Understanding whether a food fits into your ketogenic diet can be challenging. The slotho app simplifies this by rating foods on a keto-friendly scale based on their macronutrient composition.
DISCLAIMER: This article explains how the app calculates keto ratings and is NOT medical advice. This is not a comprehensive explanation of the ketogenic diet or its health implications. The app is a tool to help users understand the macronutrient composition of foods, not a substitute for professional medical guidance. Always consult with a healthcare provider or registered dietitian before starting any diet, including a ketogenic diet.
By understanding how slotho calculates keto ratings, you can make better-informed decisions about which foods to include in your ketogenic diet and achieve your health and wellness goals more effectively.
Let’s break down how slotho calculates these ratings.
What Is a Ketogenic Diet?
The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, moderate-protein, and low-carbohydrate eating plan designed to put your body into ketosis—a metabolic state where your body burns fat for fuel instead of glucose.
Standard ketogenic diet macronutrient ratios typically fall around:
- 70-75% of calories from fat
- 20-25% of calories from protein
- 5-10% of calories from carbohydrates
The Slotho Keto Rating System
Slotho uses a four-level rating system to classify foods according to their keto compatibility:
- Not Keto (High-Carbs): Foods that don’t fit a ketogenic diet
- Moderately-Keto: Foods that could fit into a flexible keto approach
- Keto-Friendly: Foods that fit standard keto macros
- Keto: Foods perfect for maintaining ketosis
How the Rating Is Calculated
slotho’s algorithm calculates the percentage of calories from each macronutrient (carbs, fat, and protein) for any food product, then assigns a keto rating based on these percentages.
Step 1: Calculate Caloric Contribution
For each food, Slotho:
- Multiplies carbohydrate grams by 4 calories/gram
- Multiplies protein grams by 4 calories/gram
- Multiplies fat grams by 9 calories/gram
Step 2: Determine Macronutrient Percentages
The app calculates what percentage of total calories comes from each macronutrient:
- Carb percentage = (Carb calories ÷ Total calories) × 100
- Fat percentage = (Fat calories ÷ Total calories) × 100
- Protein percentage = (Protein calories ÷ Total calories) × 100
Step 3: Assign a Keto Rating
Based on these percentages, Slotho assigns one of four ratings:
| Rating | Criteria |
|---|---|
| Not Keto | Carbs ≥ 40% |
| Moderately-Keto | Carbs ≥ 20% and Fat ≥ 40% but < 55% |
| Keto-Friendly | Carbs ≥ 10% but < 20%, Fat ≥ 55% but < 70%, Protein ≥ 20% but ≤ 30% |
| Keto | Carbs < 10%, Fat ≥ 70%, Protein < 20% |
If a food doesn’t precisely fit any of these categories, Slotho uses carbohydrate content as the primary determining factor:
- Carbs < 10%: Keto
- Carbs < 20%: Keto-Friendly
- Carbs < 40%: Moderately-Keto
- Carbs ≥ 40%: Not Keto
How to Use The Keto Ratings
The keto ratings in Slotho can help you:
- Quickly identify suitable foods for your ketogenic diet
- Compare different food options for their keto compatibility
- Make informed choices when shopping for groceries
- Plan meals that maintain your desired macro ratios
Remember that these ratings are calculated per 100g of food.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why might a food I consider keto-friendly be rated differently in the app?
The app strictly follows macronutrient ratios. Some foods that keto dieters occasionally consume in small amounts might receive a lower rating due to their overall macronutrient profile.
How does the app get the nutritional information for foods?
It uses the Open Food Facts database, which contains nutritional information for thousands of food products. This information is used to calculate the macronutrient percentages.
How does the keto rating relate to the other nutritional ratings in the app?
The keto rating is independent of other nutritional scores like Nutri-Score or NOVA. A food could have an excellent keto rating but a poor overall nutritional score, or vice versa.
Why does Slotho prioritize fat percentage in its keto ratings?
A true ketogenic diet requires high fat intake to provide energy in the absence of carbohydrates. The rating system reflects this fundamental aspect of the ketogenic approach.
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