Diet Optimization

This application finds the least-cost diet that fulfills a specific set of nutritional requirements  It has a default basket of foods (with an associated set of nutritional data), but foods can be added or removed, with changes remembered from prior saved sessions.

Stigler studied this problem heuristically in the 1940s, but only the development of modern optimization algorithms gave relatively quick accurate solutions. The linear programming techniques implemented in this application are now widely used to create practical diet plans from accepted nutritional guidelines.  

STEP 1: Add, Modify or Remove Foods

If you want to add a custom food, then specificy its name, nutritional contents and cost, and click "Add or Update".  Any non-positive numbers will be ignored. You can get nutritional data from http://www.nutritiondata.com.

Select Food:DonutBagel, Oat BranYogurt,fruit,non fatChiliBrocolli,boiled,no saltAppleOats,instant,dryOrange,raw,navelLentils,cooked,no saltCarrots, baby rawBrussel sprout, cookedChicken, roast, no skinBlueberries, rawSpinach,boiled, no saltBanana, rawMilk 1%, added vit A

Name

Serving Size

Calories

/kCal

Fat

/g

Current List of Foods

Donut

Donut Bagel, Oat Bran Yogurt,fruit,non fat Chili Brocolli,boiled,no salt Apple Oats,instant,dry Orange,raw,navel Lentils,cooked,no salt Carrots, baby raw Brussel sprout, cooked Chicken, roast, no skin Blueberries, raw Spinach,boiled, no salt Banana, raw Milk 1%, added vit A

Saturated Fat

/g

Trans Fat

/g

Cholesterol

/mg

Sodium

/mg

Carbs

/g

Fibre

/g

Sugar

/g

Protein

/g

Cost

/$

Vitamin A

/IU

Vitamin C

/mg

Calcium

/mg

Iron

/mg

Limit to whole

portions?

STEP 2: Nutritional Constraints in Optimized Diet

Leave blank for no specific lower or upper bound.

Greater Than

Less Than

Greater Than

Less Than

Calories /kCal

Fibre /g

Fat /g

Sugar /g

Saturated Fat /g

Protein /g

Trans Fat /g

Vitamin A /IU

Cholesterol /mg

Vitamin C /mg

Sodium /mg

Calcium /mf

Carbohydrates /mg

Iron /mg

STEP 3: Optimum Least-Cost Diet

Click "Optimize Diet!".

Food Portions in Optimized Diet

Optimum Cost and Nutrition Data