The science behind Biokode
How we compute your targets, score every meal, and where all of it comes from. No black boxes: formulas, ranges, and public references.
Health Index
Every meal you log gets a Health Index from 1 to 10 that sums up its nutritional quality at a glance. It's not an opinion: it weighs composition, nutrient density, and excesses following WHO dietary guidelines and reference authorities.
What it takes into account
Plate composition
Whole foods vs ultra-processed, and the real balance of protein, fat, and carbs in that meal.
Nutrient density
The fiber, vitamins, and minerals it provides — not just calories.
Penalized excesses
Added sugar, salt, and saturated fat above recommended limits cost points.
Verified coherence
The score is checked against the meal's mass and ingredients before it's saved, so it stays consistent.
Why our recommendations go further
Most apps calculate once with a fixed formula. Biokode combines deterministic math with adaptation to your real data.
Protein in g/kg, not a percentage
We set your protein in grams per kilo of body weight (1.4–2.2 g/kg by goal, sex, and age), not as a share of calories. So it doesn't collapse right in a deficit, when you need it most.
Adaptive TDEE from your data
Every week we recompute your real energy expenditure from your logged weigh-ins and intake, not a static formula. If your weight drifts, the plan rebaselines automatically.
Micronutrients against EFSA
We track 27 micronutrients and show your coverage as % of EFSA reference values, with correct units and without fabricating the ones a food doesn't report.
Food data with provenance
Our catalog is seeded from USDA and CIQUAL, with per-ingredient traceability. Calories are derived from macros (4/4/9 kcal + 7 for alcohol), not a loose number.
The number comes from the formula
A deterministic engine computes your targets; the AI only communicates them and never invents figures. You confirm before anything changes.
Clinical safeguards
Calorie floors, protections for minors and underweight, and eating-disorder guardrails. It is not a medical device and does not diagnose.
Measured results
What we claim about accuracy and speed we measure on public data and in production, and we publish it here together with its limits.
Portion estimation from a photo
Benchmark on Nutrition5k (Google Research): real dishes photographed from above with the scale weight of every ingredient. 150 dishes, the same prompt and model as production, two runs (August 2026).
23-25%
median error on the dish weight
63-65%
dishes with an error under 30%
±1%
mean bias: neither inflates nor trims
5.9 s
median latency per photo in production
The dataset photos are top-down, with no cutlery or size references: harder than a phone photo. The absolute numbers do not transfer as-is to your kitchen; they are there to compare versions and to avoid promising an accuracy that does not exist. That is why Kodi flags the portion as estimated and offers to correct it.
Seconds per log
Measured in production on 23 August 2026, with the same model the app uses: identifying what is in a photo takes 5.9 s median, and turning a text or voice note with one or two dishes into its log entry takes 5 to 6 s.
30- and 90-day retention, protein and micronutrient adherence, and the error of the initial TDEE versus the adapted one: we will publish them once there are enough users for the number to mean something.
Scientific sources
Our recommendations draw on publicly available information from these authorities and studies. Biokode is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.
- EFSA — Dietary Reference Values
Used for: Micronutrient reference values (DRV) for the 27 micros we track, and macronutrient guidance.
- World Health Organization — Healthy diet
Used for: Free-sugar (<10%) and saturated-fat (<10%) limits, macro ranges, and physical-activity recommendations.
- International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN)
Used for: Protein bands of 1.4 to 2.2 g/kg and per-meal distribution for muscle protein synthesis.
- American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)
Used for: Recommended exercise volume: 150–300 min per week plus 2 strength sessions.
- American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM)
Used for: The 7–9 hours of sleep reference for adults.
- Mifflin-St Jeor — Am J Clin Nutr, 1990 (PMID 2305711)
Used for: Baseline basal metabolic rate (BMR) equation that energy expenditure is built on.
- USDA FoodData Central
Used for: Food composition (calories, macros, and micros) as the catalog base.
- ANSES-CIQUAL — French food composition table
Used for: Food composition to fill the gaps USDA doesn't cover.
- IOM / National Academies — Dietary Reference Intakes (fibra)
Used for: The fiber reference of 14 g per 1000 kcal.
- Nutrition5k — Thames et al., CVPR 2021 (Google Research)
Used for: Public benchmark we use to measure the accuracy of photo portion estimation.
Important notice
Biokode is a nutrition tracking and education tool, not a medical device or app, and is not meant to diagnose, treat, or prevent any condition. It does not provide guidance for specific dietary needs (allergies, eating disorders, diabetes). Always consult a healthcare professional before making health-related decisions.
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