Nutrition Quotient (NQ), Your

Your Nutrition Quotient™ is a single number reflecting how well your diet matches your Personal Daily Allowances. It takes into account not only your intake of each nutrient, but the nutrient's importance to health. You'll find your NQ in four places:

On your Body History screens

In your Food Log

In your Nutrient History

In each day's Nutrient Summary

You can think of your NQ as either an IQ or a letter grade. Grade ranges and their color-coding are as follows:

Nutrition Quotient	Letter Grade	Color
0 to 59	F	Red
60 to 69	D	Orange
70 to 79	C	Yellow
80 to 89	B	Green
90 to 99	A	Blue
100 to 119	A+	Violet
120 to 139	A++	Indigo
140 and above	Genius	Black

Three Caveats

Your Nutrition Quotient is not a diagnostic score, but a rough guide for improving your diet. An "A" this week won't absolutely prove your diet is first-rate—but it will suggest you're doing better than last week's "B." If you worry about the difference between an A and an A+, you're giving the NQ too much credit. It's not that smart.
Your NQ is measured against your Personal Daily Allowances (PDAs). If you accepted the default PDAs, then the NQ reflects the most reputable scientific research on each nutrient. If you've edited your PDAs, however, it reflects your own opinions. For best advice, consult your physician or a registered dietitian.
Don't misinterpret the red and green numbers in the Food Log's "NQ+-" column. A red (negative) number beside a food doesn't mean the food is always bad for you. Nor does a green (positive) number mean the food is always good for you. The numbers indicate only how much your Nutrition Quotient will rise or fall if you eat that food right now. The numbers also change every time you log a food, because eating a food alters your nutrient balance, thereby changing the likely impact of any food that you eat next. In other words, a) your NQ is a moving target, and b) the numbers in the NQ+- column do not rate the foods themselves, but predict their effect on your overall balance. For more insight, see "How to Raise Your NQ," below.

How to Raise Your NQ

While using the Food Log:

Watch the "NQ+-" column, beside the food list. The numbers in that column show how each food will change your Nutrition Quotient (NQ):

In the Food Log's dictionary (top) window, the number predicts your NQ change if you log one serving.
In the Food Log's log window, the number predicts your NQ change if you log the same amount you've already logged¾in other words, if you have seconds.
In both windows, foods are color-coded:
Hurters, shown in gray, will lower your NQ.
Helpers will raise your NQ¾or at least not hurt it.
Smart Seconds (a single food in the Log window) will raise your NQ more than anything else you've already logged today.

In your Favorites and Recent windows (opened by clicking the radio buttons labeled "Favorites" and "Recent") the number shows your NQ change for logging favorite or recently eaten foods. (The Recent window is especially useful, because it lists foods that you're likely to have on hand.)

Watch the Advice Line, in the Scoreboard under your NQ. The Advice Line tells which nutrients to seek or shun* for easiest improvement. (To find foods that are rich in a particular nutrient, use the Food Coach or PowerFoods.)

"What good is telling me to shun a nutrient if I've already gotten too much?" you might ask. In fact, the Advice Line doesn't work that way. It's based on your projected intake. "Get less zinc" means you'll get too much if you're not careful for the rest of the day. It doesn't mean you've already had too much.

Remember: "Eat Your Greens"

Thanks to DietPower's color-coding, if you simply log green foods and avoid gray foods, you will continually improve your Nutrition Quotient.

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Last Modified: 5/9/09