Every score on NutriPedia comes from a published formula: one for foods and one for products, both described on this page. When we improve a formula, we update this page and rescore every rating at once, so every score on the site always follows the rules written here. Every score shows its inputs and the date of its data.
Ratings are always about how well something suits weight management, never a promise of weight loss. Nothing on NutriPedia is medical advice.
Colours
Wherever we judge a value, we use the same three colours, always with words beside them:
| Colour | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Green | Good |
| Orange | Moderate, worth a look |
| Red | Poor, needs attention |
How much should I eat?
This planner is for adults aged 18 and over. Everything you type stays in your browser and is not sent to us.
Ideal weight range
Body mass index (BMI) is weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. We use the cut-offs agreed for Asian Indian adults (Misra and others, consensus statement, 2009):
| BMI | Description | Colour |
|---|---|---|
| Below 18.5 | Below the ideal range | Orange |
| 18.5 to 22.9 | Ideal range | Green |
| 23 to 24.9 | Above the ideal range (overweight) | Orange |
| 25 and above | Well above the ideal range (obese) | Red |
Your ideal weight range is the weight that gives a BMI of 18.5 to 22.9 at your height. BMI does not account for muscle, so treat it as a guide.
Daily calorie requirement
- Calories at rest (BMR) use the Mifflin-St Jeor equation (1990): 10 × weight in kg + 6.25 × height in cm − 5 × age in years, then + 5 for men or − 161 for women (− 78, the midpoint, if you prefer not to say).
- Calories that keep your weight steady = BMR × an activity factor: mostly sitting 1.2, lightly active 1.375, moderately active 1.55, very active 1.725.
- Suggested daily calorie requirement: only when your BMI is 23 or above, we suggest about 500 kcal a day below what keeps your weight steady, but never below your BMR or 1,200 kcal (women) / 1,500 kcal (men). If those limits leave almost no difference, we suggest keeping steady instead.
- We do not suggest eating less if your BMI is in or below the ideal range, if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, or if you are under 18.
- Plan your diet (step 3): you choose a goal weight and a time in months. Calories needed each day = calories that keep your weight steady − (kilograms to go × 7,000 ÷ days), using about 7,000 kcal of energy deficit for each kilogram of body weight and 30.4 days a month; this is an approximation from nutritional studies and varies from person to person. If that is below your BMR, or below 1,200 kcal (women) / 1,500 kcal (men), we show a one-line warning that this is a highly calorie-deficit diet, to be taken as indicative and followed with a dietitian’s advice; below 800 kcal a day we do not make a plan. Goals below the ideal range for your height are not accepted.
- Diet plan 1 is your own day: the foods you entered in step 2, all of them, with only the amounts changed. Usual sides: when you enter a main dish without a side, we add its usual side from our accompaniments table (the best-rated of its common sides, for example sambar with idli), one per meal; entering your own side, or removing ours, replaces it. The day’s calories are shared across the meals you filled in (breakfast 25%, lunch 35%, dinner 30%, snacks 10%, re-shared over the meals used; each meal may move up to 5 percentage points). Amounts start from each food’s regular serving and move in 5 g steps (whole or half pieces for roti, idli and similar, never below one) between half and one and a half regular servings (up to two and a half when one small food has to carry a meal); a side stays within 30% of its usual amount per serving of its main. Drinks (tea, coffee, milk and the like) stay at their usual amount; only the foods change. Within those limits we choose the amounts that bring the day within 3% of the target and the energy split closest to the middle of the ranges below.
- More plans from your favourites: if you add more favourite dishes, we make at most 2 more plans. Each favourite goes to its likely meal (you can move it). In each meal with favourites, the extra plans use the best-rated favourite first (food rating score), with its usual side; other meals stay as in plan 1. A plan that would be the same as an earlier one is not shown.
- Calorie Counter colour: green when your day is within the suggested amount, orange up to 10% over it, red beyond that.
Where your energy comes from
The diet plans use these ranges to choose amounts (they are not shown on the planner). We add up protein, carbohydrate and fat (4, 4 and 9 kcal per gram) and compare each one’s share of energy with the Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Ranges (Institute of Medicine, 2005):
| Nutrient | Ideal share of energy |
|---|---|
| Carbohydrate | 45 to 65% |
| Protein | 10 to 35% |
| Fat | 20 to 35% |
Inside the range is green; up to 5 percentage points outside is orange; further outside is red. Fibre is compared with 14 g per 1,000 kcal: 14 or more is green, 10 to 14 is orange, under 10 is red.
