WO2006066370A1

WO2006066370A1 - Interactive management system of nutrients and calories and method for its use

Info

Publication number: WO2006066370A1
Application number: PCT/BR2004/000251
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hilton Vidigal Junior Soares; Leonardo Vieira Grinstein; Leonardo Damianik Vidigal Soares
Original assignee: Hilton Vidigal Junior Soares; Leonardo Vieira Grinstein; Soares Leonardo Damianik Vidig
Priority date: 2004-12-23
Filing date: 2004-12-23
Publication date: 2006-06-29

Abstract

The present invention is about an interactive management system of nutrients and calories and a method for its use, through which we can create conditions for the user to have access to a complete and personalized alimentary program that embodies diets and physical exercises. Besides, this new system allows the user the interactivity in order to obtain a weight loss program or a muscular mass gain program that attends exactly the user's demands and expectations, together with a personalized degree never seen before. The system has the important characteristic of being available through the Internet, although this is not the only mean of access. This specific characteristic was created in order for the user to be able to access the system anywhere in the planet, as long as there is a connection available.

Description

"INTERACTIVE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM OF NUTRIENTS AND CALORIES AND METHOD FOR ITS USE"

Technical Field

This invention is about a management interactive system of nutrients and calories , through which users will be able to establish programs that can alter the body mass , for example, a losing weight diet or a muscular mass gain, depending on their expectations and/or necessities . The system foresees the utilization of a diet program taking into account the presence of physical exercises , directed to the user' s individual profile .

Background of the Invention .

In the course of time, different lines of thinking about nutrition emerged and they supported the many diets that exist nowadays . It is important to highlight that, in this subj ect, there is no consensus about what would be the ideal tendency. There are a great number of researches and studies that confirm the efficiency of each one of them, but there is no unanimity between the advantages and the disadvantages in each particular theory .

This way, a number of nutritional professionals j oined this or that line of thinking to prescribe a diet to their patients , and that develop lots of systems with this purpose . Some of these lines of thinking support the diets based on the traditional alimentary pyramid. Here, the nutrition must be healthy and well balanced, and the fat loss happens through the controlled caloric deficit . This caloric deficit means that the amount of ingested calories must be inferior to the amount of spent calories , during a day. The daily individual menu must have certain portions (measures in number of calories ) of all the alimentary groups ( Starchy, Vegetables/Legume , Fruits , Dairy Products , Meat, Fats , and Sugars ) .

To other lines of thinking, what must be taken into consideration in a diet are the nutritional pieces of information of the foods . The nutritional information of a food shows its intrinsic properties , such as amount of calories , carbohydrates , proteins , fats , cholesterol , fibers , etc . So, we can say that the nutritional information of foods concerns their calories , carbohydrates , proteins , and fats . The carbohydrates , proteins , and fat are what we call alimentary macronutrients . The amount of macronutrients distributed on a diet and its specific type are relevant data to this line of thinking . According to it, all the meals should contain carbohydrates , proteins , and fats , in a determined ratio, in order for the diet to be effective .

Another line of thinking, which also works with the concept of macronutrients distribution, supports the restricted consumption of carbohydrates and the unrestricted consumption of proteins and fats . This diet became popularly known as the protein diet .

There is also another stream of thinking that supports the diets based only on the caloric deficit . In practice, this means that consuming lesser calories than you spend, the result will be the weight loss .

There is already an agreement in the fact that a diet, when associated to physical activity, is much more efficient in obtaining the desired results . Many weight loss programs conj ugate these two factors in order to obtain the desired result faster than the result obtained only through the nutritional control of the diet .

This way, today, there are various theoretical ideas in which you can establish a management program of nutrients and calories . However, practically all the programs are inflexible, in a sense of imposing the user determined conditions and obligating the person to follow such conditions if he or she wants to remain in a determined program previously chosen . Most of the times , the market linked to the nutrition and physical conditioning areas is the one that dictates the rules of the weight loss program to the users — imposing strict and, in most of the times , unchangeable conditions . Besides that , obesity is an important public health problem in developed countries , and its growth is also being observed in developing countries , particularly in

Latin America . This is already being considered by WHO

(World Health Organization) as a global epidemic, and this organization also considers it as the disease of the 21st century . So, the expenditure of a great number of countries justifies the challenge of reducing the obesity in a world scale . Obesity still brings its effects in the psychological area of people, and it has deep repercussions in the individual self-esteem and social relations .

