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Calk

See your usual food rotation at a glance

Table of Contents

Most people repeat a small set of foods without noticing. The Calk Variety Map shows that set: foods recorded during the month appear in color, while other foods in the same groups remain faded.

It is not a checklist to complete. It is a quick way to find a useful addition to meals that already work.

A Calk Variety Map arranged like a periodic table. Foods recorded during the month appear in color and other foods remain faded.
One month of recorded meals. Colored foods appeared in the diary; faded foods did not. Click to enlarge.
62SpSpinach Each square is a food. The number is Calk's nutrient-density score for that food. It is explained below.
Color means recorded. A faded square means the food did not appear in this month's log, not that you are required to eat it.
+3 +N means more foods were present. The number counts foods in that group that did not fit into the visible squares.

What the map can tell you
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Look for patterns, not an ideal score:

  • Does one color or food group dominate the map?
  • Are fish, legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds or fermented foods almost absent?
  • Which faded food would fit a meal you already repeat?
  • Did this month become narrower than the previous one?
A range of fruits, vegetables, fish, nuts, seeds, grains, legumes and fermented foods.
Variety can come from small changes to normal meals, not a completely new menu.

A wider range of foods can also widen nutrient coverage because foods supply different combinations of fiber, fats, vitamins and minerals. It is not a guarantee that the diet is balanced, and more is not automatically better in every case.

The popular “30 plants a week” idea came from an observational comparison in the American Gut Project. It is a useful prompt, not a required threshold. The exact finding and its limits are explained in where 30 plants a week comes from.

What the number in each square means
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The number is a nutrient-density score calculated for 100 g of the food. Calk combines its contribution across a broad set of nutrients, caps each nutrient so that one unusually high value cannot dominate the whole score, and adds a small plant-compound bonus to produce.

A higher number means a broader concentration of nutrients in the model. It does not mean that the food is healthier for every person, that you need a 100 g portion, or that lower-scoring foods have no value.

Spinach, for example, scores highly because it contributes across several nutrient categories. Cucumber scores lower but can still add water, volume, texture and another food to the rotation. The number helps compare one aspect of food; it is not a grade.

For the formula and the separate nutrient-density matrix in the full report, read what the numbers in your Calk report mean.

Add variety without rebuilding the week
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Use the first realistic faded food, not the highest number on the map:

  • rotate a second fruit into breakfast;
  • add beans or lentils to a bowl or soup;
  • change one vegetable in a repeated dinner;
  • keep the same yogurt and rotate fruit, nuts or seeds;
  • use frozen vegetables, canned beans or dried herbs when they are easier.

The best addition is one you will use again.

How you get your map
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The Variety Map is part of the Calk Nutrition Report and is built from the meals you log. The first month includes 30 days of full access at no charge. The report unlocks after at least 20 complete food-log days and weight data on at least 10 different days within the same 30-day window.

Calk is available on iPhone, iPad, and Android.