Seven pillars, and what each one rests on
Every whole food is scored 0–100 by the same rubric. Below are the exact weights the engine uses, the grade bands it applies, and the published evidence behind each decision — including the one factor whose evidence is weak, and what we did about it.
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What we weigh
Weights sum to 100, with anti-nutrients applied as a deduction.
Vitamins and minerals the food delivers, scored on two tracks — per studied serving and per 100 calories — so a calorie-dense food like nuts is not punished for its energy. Each nutrient is capped at 200% of its Daily Value so no single outlier can carry a food.
Both the basis and the cap follow the published nutrient-profiling work. NRF9.3, validated against the Healthy Eating Index, is computed per serving and per 100 calories, and caps each nutrient to stop one outlier dominating. Scoring per 100 g instead is why dried herbs used to top this catalog — 100 g of dried parsley is fifty servings — and a per-100-calorie basis alone rates low-energy foods disproportionately high against the amounts people actually eat.
Polyphenols, flavonoids, carotenoids, glucosinolates and other compounds a calorie count cannot see. Where measured flavonoid content exists it is used directly; otherwise a food group baseline applies.
In 56,048 adults followed 23 years, flavonoid intake was associated with lower all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, plateauing near 500 mg/day.
Protein content and amino-acid completeness relative to the food's calories. Weighted toward complete proteins, which matters more with age than the plain RDA implies.
Multiple consensus statements hold that the 0.8 g/kg/day RDA is inadequate for older adults; ~1.2 g/kg/day better preserves muscle.
Dietary fiber relative to calories, credited on absolute amount rather than a fiber-to-carb ratio.
Across 185 prospective studies and 58 trials — nearly 135 million person-years — the highest fiber intakes carried 15–30% lower all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.
Saturated fraction on a graded scale, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat credited separately rather than summed, trans fat penalised, and omega-3 credited on absolute amount. There is deliberately no omega-6 penalty and no omega-6:omega-3 ratio term.
PREDIMED found a Mediterranean diet supplemented with olive oil or nuts cut major cardiovascular events in 7,216 high-risk adults. Separately, higher linoleic acid tracks with lower cardiovascular risk, which is why omega-6 is not penalised.
Sugar load and the fiber-to-carbohydrate relationship — how sharply the food's carbohydrate arrives.
The same Lancet series covering fiber also examined glycemic index and load as measures of carbohydrate quality.
A deduction, not a pillar — very high saturated fat, and compounds such as oxalates and phytates that impair mineral absorption.
This is the weakest-evidenced factor on the page, which is why it is capped at a 5-point deduction. Phytate in particular both reduces mineral absorption and carries plausible benefits, and the net effect in whole-food diets is genuinely unsettled.
What the score means
These are the whole-food bands. Branded packaged products use a separate, harsher table.
Nutrient-dense across several pillars at once. The foundation of a longevity diet.
Strong on the pillars that matter for this food group.
Solid nutritional value with a weaker pillar or two.
Fine in context; not doing much work for you.
Thin on nutrition relative to its calories.
Little nutritional return. Occasional, not foundational.
Frequently asked questions
Are branded products scored on this same scale?
No — and that is deliberate. This page describes the whole-food scale. Branded packaged products are graded one tier harsher: an A there starts at 90, where a whole food scoring 90 earns an A+. The two are separate tables on purpose, so a packaged product cannot pick up a whole food's grade by matching its number.
Why isn't this just about calories?
Calories measure energy, not quality. Two foods with the same calories can differ enormously in what they deliver. Nutrient density is scored on two tracks — per studied serving and per 100 calories — precisely so that a calorie-dense whole food like walnuts is not penalised for its energy while a low-calorie food with little in it is not rewarded for emptiness.
What serving are the nutrient figures based on?
Percentages of Daily Value are shown per studied serving, not per 100 g — 28 g for nuts, 14 g for oils, 85 g for meat and fish, 140 g for fruit, 2 g for a spice. Per 100 g would mean about 65 Brazil nuts. Brazil nuts are a specific exception at 15 g, roughly three nuts, because a larger serving exceeds the tolerable upper intake for selenium.
Do brands pay to score well?
No. There are no sponsorships in any domain. The same algorithm runs on every food, and the score reflects the nutrition — not marketing or affiliate relationships.
Where does the nutrition data come from?
USDA FoodData Central composition data, including the full fatty-acid panel where USDA publishes it. Where a food's panel is incomplete the score reflects what is documented, and the app marks a score as estimated rather than measured when the underlying data is sparse.
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