantity, and combination with the cottage cheese and fruit, it's healthy, but on its own might lack nutrients. The idea with the rating is not to make you stop eating it altogether, but to get you clued in as to what foods you can eat a lot of and what foods to eat in moderation.

 

Food ratings are based on each food's distribution of macro - and micronutrients, its calorie density and the type of food it is. For it to be rated, it must be listed as the right type of food and have all macro - and micronutrient information specified.

 

While the food type can be the same, the nutritional information can be different, and this affects the rating awarded. Additionally, if one of two similar foods is missing data for fiber, sugar, saturated fat, or unsaturated fat, that can be another reason. It is also important to make sure the item has connection to grams in the serving choices to get a proper rating. This will happen by itself when you are adding items yourself nowadays in our app but may be a reason for a weird rating for other previously added user-created items. If you find something weird, edit the item yourself or report it.

 

It's likely the food does not contain enough of the required healthy nutrients per 100 calories, and therefore, there is no positive feedback on the food.

 

It's likely the food doesn't contain enough unhealthy nutrient values, so there is no negative feedback on the food.

 

Food ratings are based on several different factors. In our database, we have different food categories to make the rating as accurate as possible. The type of food is important, but it is not the most essential factor. Most importantly, the rating considers the nutritional benefit each food has to offer, and how closely it aligns with your specific goals and preferences.

 

At a nutritional level, some very different foods can possess similar nutritional benefits. Oils, nuts, seeds, cookies, pizza, and ice-cream are all very high in fat and contain a lot of calories tightly packed into very few grams. As ratings are generated per 100 calories, these characteristics could lead to them all getting a lower rating. However, these foods all have very different amounts and types of nutrients. The calorie count alone does not determine if it’s a ‘healthy’ item or not.

We are doing our best to differentiate between calorie-dense items and the nutrient-rich should therefore get a better rating (i.e. natural nuts, vegetable oils and seeds) than nutrient-poor items (i.e. cookies, pizza and ice-cream). Contributing factors include: category the item is in, if it has a connection to grams etc.

 

Food can look very similar but contain very different nutrients. For example, one brand of peanut butter may contain 65 mg of sodium per 100 calories, where another contains 80 mg, and this affects the rating each one receives.

 

Does your friend have different dietary preferences, or are they on a different diet? Different dietary preferences can lead to different food ratings for the same food. For example, someone on a Ketogenic diet will see lower ratings for high carbohydrate foods than you would if you were on a non-Ketogenic diet. This is because Ketogenic diets restrict carbohydrate intake and increase fat intake.

 

If you see a food that has incorrect information, you can send a message to Lifesum by reporting the food. To do this, scroll to the bottom of the food card and tap “Report.” There, you can provide information on what needs to be changed.

 

Currently, it is not possible to hide or turn off the Food Rating feature, but it may be possible in the future.

 

Lifesum's default settings are based on recommendations by the World Health Organization and with inspiration from NRF9.3. https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/healthy-diet  

 

In the app you will find a customized ratings system for the High Protein plan and for the ketogenic plans that work a bit differently to the standard rating methods.

 

For High Protein, the food rating is almost exactly as for standard diet. Except for the ‘protein food’ that is labeled with the highest rating. A ‘protein food’ is something that contain > 8 gram protein/100 kcal, this in an attempt to guide you in your food choices.

 

 

The concept with the rating on these plans is to highlight the carb amount in the food items. The higher the amount, the less of it you can eat, thus less appropriate for your keto plan.

At the same time, we guide you to pick berries and vegetables with a high fiber content since this micronutrient doesn’t affect your blood sugar but will help you to have functioning digestion for example. We also advocate high-fat items since fat will be your main fuel. We score food in a way to get you into or stay in ketosis.