Gut Bites MD

Healthy Food Choice Powered by Natural Ratios, Carb to Fiber

Introducing an innovative food quality calculator and soon to be released smart app that empowers individuals to make informed dietary choices and optimize their health. By evaluating nutrient values and ratios like carb to fiber, it computes a comprehensive score, facilitating effortless comparison and selection of the highest quality foods for optimal nutrition and well-being.

Try This…

● Type Food & Add (+) A guilty pleasure?
● Add Some Fiber (≡) Do scores change?
● Type Wild Card (*) Random generator
● Sort the Results (🔘) Ranked by score

Natural Ratios in Whole Foods

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Powered by Natural Nutrient Ratios like Carb to Fiber

• On-the-go translation of nutrition labels
• Better-for-you food suggestions & pairings
• Customizable filters: Keto, Vegetarian, Mediterranean

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The Score

Maximize green, moderate yellow, and minimize red scoring food combinations in both amount and frequency. Use ratio subscores to provide insights on how to synergize and supplement foods. Then see how you feel. More full, greater energy, better mood?

• Green (100-70): Maximize
• Yellow (69-60): Moderate
• Red (59-0): Minimize

The Design

The calculator algorithm incorporates below literature evidence on nutrient ratios, additives, and bioactives to inform an overall food quality score. It references the USDA’s FoodData Central for nutrient values of individual foods. Quality scores of 70-100 and ratio subscores of <2 correlate largely with whole foods. Very much welcome your early feedback in the comments section below.

The Evidence

Modern food processing has disrupted the natural ratios present in whole food matrixes concentrating for simple carbohydrates, saturated fats, sodium, and additives while limiting fiber, unsaturated fats, potassium, and bioactives. Some of the latest research is suggesting that disrupted ratios that involve both concentrated and insufficient nutrients are important contributors to the rising rates of gut, metabolic, cardiovascular & neurologic disease.[1,2]

Nutrient ratios that provide a composite score of carb, fat, and micronutrient quality have been associated with a lower odds ratio for metabolic syndrome, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and lung disease as well as higher odds ratio for optimal cardiometabolic health.[3,4]

Carb quality (i.e. favorable carb to fiber ratio) is associated with better health[5]: lower depression[6], smaller waist[7], lower diabetes rates[8–10], and less heart disease[11,12]. Fiber slows the absorption of carbs and is converted by the microbiome to factors like butyrate that help to efficiently process them once absorbed.  For more information on fiber please follow this link.

Fat quality (i.e. favorable total fat to unsaturated fat ratio) is also associated with health: improved blood lipids and glycemic control.[13] For more information on fats please follow this link.

Micronutrient quality (i.e. sodium to potassium ratio) has been associated with lower blood pressure[14] and interventions have lead to decreased blood pressure and stroke.[15]  

Bioactive quality (low harmful additives and high bioactives). Some unnatural additives like certain sugar alternatives[16], trans fats[17], and some emulsifiers[18] have been linked to poor health markers or outcomes while other natural bioactives like polyphenols/phytochemicals[19] and short chain fatty acids (e.g. acetic acid[20], butyrate[21]) have been linked to better health outcomes.

This resource is intended to be a dietary guide. Please consult your physician for any questions pertaining to medical advice.