Explore Food: dish ratings
A dish’s star rating says how well a regular serving suits weight management. It combines four things, each scored from 0 to 100 against fixed limits, so a dish’s rating changes only when its own data changes, never because other dishes were added.
| Part | Weight | What it measures | Scores 100 at | Scores 0 at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calories per gram (energy density) | 35% | kcal in each gram of the dish | 0.6 kcal or less | 4.0 kcal or more |
| Protein | 25% | grams of protein per 100 kcal | 10 g or more | 0 g |
| Fibre | 20% | grams of fibre per 100 kcal | 3 g or more | 0 g |
| Portion | 20% | calories in a regular serving compared with the allowance for that kind of dish (below) | half the allowance or less | 1.5 times the allowance or more |
Between the two limits the score rises or falls in a straight line.
Score = 0.35 × calories per gram + 0.25 × protein + 0.20 × fibre + 0.20 × portion
Stars = score ÷ 20, rounded to the nearest half star (between 0.5 and 5). A category’s stars are the average of its dishes’ stars, rounded to the nearest half star.
Why these parts. People tend to eat a similar amount of food by weight, so food with fewer calories per gram fills you up for fewer calories; that is why it carries the most weight. Protein and fibre help you feel full. We measure them per 100 kcal, not per 100 g, so that dry, dense foods (such as fried snacks) do not look better than water-rich foods like dal simply because they contain less water.
Portion: how much you eat in one go. The other three parts describe what a food is made of. The portion part looks at how many calories you actually eat in a regular serving (a realistic household amount, such as one plate of biryani or two rotis), compared with what that kind of dish sensibly provides in a day of about 2,000 kcal:
| Meal role | Allowance |
|---|---|
| Main meal (eaten as the whole meal, such as biryani, curd rice or lemon rice) | 550 kcal |
| Breakfast | 400 kcal |
| Bread portion (such as a roti or two) | 250 kcal |
| Rice portion (plain or jeera rice, eaten with dal or curry) | 250 kcal |
| Side dish (dal, sabzi, curd) | 200 kcal |
| Snack | 200 kcal |
| Sweet | 150 kcal |
| Drink | 150 kcal |
Portion score = (1.5 − calories per serving ÷ allowance) × 100, kept between 0 and 100. For example, a 780 kcal plate of vegetable biryani is 1.42 times the 550 kcal main-meal allowance and scores 8; a 660 kcal plate of mutton biryani is 1.2 times the allowance and scores 30.
Added sugar limit (not averaged in). If a serving has more than 15 g of added sugar, the rating is capped at 2 stars, so a low-calorie but sugary drink or sweet cannot look like a good everyday choice. The dish says so wherever the cap applies.
Every dish shows its four part-scores and its score out of 100 under “How this is worked out”. The limits, weights and allowances are a starting point agreed on 21 October 2026, for our reviewers to confirm before launch; any change will be published on this page, with every dish rescored at the same time.
Each dish says where its nutrition values come from. Restaurant versions vary.
How we calculate nutrition facts
Wherever we can, a dish’s calories, protein, carbohydrate, fat and fibre are calculated from a standard recipe, not typed in from another website.
- A standard recipe from a named source. We start from a published recipe by a recognised chef or cookery source and link to it on the dish’s page. The steps on our page are written in our own words.
- Raw weights of every ingredient. Cups, spoons and pieces in the recipe are converted to grams of the raw ingredient, and each conversion is recorded in our data.
- Food composition values. Each raw ingredient is matched to its entry in the Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (Longvah T, Ananthan R, Bhaskarachary K, Venkaiah K. National Institute of Nutrition, Indian Council of Medical Research, Hyderabad; www.ifct2017.com), Table 1. IFCT 2017 gives the average analysed values of Indian foods. A few everyday ingredients that IFCT 2017 does not list (cooking oil, ghee, curd and sugar) use USDA FoodData Central values. Energy is taken as published (converted from kJ at 4.184 kJ per kcal); in the rare case where a published energy value disagrees with the food’s own protein, fat and carbohydrate, we calculate it from them.
- The whole dish. For each nutrient, the amounts in all the ingredients are added up: raw grams × value per 100 g ÷ 100, summed over the recipe.
- Per 100 g of the cooked dish = that total ÷ the cooked weight of the whole recipe × 100. Cooking changes weight (rice takes up water, frying loses it), so we divide by the cooked weight, not the raw weight. The cooked weight is weighed or, until it is weighed, estimated from standard yields; each dish’s data records which.
