Aliqa is a food-logging app, not a medical device. It applies established public-health frameworks across three scoring dimensions to score each day. The frameworks are independent of Aliqa, and citation here is not an endorsement of Aliqa by their authors or the issuing bodies. Aliqa does not provide medical, nutritional, or psychological advice; always consult a qualified healthcare professional before changing your diet.
Each day is scored on three dimensions, each on a 1–10 scale, for a composite of 3–30. Every dimension applies an established public-health framework that has its own evidentiary basis and, in several cases, regulatory standing. Aliqa is the delivery mechanism for these frameworks: the scoring engine encodes their guidance and turns it into a daily score and short recommendation.
How well sweet and starchy foods are paired with protein, fibre, and healthy fat across the day, and how often isolated sugar (juice, soda, sweet snacks) appears outside a meal context.
What it rewards: sweet or starchy foods paired with protein, fibre, or fat that slow glycemic response (the ICQC consensus position); meals that combine sources rather than presenting sugar in isolation.
What it penalises: isolated added sugar (sugary drinks, sweet snacks without a fibre/fat/protein companion), and high glycemic-load items eaten outside a balanced meal context.
Frameworks Aliqa applies:
Whether each main meal contains the structural elements UK and international plate-composition guidance asks for: vegetables, a portion of protein, and whole rather than refined grains. Legumes are explicitly valued.
What it rewards: vegetables at every main meal; a portion of protein at every main meal; whole grains preferred over refined; legumes; food-group variety.
What it penalises: main meals missing a protein source or missing vegetables; refined-carb-only meals.
Frameworks Aliqa applies:
How much of the day is whole foods - vegetables, fruit, healthy fats, omega-3 sources - versus ultra-processed foods and sugary drinks.
What it rewards: omega-3 sources (oily fish, walnuts, flax), healthy unsaturated fats, whole fruit and vegetables, plant-fibre drawn from multiple groups across the day (at least three of vegetables, legumes, whole grains, whole fruit), home-cooked food from recognisable ingredients.
What it penalises: ultra-processed items (NOVA group 4); sugary drinks; alcoholic drinks (flagged as a critical nutrient by the PAHO Nutrient Profile Model); reliance on diet products formulated with non-sugar sweeteners (WHO 2023 issued a conditional recommendation against non-sugar sweeteners for weight management, based on long-term observational evidence).
Frameworks Aliqa applies:
Aliqa applies these public-health frameworks but is not endorsed by their authors or the issuing bodies. Aliqa does not claim a clinical effect, does not diagnose, does not treat any condition, and does not replace advice from a qualified healthcare professional. The scoring is not a substitute for medical decision-making - see the Medical Disclaimer for the full position.
The popular literature on glycemic management has been shaped by researchers and clinicians whose ideas overlap with - but are not identical to - the public-health frameworks above. Aliqa was influenced by their work, but their work is not the basis of Aliqa's scoring engine and they have not endorsed the app. Inclusion below is editorial context, not a scientific consensus or endorsement of Aliqa: