The numbers, with their limits in view.

Amino Matchers estimates the nutrients in recorded foods. It compares their amino-acid proportions with a published adult reference pattern. It does not measure digestion, absorption, muscle growth or the nutritional adequacy of your entire diet.

Amino-acid balance

We use the FAO 2013 pattern for older children, adolescents and adults, expressed in milligrams per gram of protein. The tools and personal goals here are intended for adults aged 19 and older.

For each ingredient, multiply its per-100-g nutrient values by its edible weight divided by 100. Add the amounts across ingredients. Amino acids reported in grams are converted to milligrams.

Balance score = 100 × the smallest of the nine combined amino-acid ratios. Each ratio divides the amino-acid amount by total protein multiplied by its reference value. A score of 100 means the composition meets this pattern. A score above 100 is possible; it does not mean more than 100% absorption.

The optional protein supported by amino-acid balance estimate is the smaller of total protein and the lowest amino-acid amount divided by its reference value. It is a mathematical summary of composition, capped at total protein. Any difference is not “wasted” protein. This estimate is not DIAAS, PDCAAS, absorbed protein or a clinical complete-protein allowance.

The pattern is a ratio per gram of protein, not a person's daily amino-acid requirement. We do not label every plant protein incomplete, or assume that adding a second food always helps. FAO method report

What happens when data are missing?

Missing values stay missing. They never silently become zero. If a positive-protein ingredient lacks a required amino-acid value, the exact combined score is unavailable. Other known nutrients remain visible as subtotals. An explicit source-reported zero-protein ingredient can contribute zero protein amino acids while still adding calories, sodium or other nutrients.

Database records can contain measured, calculated and imputed values. Source and preparation matter. The natural-peanut-butter profile comes from the Canadian Nutrient File and is source-imputed from a similar food; it is an estimate, not a direct laboratory assay of your peanut butter. Four catalog records lack a complete amino-acid panel and are available for nutrition analysis, not matching.

Why there is no digestion percentage in the calculator

DIAAS needs amino-acid-specific ileal digestibility and a compatible reference pattern. PDCAAS uses a different digestibility approach. A scalar quality score cannot be multiplied by protein grams to discover absorbed protein.

We have not approved any digestibility coefficient set for an exact catalog preparation. Human, animal and laboratory findings are clearly distinguished in the research library. A reproducible fried-egg study benchmark is research context; it is not joined to a generic USDA egg record. No universal plant, cooking, soaking or fermentation adjustment is applied.

Matching foods

The matcher examines combinations of two to four distinct foods. Different preparations of the same underlying food do not count as independent complementary foods. In “Improve this meal,” existing ingredients remain fixed while the search considers one to three additions.

Each search uses food-specific minimum and maximum portions and gram increments. These are practical search settings, not medical portion recommendations. Protein and all nine amino-acid constraints must be satisfied. You can prioritize fewer calories, smaller total portions, practical portions, or fewer ingredients; those are different objectives.

Searches are bounded for responsiveness. The interface reports how many food sets were examined and whether its limits were reached. Results are recomputed after rounding to the declared serving grid. They are qualifying combinations within that search, not proof of a universal optimum or a ranking of overall health.

Tablespoons, grams and servings

U.S. tablespoons are 14.78676478125 mL; teaspoons are 4.92892159375 mL; cups are 236.5882365 mL. Metric tablespoons and teaspoons are explicitly labelled 15 mL and 5 mL. A fluid ounce is volume; a weight ounce is 28.349523125 g.

Food-specific source measures connect volume to grams. A tablespoon of cocoa is not the same weight as a tablespoon of honey. The catalog uses one consistent volume anchor for each preparation, with its source and uncertainty. Spoon estimates depend on packing, grinding and the food you use; weighing is more precise. When no reviewed conversion exists, enter weight instead.

We keep canonical grams at calculation precision and round only the display. Changing Metric/U.S. display does not change nutrition. Recipes retain the original entry where it can be verified. Servings scale the whole batch; the volume or weight of a finished smoothie is not inferred by adding ingredient volumes.

Daily nutrition

Daily totals combine the recorded portions of consumed meals. Planned meals appear separately until you explicitly include them in a projection. An empty day is unlogged; an unfinished day is a partial record, not proof of deficiency. Repeating a meal is an intentional duplicate entry.

The combined daily amino-acid profile is calculated again from all ingredients. We never add capped meal equivalents or average meal scores. Saved entries keep copies of their food values, quantities, recipe version and comparison inputs. New entries also preserve the actual goal/reference values; changing a recipe or a current goal does not rewrite an earlier log.

RDA is an allowance for a reference population. AI is an adequate intake used when an RDA cannot be set. DV is a general labelling reference, not a personalized requirement. UL is an upper intake level, often restricted to specific forms or sources. Sodium's CDRR is a chronic disease risk reduction intake; it is not a UL.

Percentages require complete, compatible nutrient data. Carbohydrate by difference does not silently become available carbohydrate. Preformed niacin is not niacin equivalents; undifferentiated 18:3 is not automatically alpha-linolenic acid. Copper units are converted explicitly. Vitamin K comparisons show the phylloquinone/K1 data available; they are not a complete K2 assessment. Total sugar is not added sugar. Protein %DV is withheld; selected protein goals are shown separately.

Food magnesium, naturally occurring folate and other ordinary food totals are not compared with upper limits restricted to supplements or fortification. Missing iodine stays unknown. Iron/zinc contents are not exact absorbed amounts. See the reviewed reference tables and crosswalks.

Choosing a protein goal

The U.S./Canadian adult RDA is 0.8 g/kg/day; the EFSA adult reference is 0.83 g/kg/day. The 2025–2030 U.S. dietary guidelines give a 1.2–1.6 g/kg/day goal. The 2017 ISSN exercise position gives 1.4–2.0 g/kg/day for most exercising individuals. These have different populations and purposes; they are not interchangeable RDAs.

No goal is silently selected. Weight-based goals require a body weight. You may choose a range or enter a personal goal. Protein choices do not change micronutrient references. Personal adult references require the relevant age/category and exclude pregnancy, lactation and unsupported life stages. Sources and exact scope

Food exclusions

Diet and exclusion filters apply to suggestions, search results and personalized comparisons. Soy, dairy, wheat and other ingredient groups are inherited by known variants. Foods with an unknown full formulation cannot pass strict ingredient or diet filters. Existing recorded intake is preserved and flagged if it conflicts with newer exclusions.

Generic database records cannot establish manufacturing cross-contact safety. Check the food and preparation you actually use. The tools do not certify a food as safe for a particular allergy.

Review scope and corrections

The initial source cutoff is October 24, 2026. The discovery index includes 3,631 distinct records; 51 studies were prioritized and 24 have structured extraction records. Twenty-seven prioritized full-text gaps and the wider unscreened set remain. This is a scoped, ongoing evidence review, not an exhaustive systematic review.

Primary tables, corrections and exact preparation identities matter. One pulse study's printed inputs did not reproduce its score table, so quantitative reuse is withheld. The Danish vegan survey correction distinguishes average requirements from recommended intakes. Evidence and downloadable appraisal records