- Per serving = per 100 g × the weight of a regular serving.
How we set the regular serving. A regular serving is what one person usually eats of the dish as a meal. We work it out the same way for every dish:
- We take the portion from the chef’s recipe: the portion the recipe states, or, if it does not state one, the cooked weight of the whole recipe divided by the number of people it serves.
- We compare it with the serving in USDA FoodData Central. If the two are within 20% of each other (either way), the chef’s portion is our regular serving.
- If they differ by more than 20%, we take the portions from recipes by two more recognised chefs (estimated the same way when not stated) and use the average of the three.
- The regular serving is rounded to the nearest 10 g. Each dish’s page names the recipes behind it.
We also compare our calories per 100 g with USDA’s value for the dish; a large difference is checked by a reviewer.
Oil used for deep-frying is counted only for the amount the food takes up, not the oil left in the pan. Salt, dry spices and whole spices are left out: in recipe amounts they add almost no calories, protein or fat. Values are for the dish as the recipe makes it; home and restaurant versions vary with the oil, rice and portion used.
Walking time: “About x of brisk walking uses similar energy” uses brisk walking at about 5.6 km/h, which uses 4.3 times resting energy (Compendium of Physical Activities, 2011): calories per minute = 4.3 × 3.5 × body weight in kg ÷ 200. We use 70 kg unless you have entered your weight in the planner, and round to the nearest 5 minutes.
Product Ratings
Where the information comes from
Every product rating is based only on the public information on the product’s Amazon.in listing: everything written on the listing (the title, the “About this item” points, the product details, the important information and the description) and every listing image, including the pack photos with the nutrition panel, ingredients and FSSAI details. We use no other source for facts about a product. The page links to the listing and gives the date we read it. Our editors check every fact against the listing before a rating is published, and may correct it.
The listing is written by the seller. If it is wrong, incomplete or changes later, the rating may be wrong or out of date. Brands can ask us to correct a fact, and every correction is logged.
The overall rating
The overall rating is a weighted average of four ratings, each from 0 to 5, to one decimal place:
| Rating | Weight | The question it answers |
|---|---|---|
| Formula and evidence | 50% | Is this product like the ones science has found useful for weight management, and how strong is that science? |
| Ingredient quality | 20% | How clean and clear is the label? |
| Taste | 15% | Will people enjoy it enough to keep using it? |
| Affordability | 15% | How does its price compare with similar products? |
What the product does for weight management counts most. Taste and price matter because people stop using a product they dislike or cannot afford, but they cannot make up for a formula that does not do the job (see the limits below). If taste is left out, the other three keep the same proportions: their weighted total is divided by 85%.
Formula and evidence
Formula and evidence = formula × evidence score ÷ 2.5
- Formula (0 to 5): the rows of the product’s ingredient matrix that decide whether it matches the products studied, such as calories, protein and fibre in a meal, or the dose of a supplement’s active ingredient (see below).
- Evidence score (0 to 2.5): how well the science supports this kind of product for weight management, compared across categories (tables below).
The two are multiplied, not added. The science counts only as far as the product is like the ones that were studied, and a perfect formula of something that has no reliable evidence scores 0. For example, a meal replacement shake with formula 4.6 scores 4.6 × 2.5 ÷ 2.5 = 4.6. A fibre capsule with a perfect formula scores 5 × 1.0 ÷ 2.5 = 2.0. This rating does not promise any result.
How we judge ingredients
This is not an FSSAI compliance check (that is covered by the limits below). Each category has its own matrix, because what makes a good meal replacement is not what makes a good fibre supplement. Our reviewer grades each row from the listing as Good (1), Partly (½) or Poor (0) and writes a short reason, which the product page shows. Each row belongs to one of three parts:
- Formula rows make the formula score: (sum of weight × grade) ÷ (sum of weights) × 5.
- Quality rows make the Ingredient quality rating, in the same way.
- The safety row is a limit, not averaged in (see below).
Graded in context. Each row is judged against the group the product is made for and everything on the listing, not in isolation. We ask why an ingredient is there, or why a detail is missing, and mark a row down only when nothing on the listing explains it. For example, inositol in a shake for women counts as serving weight management, because PCOS and insulin resistance are common causes of weight gain in women. A “mineral mix” counts as named when the nutrition panel lists each mineral with its amount. One fault is counted in one row only: added sugar is judged under Added sugar, not again under Carbohydrate quality.
