Sources of recommendations

*Last updated: 2026-01-18*

ChompMate is a food tracking app designed to help you build consistent, mindful tracking habits. It provides estimates and guidance, but it is not medical advice and is not a medical device. If you have medical conditions, allergies, eating disorders, or specific dietary needs, consult a qualified healthcare professional.

We use publicly available nutrition science references and food databases. We are not affiliated with or endorsed by these sources.

Calorie recommendations

To estimate a daily calorie target, ChompMate:

• Estimates resting energy needs using a standard BMR equation
• Applies an activity factor to estimate total daily energy expenditure (TDEE)
• Adjusts targets based on your selected goal (e.g., weight loss, maintenance, muscle gain)
• Applies safety checks (especially for younger users) and avoids extreme recommendations

Goal adjustment guardrails

ChompMate applies safety guardrails when adjusting calorie targets for goals:

• We cap aggressive calorie deficits to no more than 600 kcal/day.
• We do not recommend targets below 800 kcal/day.

These guardrails are based on public health guidance around very low calorie diets and safe weight management.

Teenagers (under 18)

ChompMate does not provide explicit calorie-deficit targets for users under 18. For teenagers, ChompMate focuses on healthy eating and routine-building, and encourages seeking professional guidance where weight management support is needed, in line with NICE guidance for children and young people. [6]

References

• Mifflin–St Jeor equation (BMR) [1]
• Guidance on energy requirements / activity and expenditure [2]
• General public health guidance for healthy weight management [3]
• Guardrails for safe deficit and very low calorie diets [4], [5]
• Guidance for children and young people [6], [7]

Macro recommendations

ChompMate suggests protein, carbohydrate, and fat targets by:

• Setting protein based on body weight and your goal
• Ensuring an adequate fat baseline
• Allocating remaining energy to carbohydrates

References

• Protein and exercise guidance [8]
• Acceptable macronutrient distribution ranges (AMDR) [9]

Nutrition score

ChompMate shows a nutrition score to summarize meal quality on a simple scale (e.g., "Needs work" to "Excellent"). The score is a heuristic intended to support habit-building and reflection.

Depending on what information is available, the score may consider:

• Energy and macronutrients (calories, protein, carbs, fat)
• Fiber, sugars, and sodium (when label data is available)
• Food quality signals (e.g., minimally processed vs. highly processed) where possible

Scores may be less reliable when nutrition information is incomplete. You can always edit meals to improve accuracy.

References

• Dietary pattern guidance (general healthy eating principles) [10]
• Public guidance on fiber, added sugar, and sodium [11]

Automated features (AI-assisted)

ChompMate may use automated systems to assist with features such as:

• meal descriptions or summaries
• food classification from images/text (when available)
• nutrition score explanations (when shown)

These outputs are estimates and may be incorrect. Users can edit meals and nutrition details at any time.

Data sources

ChompMate may use public databases for nutrition label data and product lookups. When used, these sources provide factual per-100g nutrition information rather than AI-generated labels or summaries.

• Open Food Facts (nutrition label data, where available) [12]

Citations

• [1] Mifflin, M.D., St Jeor, S.T., Hill, L.A., Scott, B.J., Daugherty, S.A. and Koh, Y.O. (1990) ‘A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals’, *American Journal of Clinical Nutrition*, 51(2), pp. 241–247.
• [2] Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization/United Nations University (2004) *Human Energy Requirements*. Available at: https://www.fao.org/3/y5686e/y5686e.pdf
• [3] NHS (n.d.) *Healthy weight*. Available at: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-weight/
• [4] NICE (2014) *Obesity: identification, assessment and management (CG189)*. Available at: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg189
• [5] NHS (n.d.) *12 tips to help you lose weight*. Available at: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-weight/12-tips-to-help-you-lose-weight/
• [6] NICE (2023) *Overweight and obesity management (NG246)*. Available at: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng246
• [7] NHS (n.d.) *Help your child keep a healthy weight*. Available at: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-weight/children-and-weight/
• [8] Jager, R. et al. (2017) ‘International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: protein and exercise’, *Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition*, 14(20).
• [9] National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2005) *Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids*. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
• [10] World Health Organization (2020) *Healthy diet*. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/healthy-diet
• [11] World Health Organization (2015) *Guideline: Sugars intake for adults and children*. Available at: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241549028
• [12] Open Food Facts (n.d.) *Open Food Facts*. Available at: https://world.openfoodfacts.org/