How we score and recommend dishes

MenuMacros suggests restaurant dishes that suit your goals, and gives each dish a fit score out of 99. This page explains exactly how those numbers are worked out and links to the published equations and dietary guidance they are based on, so you can check the sources yourself.

MenuMacros is a discovery app, not a calorie tracker. We never show you a daily budget or an "over and under" for the day. We do quietly estimate how many calories your day needs, but only to help decide which dishes fit you.

Estimating your daily calorie needs

From the goal, sex, age, height, weight and activity level you enter, we estimate your resting energy needs using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, the equation most widely recommended for estimating resting metabolic rate in healthy adults:

• Resting metabolic rate = 10 x weight (kg) + 6.25 x height (cm) - 5 x age (years) + 5 for men, or - 161 for women.
• Daily needs = resting rate x an activity factor from 1.2 (little or no exercise) up to 1.9 (very active), the standard physical activity multipliers used with this equation.
• Goal adjustment = we then apply a modest change for your goal: roughly 20% below your daily needs to lose weight, your daily needs to maintain, or around 15% above to gain. A gradual deficit or surplus is in line with NHS guidance on changing weight slowly and safely.

Sources:

• Mifflin MD, St Jeor ST, Hill LA, Scott BJ, Daugherty SA, Koh YO. "A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals." American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1990; 51(2):241-247. View on PubMed.
• NHS, "Understanding calories" - average daily calorie needs and losing weight through a calorie deficit. Read on nhs.uk.

How we choose dishes for you

The dishes in "Meals for you" and the fit score on each dish come from one calculation. It starts from a dish's macros and adjusts for your goal and your healthy-eating preference:

• Protein density is the anchor: how much protein a dish gives for its calories. Protein is one of the core food groups in a balanced diet, which is why we lead with it.
• Your goal nudges the score next: when you are losing weight, lighter dishes score a little higher and heavy ones a little lower; when you are gaining, calorie-dense dishes score higher. On maintain, calories stay neutral.
• Your healthy-eating preference applies last, rewarding or easing off dishes based on the dish's health label (below) according to how much "healthy" matters to you.

These combine into a single score from 1 to 99, which both orders your suggestions and shows on each dish. It reflects how well a dish fits the preferences you gave us. It is not a verdict on whether a food is good or bad.

Source:

• NHS, "The Eatwell Guide" - protein foods and the proportions of a healthy, balanced diet. Read on nhs.uk.

How we label dishes healthy, balanced or indulgent

Each dish carries a health label worked out from its macros, which feeds the healthy-eating part of your score:

• Healthy - fat makes up no more than about 35% of the dish's calories and it carries a reasonable amount of protein.
• Indulgent - fat makes up about 45% or more of the dish's calories.
• Balanced - everything in between.

The roughly 35% fat threshold reflects UK dietary guidance that fat should make up no more than about a third of the energy you eat.

Source:

• NHS, "Fat: the facts" - guidance on fat as part of a healthy diet. Read on nhs.uk.

Where the dish macros come from

Every score is only as good as the calorie and macro figures behind it. For how we source and estimate those figures, see How we estimate macros.

A note on accuracy

MenuMacros is not a medical device and does not provide medical, nutritional or dietary advice. The calorie estimates, scores and labels here are a guide to help you choose, built from general-purpose equations and population-level guidance that cannot account for your individual circumstances. Always use your own judgement and consult a qualified professional before making decisions about your diet or health, especially if you have a medical condition.

Questions

Want to know more about how a score was worked out? Email rmardall@gmail.com.