HealthWatch 360 app meets Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015

HealthWatch 360

San Diego-based GB HealthWatch wants to merge digital health with nutritional genomics and make the end result available through an easy-to-use app. Called HealthWatch 360, it also happens to be the first nutritional app aligned with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015.

In the background, HealthWatch 360 uses a proprietary algorithm developed by molecular nutrition scientists and registered dietitians to rank a person’s diet quality and nutritional balance. The GB Nutrition Score ranges from 1 to 100 to guide users to make good food choices and create their own diets using their favorite foods while ensuring they meet their nutritional needs. A score of 90 or above indicates the food combination is adequate to meet nutritional needs in regards to both macronutrient (carbohydrate, fat and protein) ranges, and vitamin and mineral requirements.

The main objective of the new Dietary Guidelines is to prevent diet-related chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, obesity, metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. Instead of targeting specific foods, the recommendations reinforce the concept of combining a wide range of foods to meet nutritional needs. They endorse three healthy dietary patterns — Healthy US-Style Food Patterns, Mediterranean and Vegetarian — and encourage Americans to prioritize their traditional and ethnic foods. Also, there are two major updates included in the new Dietary Guidelines: (1) no restriction on dietary cholesterol and (2) limit added sugars to less than 10% total calories.

“We developed a dietary quality assessment algorithm that aligns with the USDA 2015 Dietary Guidelines.” Christina Troutner, MS, RDN, registered dietitian and nutrition scientist at GB HealthWatch, said in a statement. “When tested, the three dietary patterns endorsed by the Dietary Guidelines received nutrition scores over 90, validating the legitimacy of the underlying algorithm. The nutrition scoring system is very powerful and guides people to create personalized, healthy diets using endless food choices.”

GB HealthWatch is developing technologies and tools that will enable precision nutrition and genetic-based preventive healthcare. To that end, the company has formed a partnership with Otogenetics — the Atlanta, Georgia-based CLIA-certified and licensed medical genetic testing company — to develop next-generation sequence-based DNA tests for preventable metabolic diseases.

GB HealthWatch aims to deliver DNA-informed diets as preventative “medicine” to anyone, anywhere through mobile app technology. It is committed to fighting obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases with sound science and the best technologies…