Methods and sources

Every number has a source.

How ULak Micros Pro turns a client profile into a week of food: which standards set the targets, where the food values come from, and what the solver does and does not do.

Last updated 19 October 2026

Targets: ICMR-NIN 2020

Nutrient targets come from the ICMR-NIN 2020 Nutrient Requirements for Indians: the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR), the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) and the Tolerable Upper Limit (TUL) for each life stage, including pregnancy, lactation and children. Added sugar and salt limits follow NIN’s Dietary Guidelines for Indians 2024.

Plans aim for the RDA, flag anything that falls below the EAR, and never go above the upper limit. You can replace any target with your own prescription: protein in g/kg, a macro split, training-day energy, or a nutrient limit of your own.

The 44 nutrient targets

Energy and macronutrients 5

Energy, Protein, Carbohydrate, Total fat, Fibre

Vitamins 13

Vitamin A, Thiamine (B₁), Riboflavin (B₂), Niacin (B₃), Pantothenic acid (B₅), Vitamin B₆, Biotin (B₇), Folate (B₉), Vitamin B₁₂, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, Vitamin K

Minerals 12

Iron, Calcium, Zinc, Magnesium, Potassium, Sodium, Phosphorus, Selenium, Copper, Manganese, Chromium, Molybdenum

Essential amino acids 9

Leucine, Isoleucine, Valine, Lysine, Methionine and cysteine, Phenylalanine and tyrosine, Threonine, Tryptophan, Histidine

Fats 5

Saturated fat, Monounsaturated fat, Polyunsaturated fat, Linoleic acid (ω-6), Alpha-linolenic acid (ω-3)

Every plan’s analysis also reports four more that are not planned: cholesterol, iodine (counting iodised salt, so its total is a lower bound), soluble fibre, and EPA + DHA. That makes 48 nutrients tracked.

Food values: IFCT 2017

Ingredient values come from the Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (National Institute of Nutrition). A few staples that IFCT does not cover use USDA FoodData Central or the Canadian Nutrient File.

Dishes are built from real recipes, ingredient by ingredient. Nutrients are reduced for each ingredient and cooking method using USDA retention factors, so a plan counts what is left after cooking, not what went into the pot.

Andhra Pradesh
269 dishes, named in Telugu and English
Pan-Indian
180 dishes from every region
In review
Tamil Nadu; Telangana, Karnataka and Kerala are next

The solver

Plans are built by mixed-integer linear programming (PuLP with the CBC solver). It chooses dishes and ingredient grams that come as close as the food allows to every target, inside hard limits. It is a planning aid, not a guarantee that every target is met: shortfalls are reported.

  1. Estimates energy needs with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, adjusted for activity
  2. Sets targets from ICMR-NIN 2020 by age, sex, activity, pregnancy and lactation, plus any targets or limits you set
  3. Selects dishes from the cuisine pack that fit the diet type, allergies, exclusions and cooking limits
  4. Solves each day: energy within ±5%, protein at least 95% of target (±5% of a prescription), upper limits never exceeded, micronutrients balanced over the week
  5. Recomputes every total from the final grams, re-checks allergies and limits, and reports nutrient gaps

Household measures: DGI 2024

Clients read katoris, spoons and pieces; you see the grams. Measures are anchored to the household-measure tables in the Dietary Guidelines for Indians 2024. Where the guidelines have no measure, such as spices or paneer, the plan shows grams only rather than inventing one.

Where AI is used, and where it is not

No generative model chooses a dish, a quantity or a target. Those come only from the solver and the rules above, so every number in a plan traces back to a food and a rule.

Where you switch it on, Google Gemini drafts a patient brief and a plain-language plan rationale, and reads free-text food notes. You review anything it writes before a client sees it.

Clinical use

ULak Micros Pro is for qualified nutrition professionals: dietitians, clinical nutritionists and trained coaches. Plans are assistive drafts and must be reviewed by the professional before they reach a client. ULak Micros does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

  • Review and adjust each plan for the client’s medical history, lab reports and clinical presentation
  • Not intended for self-diagnosis or self-prescription by consumers
  • Clients with diabetes, kidney disease, liver conditions or other metabolic disorders need additional clinical review
  • Pregnancy and lactation need specialised adjustments beyond standard targets