Meal replacement shakes (the meal replacements category holds shakes only), judged for calorie control (a filling, nutritionally complete meal with fewer calories). Amounts are for one meal as made: the product plus whatever is added to it.
| Row | Part | Weight | Good | Partly | Poor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calories per meal | Formula | 2 | 200–400 kcal | 150–199 or 401–500 kcal | under 150 or over 500 kcal |
| Protein per meal, for fullness and muscle | Formula | 2 | 20 g or more | 12–19 g | under 12 g |
| Fibre per meal, for fullness | Formula | 2 | 5 g or more, ideally from named viscous or prebiotic fibres | 3–4.9 g | under 3 g |
| Vitamins and minerals for a complete meal | Formula | 1 | broad mix with amounts | some, or no amounts | none |
| Added sugar | Quality | 1 | 0 g | up to 5 g | over 5 g, or not declared |
| Carbohydrate quality, no fillers | Quality | 1 | no maltodextrin, starch or syrup solids added as fillers | fillers present, not leading (a carrier inside a compound ingredient, such as maltodextrin in an oil powder, does not lead) | a filler leads the ingredient list |
| Fat quality | Quality | 1 | saturated fat at most a third of fat, trans fat about 0; oils named, or the fat profile rules out palm and hydrogenated fat; a higher saturated share is fine when it comes from an ingredient added for weight management (such as MCT) | one of these not met, with no such reason | hydrogenated fat, trans fat over 0.2 g, or saturated fat over half with no such reason |
| Formula focused on the aim | Quality | 1 | every added active has a clear weight-management purpose for the group the product is made for | some extras with no such purpose, or at token amounts | mostly unrelated extras |
| Transparency | Quality | 1 | across the pack label and the whole listing: every ingredient named (a group such as “mineral mix” counts when the panel gives each amount), doses for the actives it is sold on, full nutrition panel | something the buyer needs is missing or contradictory, with nothing on the listing explaining it | proprietary blend or key facts missing |
| Additives of concern | Quality | 1 | no preservatives, non-nutritive sweeteners, artificial colours or stimulants | non-nutritive sweeteners, mild preservatives or colours | synthetic preservatives, high-dose stimulants, botanicals with safety warnings |
Meal replacement bars are a separate category with the same rows, parts and weights, for the bars that make one meal; the binder row looks at syrups and sugar alcohols, and the fat row at coatings.
Supplements are grouped by form (each its own category): effervescent tablets, capsules, gummies and powder supplements (fibre, L-carnitine, protein and every other powder). Each is judged on the result its active ingredients are sold for:
| Row | Part | Weight | Good |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active ingredients at a studied dose | Formula | 3 | the daily dose as directed matches the dose used in studies |
| Safe daily dose | Safety (a limit) | – | every active within known safe limits, no stimulant stacking |
| Formula focused on the aim | Quality | 1 | every active has a clear weight-management purpose for the group the product is made for |
| Transparency | Quality | 1 | every active with its amount and extract standardisation, strains named when strains are claimed, no proprietary blend |
| Additives of concern | Quality | 1 | no preservatives, artificial colours or hidden stimulants |
| Effervescent tablets | Quality | 1 + 1 | sodium up to 200 mg a day; no added sugar |
| Capsules | Quality 1, Formula 1 | 1 + 1 | few, named fillers (quality); studied dose in up to 4 capsules a day (formula) |
| Gummies | Quality 1, Formula 1 | 1 + 1 | sugar up to 2 g a day (quality); studied dose in up to 3 gummies a day (formula) |
| Powder supplements | Quality | 1 + 1 | most of each serving is the active; no added sugar |
Any other category uses a general matrix until its own is written: active ingredient at an effective dose and share of the product that does the job (formula, weight 2 each); formula focused on the aim, transparency, added sugar and additives of concern (quality, 1 each).
Evidence scores
| Category | Score (of 2.5) | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Meal replacement shakes and bars | 2.5 | Meal replacements are among the most studied dietary approaches for weight management: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised trials found greater weight reduction at one year than food-based diets (Astbury et al., Obesity Reviews, 2019) |
For supplements (effervescent tablets, capsules, gummies, powder supplements) the form says little about whether a product works, so the evidence score comes from the product’s main active ingredient instead:
| Main active | Score (of 2.5) | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Protein (whey, plant) | 1.5 | Higher-protein, calorie-controlled diets gave slightly more weight reduction and less muscle loss (Wycherley et al., AJCN, 2012) |
| Fibre (psyllium, guar, PHGG) | 1.0 | Small weight reduction across 62 trials, more with calorie control (Jovanovski et al., AJCN, 2020) |
| L-carnitine | 1.0 | About 1.3 kg on average, shrinking with longer use (Pooyandjoo et al., Obesity Reviews, 2016) |
| Glucomannan, probiotics, apple cider vinegar, inositol, garcinia cambogia, chitosan, chromium picolinate, green tea extract | 0.5 | Small or inconsistent effects, not seen in the better trials, or (green tea extract) a liver-safety warning at high doses |
| Non-sugar sweeteners | 0 | WHO (2023) advises against them for weight control |
| Thermogenic or “fat burner” blends, slimming teas | 0 | No reliable evidence for these products as sold, and safety concerns |
Other categories get their score before their first product is rated.
Ingredient quality
The quality rows of the matrix: sugar, fillers, fat, focus, transparency and additives, and for supplements the rows for their form. Ingredient quality = (sum of weight × grade) ÷ (sum of weights) × 5.
Taste
From our reviewer’s own tasting, when a reviewer has tasted the product (the page then says “Tasted by our reviewer”; taste is personal). Otherwise from Amazon customer ratings: if Amazon shows a “Taste” rating for the product we use it; otherwise the share of 4 and 5 star ratings ÷ 20 (so 80% gives 4.0). It needs at least 30 ratings; otherwise it shows “not enough ratings” and is left out. Customer ratings are about the whole product, and some may not be genuine. Capsules are swallowed whole, so taste does not apply to them and is left out.
Affordability
Affordability = 5 × the cheapest price ÷ this product’s price, among products in the same category priced the same way. The cheapest scores 5, a product at 1.25 times its price scores 4, and twice its price scores 2.5. A product’s score depends only on its own price and the cheapest one’s, never on the products in between. A product that is the only one of its kind in its category so far scores 2.5.
- Products sold for one ingredient (the “hero” ingredient, such as protein in a protein shake or fibre in a fibre supplement): the price per gram of that ingredient. Price per gram of protein = price of one serving ÷ grams of protein in that serving.
- Products that replace a meal (meal replacements and similar mixed products): the price of one complete meal, made the way the directions on the listing say. If a 15 g scoop is meant to be mixed with 300 ml of milk, one meal costs the scoop plus the milk, so it is not compared as if it were the same as a product that is mixed with water. We price skimmed milk at ₹35 for 300 ml, low fat curd at ₹22 for 200 g, toned milk at ₹54 a litre, double toned milk at ₹50 and full cream milk at ₹68; water costs nothing. If our reviewers judge that a product is usually taken differently from the listing’s directions (for example with milk instead of water), we price the meal that way and say so on the product page.
- The price is the selling price shown on the listing on the day we checked it (not the MRP, which we also note). Prices change often, so the date is always shown.
Limits
These limits are not averaged in, so good scores elsewhere cannot hide them. When more than one applies, the lowest counts. A product page names a limit whenever it lowers the rating.
| When | The overall rating is at most |
|---|---|
| No FSSAI licence number shown anywhere on the listing (text or images) | 2.0 |
| A claim that is not permitted (such as an unapproved weight-loss claim) | 2.5 |
| No reliable evidence for this kind of product, or for a supplement’s main active (evidence score 0) | 1.5 |
| An active ingredient over a known safe limit, or several stimulants together (safety row Poor) | 1.5 |
| An active ingredient near a safe limit, or a stimulant at a moderate dose (safety row Partly) | 3.4 |
| Formula and evidence below 2.5 | 3.4 |
The last limit means a product whose formula or evidence falls short can never be shown as a “Good fit”, however tasty or cheap it is.
Ranking and wording
Products are ranked only within their own category; ties are listed alphabetically. Because affordability compares products with the cheapest one, a new, cheaper product can move the affordability and rank of others in its category; we rework the whole category each time a rating is published.
Wording and colour for every rating: 4.5 and above “Very good fit”, 3.5 to 4.4 “Good fit”, 2.5 to 3.4 “Moderate fit”, 1.5 to 2.4 “Limited fit”, below 1.5 “Poor fit”, always followed by “for weight management”. 3.5 and above is green, 2.5 to 3.4 orange, below 2.5 red.
“Reviewed” means an editorial review of the public Amazon.in listing. We do not test products in a laboratory.
What payment never changes
Sponsored listings and advertisements never change any rating, rank or score. See our disclosures.
Questions
If you think a number is wrong, tell us and we will check it. Every correction is logged.