The Mediterranean Score (Med Score) is designed to evaluate how closely a patient's dietary habits align with the principles of a Mediterranean-style diet. This updated version expands on the original Med Score by accounting for a wider range of modern dietary patterns, including plant-based diets, and by introducing new components such as ultra-processed food intake and sources of healthy fats.

At its core, the Med Score is calculated from foods logged by the patient over a set period. The system identifies and tracks servings across key food categories - such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, fish, red meat, and healthy fats. It also evaluates added components including sugary beverage consumption, ultra-processed desserts, omega-3 intake, and whether omega-3s are being consumed through food or supplements.

Each of these components is compared to evidence-based weekly targets. Foods that are encouraged in a Mediterranean diet, such as vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, raise the score when consumed in adequate amounts. Foods discouraged in the diet, such as red and processed meats or sugary beverages, lower the score when consumed in excess. The final result is a numeric score that reflects the overall diet quality in a given week, normalized for consistency across patients with varying levels of food logging.

Importantly, this version of the Med Score introduces a built-in adjustment for patients who do not consume fish, such as those following vegetarian or vegan diets. Rather than penalizing these patients for avoiding fish, the system checks whether their diets include other nutrient-dense sources of plant-based protein - such as legumes, tofu, or tempeh - and whether they receive omega-3 fatty acids through other means, such as flaxseed or supplements. If a patient consumes sufficient plant protein and meets targets for omega-3 intake (either from food or supplements), they receive partial credit in place of the fish score. This adjustment ensures that plant-based diets can still be fairly evaluated under Mediterranean guidelines, recognizing alternative ways to achieve nutritional goals traditionally associated with fish consumption.

The scoring logic also incorporates a more dynamic approach to fruit and vegetable intake. Rather than treating these as independent metrics, the system evaluates their balance together. This ensures that patients with high vegetable intake but low fruit intake (or vice versa) still receive a reasonable score, while promoting overall diversity in plant consumption.

By accommodating plant-based diets and evaluating additional modern food risk factors, the updated Med Score offers a more inclusive, flexible, and clinically relevant assessment of diet quality. It supports healthcare providers in monitoring nutrition, tailoring advice to diverse dietary patterns, and tracking progress over time with a validated and adaptable scoring framework.

Tips

1. Use the date filter to focus on specific time ranges, and the quick filter to view reported periods or data aligned with a CGM device period.
   
2. Patients have shared that this single-number metric offers helpful, easy-to-understand feedback. An increasing value is associated with improvements in diet quality and is often more accessible than reviewing multiple graphs or data points.