Variety counts breadth: how many different foods showed up. A wider set can improve the chance of covering different nutrients, though the count on its own cannot grade a diet Verger 2021.
The Calk Variety Map turns this count into a visual record of foods and groups present during the month.
Ingredient Variety#
What Calk calculates. Calk counts distinct ingredients in complete food-log days. Frying one day and boiling the next counts as two, so the number can rise without the rotation widening.
What you can do. If the rotation is narrow, add one ingredient to a repeated meal: a second vegetable in a bowl, a different bean in soup, fruit with breakfast or seeds on yogurt. Dietary-diversity measures are often associated with better micronutrient adequacy, but the strength and definition vary by population Verger 2021.
Produce Pattern#
What Calk calculates. Calk checks how regularly fruit and vegetables appear and which broad produce groups are represented.
WHO recommends at least 400 g of fruit and vegetables a day for people over ten years old, excluding starchy roots such as potatoes World 2020. Large prospective studies associate higher intake with lower long-term risk, but the association does not predict an individual’s outcome Aune 2017.
What you can do. Add produce to a meal that already repeats. Fresh, frozen and canned options can all help; check added salt or sugar when it matters.
Plant Diversity#
What Calk calculates. Calk counts distinct plant ingredients from vegetables, fruit, legumes, grains, nuts, seeds, herbs and spices.
The American Gut Project compared 41 people reporting more than 30 plant types a week with 44 reporting fewer than 10 and found greater microbial diversity in the higher-variety group McDonald 2018. The study was observational and did not establish 30 as a health threshold.
What you can do. Use the count to widen a narrow rotation, with foods you eat in an ordinary amount. The full evidence and limits are in where 30 plants a week comes from.
Fish Frequency#
What Calk calculates. Calk counts days and meals containing fish or seafood and distinguishes common omega-3 sources where ingredient data supports it.
American Heart Association guidance recommends two fish servings a week, especially fatty fish, for people without cardiovascular disease Rimm 2018. Local guidance can differ for pregnancy, children and fish with higher mercury levels.
What you can do. If fish fits your diet but rarely appears, add one familiar option. Canned and frozen fish count. If you do not eat fish, the separate omega-3 view covers the plant sources.
Red Meat Pattern#
What Calk calculates. Frequency is counted in days: a day with steak and a day with sausage both count as meat days, and the two are counted together. Processed meat is also counted on its own, and when it repeats the advice starts with it. Fresh red meat contributes protein, iron, zinc and B12; processed meat adds a different risk context.
World Cancer Research Fund guidance suggests limiting red meat to about 350–500 g cooked weight per week for people who eat it and consuming very little, if any, processed meat World 2018.
What you can do. If the pattern is frequent, replace one repeated serving with fish, poultry, legumes, tofu or another protein you already eat. Start with processed meat when it is the main repeated source.