Nourish

Recipe Intelligence

Understand what your food is doing for you.

Nourish looks at recipe ingredients and gives you three simple signals to help you make informed choices — not perfect ones.

Nourish helps you understand what a recipe leans toward — so you can adjust, not judge.

How to Read Scores

Nourish scores are not grades. They help you understand what a recipe leans toward.

  • A high Gut Score may mean strong fiber and plant diversity
  • A high Protein Score may mean better support for a full meal
  • A high Real Food Score may mean simpler, less processed ingredients

Most recipes won't score high in everything — and that's normal.

Example

Gut: 8 Protein: 3 Real Food: 9

Quick Take

Light, gut-friendly, whole-food focused. Best as a side, not a full protein meal.

Why

  • Fermented ingredients support gut health
  • Simple, minimally processed ingredients
  • Low protein density

Upgrade It

  • Add chicken, eggs, or chickpeas for protein

The Three Scores

Gut Score

Estimates how supportive a recipe may be for digestion and overall gut health.

Looks at:

  • fiber-rich plants
  • plant diversity
  • fermented foods
  • prebiotic ingredients

Higher scores suggest more gut-supportive ingredients.

Protein Score

Estimates how well a recipe contributes to your protein needs.

Looks at:

  • protein-rich ingredients
  • overall protein presence
  • whether the recipe works as a main or a side

Some recipes are naturally lower in protein — that's okay.

Real Food Score

Estimates how close ingredients are to whole, minimally processed foods.

Looks at:

  • whole ingredients
  • level of processing
  • refined or ultra-processed components

Higher scores suggest simpler, more recognizable ingredients.

How it Works

Nourish reads the ingredient list of a recipe and uses AI to estimate three scores on a 0–10 scale.

Each score includes a short explanation so you can see:

  • what helped
  • what held it back
  • how to adjust if you want to

These are rough estimates designed to help you compare recipes and spot patterns over time.

Score Scale

0–2
Low
3–4
Fair
5–6
Moderate
7–8
Strong
9–10
Excellent

Availability

Nourish is available to Zap Cooking members.

Open any recipe and tap Nourish to see what it's doing for you.

View membership options

Notes

  • Scores are estimates based on ingredients and recipe structure
  • Ingredient quality and preparation methods can change outcomes
  • Some benefits depend on specific product types (for example, whether fermented foods contain live cultures)
  • Nourish is for awareness, not diagnosis or treatment