Introducing the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) in MyFoodRepo: Your Gut Microbiome Will Thank You

Today, we're excited to announce a major new feature in MyFoodRepo that could transform how you think about your daily eating habits – and we now have the science to back it up.

Our research team at EPFL just published a major new peer-reviewed study in Nature Communications examining how diet quality affects the gut microbiome. Using data from over 1,000 participants who tracked their meals with MyFoodRepo, we made a striking discovery: it's not just what you eat, but how consistently you eat well that shapes your gut health.

The Healthy Eating Index (HEI) – a comprehensive score that measures how well your diet aligns with dietary guidelines – emerged as one of the strongest predictors of gut microbiome diversity. People with higher HEI scores had more diverse gut bacteria, which is associated with better overall health, improved digestion, and stronger immune function.

But here's what surprised us: when we calculated HEI on a daily basis rather than as an average, the relationship became even stronger. This "daily HEI" better predicted gut diversity than traditional averaging methods, highlighting the importance of day-to-day consistency.

The HEI evaluates your diet across multiple components:

Each component is scored based on your intake relative to your energy consumption, with a maximum possible score of 100. A higher score means your eating patterns better align with recommended dietary guidelines.

Starting today, MyFoodRepo automatically estimates your HEI score in real-time as you log your meals. Unlike traditional dietary assessments that rely on memory and averages, you can now see exactly how each meal and snack impacts your daily score.

What makes this powerful? Our study found that people whose HEI varied wildly from day to day – eating very well one day and poorly the next – had less diverse gut microbiomes than those who maintained consistently good eating patterns. With MyFoodRepo, you can:

Our study revealed that gut bacteria can actually predict dietary patterns with remarkable accuracy – up to 90% for some dietary components. This bidirectional relationship means that by improving your HEI score, you're likely making meaningful changes to your gut microbiome composition.

Participants with great stool quality (yes, we measured that too!) had consistently higher HEI scores. Those in the top quartile of HEI scores showed:

The beauty of real-time HEI tracking is that you don't have to wait weeks to see if you're on the right track. If your score is low at lunch, the app can suggest adding a serving of vegetables or whole grains to your dinner. Running low on fruit servings? The app will remind you to grab an apple for your afternoon snack.

This immediate, personalized feedback loop – backed by our research showing the importance of daily consistency – helps you build sustainable, healthy eating patterns that your gut microbiome will thank you for.

With MyFoodRepo's new HEI feature, you're not just tracking calories or macros – you're monitoring a scientifically-backed measure of diet quality that directly relates to your gut health. Every meal becomes an opportunity to improve not just today's score, but your long-term wellbeing.

Download the latest update and start tracking your HEI today. Your gut microbiome – and your future self – will appreciate the consistency.