To search this database, simply click [Ctrl] + [F], or click on the three dots in the upper right-hand corner of the web page, then click “Find.”

To help you know the true health content of the foods you eat, thus making it easier to make healthy eating choices, we invite you to help us develop our database of what we call the “Four-Diamond Percentage Score” (or 4◊Score for short) and the number of “Whatever Calories” (WCal©, which is somewhat the opposite of the 4◊Score) contained in each food. 

The purpose of determining the “WCal©” is to help facilitate following SLIM TLC‘s healthy eating and weight loss strategy called “Free Food?  Whatever!” (FFW) – in which you establish and try to stay under a “Whatever Calorie (WCal©) Budget” (20-50% of your BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate).  All 4◊ Foods are “free,” as are those WCal© eaten under your WCal© budget (and you only log the amount of “Extra WCal©” or “XWcal” you consume, on a goal-setting system called the SLIM TLC Map (see HERE to learn more).

When you look at the database below you’ll see that it is quite small, and very much a work in progress.  Since Project Simplify Health is a non-profit organization, we are counting on the public (“crowd-based,” boots-on-the-ground effort) to help build it.  Because of that, we cannot guarantee its accuracy.  Whether you wish to contribute or to correct, please contact us.

The 4◊Score is assigned to various foods items, and ranges from 0-100, representing the percentage of the Calories in the item that come from the four healthy diamonds of the Nutrition Star (see diagram above, along with The 4:1 Rule for more information). Remember, our goal is a 4◊Score of ≥80.

For instance, anything made of 100% whole (healthily-prepared, i.e., without WCal©) plants and/or fatty seafood receives a 4◊Score of 100 (e.g., any whole vegetable, fruit, grain, or any fatty seafood that is prepared without sugar, oil, white flour, AKA “plant waste,” or eggs, grease, or dairy products, AKA “animal secretions”). Items such as most donuts and alcohol, which contain no whole plants (100% WCal©) receive a 4◊Score of 0.

Eventually we hope that most foods, drinks, and meals will be labeled with both the 4◊Score and WCal©.

The 4◊Score does not take salt or anything else into consideration besides the source of the Calories (which we are convinced is the most important determinant of health), so if you are salt-sensitive, take that into consideration.

We hope you will help us develop this database (our ultimate goal is to include this in the app we are hoping to develop)! If the item for which you are looking is not listed, please calculate the 4◊Score and WCal© and send us your calculations. Here’s how you do it:

First, look at the nutrition label, which includes the total Calories, then the ingredients.  Calculate the amount of Calories that come from the foods in the “Four Diamonds” (“4◊“) by subtracting the amount of WCal© (those that come from plant waste, animal secretions, and meat other than fatty seafood) from the total.  Remember that all Calories come from fat (9 Calories per gram), carbohydrates (4), protein (4), and alcohol (7; or ~5.6 Calories/mL). For example, let’s take a look at a couple of types of Orville Redenbacher’s popcorn, all the fat Calories of which come from corn and oil:

  • The smartpop! BUTTER version has 120 Calories per serving, 18 of which come from the 2 grams of fat.  All carbs and protein contained in popcorn, in addition to one of the grams of fat, comes from the whole corn kernel (corn has a little less than 1 g of fat per serving).  Remember that all fats that are found in plants are GOOD fats, but when they are processed out of the whole plant and turned into oil (thus excluding all the nutritious parts), then they are BAD fats.  So, if 1 g of the fat found in this popcorn version is good, the other ~1 g is bad (bad fats come from any type of oil or animal products other than fatty seafood).  Therefore, Orville Redenbacher’s smartpop! BUTTER version has only 9 Calories that come from the 1 gram of oil per serving (i.e., 9 WCal©) and the rest are 4◊ Calories (111)! If there are 120 total Calories and 111 4◊ Calories, 92.5% of the total Calories are 4◊ Calories! So the 4◊Score is 92.5 (rounded up to 93), and the number of WCal© is 9.
  • The ULTIMATE BUTTER version has 160 Calories per serving, 81 of which come from the 9 grams of fat.  Since one of those fat grams comes from corn, that leaves 8 grams of fat that come from oil.  8 (bad fat grams) x 9 (Calories per gram of fat) = 72 non-4◊ Calories (WCal©). 160-72=88/160= 55% of the total Calories are 4◊ Calories. Thus the 4◊Score is 55, and the number of WCal© is 72.

Determining the exact 4◊Score for a particular food or meal will not always be so exact or straightforward, but all we can do is try – and I would contend strongly that a good estimate will be good enough to accomplish our goals. But when you calculate an item’s 4◊Score and/or WCal©, please e-mail them to us! Here is what we’ve come up with so far:

  • Almonds, Blue Diamond Smokehouse or Habanero BBQ: 4◊Score 89, Wcal __
  • Almonds, Great Value Cinnamon Roasted: 4◊Score 84, Wcal __
  • Applesauce, Mott’s Unsweetened (all flavors): 4◊Score 100, Wcal 0
  • Applesauce, Mott’s (sweetened): 4◊Score 50-56, Wcal __
  • Bread, whole grain honey wheat, Pepperidge Farms: 4◊Score 79
  • Bread, white (made with whole grain), Sara Lee: 4◊Score 49
  • Cashews, Planters Deluxe: 4◊Score 94, Wcal __
  • Cereal, Kroger Chip Mates Cookie: 4◊Score 60, Wcal __
  • Cereal, Malt O’ Meal Honey Nut Scooters: 4◊Score 67, Wcal __
  • Cereal, Malt O’ Meal Mini-Spooners: 4◊Score 77, Wcal __
  • Cereal, Malt O’ Meal Raisin Bran: 4◊Score 81, Wcal __
  • Cereal, Quaker Life: 4◊Score 70, Wcal
  • Cheetos, all types: 4◊Score 0, Wcal __
  • Crackers, Cheez-IT Pepper Jack: 4◊Score 0, Wcal __
  • Crackers, Wheat Thins, Tomato & Basil: 4◊Score 60, Wcal__
  • French fries, Ore-Ida Golden Steak Fries: 4◊Score 69, Wcal__
  • French fries, Ore-Ida Golden Shoestrings: 4◊Score 55, Wcal__
  • Fruit blend, dried, Happy Village Mediterranean: 4◊Score 83, Wcal__
  • Fruits, whole (any kind): 4◊Score 100, Wcal 0
  • Granola bar, Great Value Chocolate Chunk: 4◊Score 57, Wcal __
  • Granola bar, Great Value Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip: 4◊Score 51, Wcal __
  • Granola bar, Great Value S’Mores: 4◊Score 57, Wcal __
  • Granola bar, Luna Lemonzest: 4◊Score 49, Wcal __
  • Grapefruit, red, Del Monte, in extra light syrup: 4◊Score 60 (close to 100 if syrup removed)
  • Legume (anything that comes in a pod, such as beans and peas), whole (any kind): 4◊Score 100, Wcal 0
  • Nut Mix, honey-roasted, Savanna Orchards: 4◊Score 93
  • Pancake and waffle mix, Kodiak Power Cakes: 4◊Score 61, Wcal __
  • Pancake mix, Krusteaz Buttermilk: 4◊Score 0, Wcal __
  • Pancake mix, Krusteaz Honey Wheat: 4◊Score 50, Wcal __
  • Pizza, Amy’s Roasted Vegetable: 4◊Score ~25-30, Wcal __
  • Popcorn, Great Value Light Butter: 4◊Score 75, Wal __
  • Popcorn, Orville Redenbacher smartpop! BUTTER: 4◊Score 93, Wcal 9
  • Popcorn, Orville Redenbacher ULTIMATE BUTTER: 4◊Score 55, Wcal 72
  • Potato and wheat crisps, Ritz Crisp & Thins, Cream Cheese and Onion: 4◊Score ~34, Wcal __
  • Potato chips, Red Rock Deli Lime & Cracked Pepper: 4◊Score 16, Wcal __
  • Potato chips, baked, Lays Barbecue: 4◊Score 67, Wcal __
  • Potato chips, Lays Barbecue: 4◊Score 43, Wcal __
  • Pretzel pieces, Snyder’s Sweet Chili Garlic: 4◊Score 5, Wcal __
  • Pringles, Honey Mustard: 4◊Score 43, Wcal __
  • Seeds, sunflower, BiGS Sea Salt and Cracked Pepper: 4◊Score 100, Wcal 0
  • Tortilla chips, baked, Tostitos (scoops): 4◊Score 85, Wcal __
  • Tortilla chips, Great Value Hint of Live: 4◊Score 65, Wcal __
  • Tortilla chips, Great Value Salsa Verde: 4◊Score 58, Wcal __
  • Trail mix, Great Value Tropical: 4◊Score 64, Wcal __
  • Vegetables, whole (any kind): 4◊Score 100, Wcal 0
  • Waffle mix, Krusteaz Belgian: 4◊Score 0, Wcal __