Besides obesity, there are also some diseases and conditions that that are extremely sensitive to the type of nutrition that the user has , such as , for example, diabetes

(in all types ) , the celiac disease, high blood pressure, among many others .

There are also users who want to obtain a stronger and athletic body . Those are users who go to gyms , practice bodybuilding, and take physical exercises seriously, in order to acquire a muscular body . In these cases , a diet program is also necessary together with exercises . However, there has to be some norms that must be followed in order to achieve the desired results . When we talk about systems in search of alimentary plans for muscular mass gain, we face the same reality . These are inflexible and limited systems that do not allow any interaction by the user, and that, invariably, impose strict conditions — unchangeable in most of the times — to the established nutrition planning . The first aspect that shows the strict character of the existing systems is related to the calculation of calories to be consumed a day — present in most of the diets . Daily Calories Calculation

Naturally, our body spends calories during the day . Even when we are at rest, it will consume a determined number of calories . As mentioned before , a basic rule of weight loss diets is the calculation of the caloric deficit, usually in a determined period — as in 1 (one) day, for example .

In general , the existing systems estimate the user' s calorie expenditure in a linear way, during a period of time — usually a week . Therefore , a user can, during this period, have a calorie expenditure of, lets say, 2000 cal on Tuesdays , Thursdays , Saturdays , and Sundays — the days that the person does not exercise —, and of 2600 cal on Mondays , Wednesdays , and Fridays — the days that the person does exercise . Many existing systems work with the average calorie expenditure during the week . So, in the example above , we can say that the daily calorie expenditure of this user is of 2257 cal ( ( ( 2600 x 3 ) + ( 2000 x 4 ) ) /7 ) , in other words , linear during the whole week .

According to this result, it is proj ected a decrease of calorie consumption, in a way that it produces a calorie deficit that leads to weight loss . Then, if the amount of consumed calories by the user was estimated in 2257 cal , their weight loss program will create a diet with fewer calories than the required 2257 cal .

In order to a weight loss planning work well and have enduring results , the ideal is that this calorie deficit be a variable value and one proportional to the real daily calorie loss . However, the existing systems nowadays have a limitation in relation to that — once their calculation basis is the average value —, what inescapably generates differences on the value of the real daily calorie deficit — and this will negatively influence the desired results .

Still analyzing the example , if a system of the state of the art establishes a calorie deficit of 20% (2257 cal x 20% = 451 cal ) for the user, then, we will have a linear value of 1806 cal to be consumed daily ( 2257 cal - 451 cal ) along the week . In fact, however, this deficit is very much different from the desired 20% . In the days that the user does not exercise , this deficit would correspond to 9 , 7% (2000 cal - 194 cal = 1806 cal ) . On the other hand, in the days that the user does exercise , this calorie deficit would correspond to 30 , 5% (2600 cal - 794 cal = 1806 cal ) .

Differently, a special diet that intends to gain muscular mass works with the idea of calorie surplus . This happens because the calories consumed in excess will be fundamental to the regeneration and growth of the muscular tissue . In these diets there is also the necessity of the calorie surplus to be dosed, variable , and proportional , so, in case it is smaller than the number specified, the gain of muscular mass is damaged . On the other hand, if the number is bigger than the one specified, these extra calories will contribute for the formation of muscular tissue and produce a fat accumulation in the body. Therefore, it is fundamental to dose well this surplus . Returning to the same example, however establishing now a surplus of 20% to the user and maintaining daily average calorie expenditure in 2257 cal , we will have a daily ingestion proj ection of 2708 cal (2257 cal + 451 cal = 2708 cal ) . Nevertheless , this value represents 35 , 4%

( 2708 cal - 2000 cal = 708 cal) more calories in the days that the user does not exercise, and 4 , 2% ( 2708 cal - 2600 cal = 108 cal ) more calories in the days the user does exercise . Such variation will result in a fat gain when the user does not exercise and in a no development of a desired muscular mass when the user does exercise .

This happens because it would be impracticable to prescribe a diet for each day of the week, taking into consideration the physical activities planned by the user . Nowadays , there is no such system that calculates accurately the calorie deficit/surplus , considering those variations on the daily calorie consumption .

Besides this calorie deficit/surplus calculated by percentage , many of the existing systems work with a steady cut of calories ingested, which causes this calorie deficit/surplus to produce proportional variations to the calories spent during the day . The problems observed in this case are analogous to those noticed with the percent variation of the number of calories to be ingested . The management systems of nutrients and calories of the state of the art work with diets that have a fixed number of calories that do not adapt itself to the metabolic changes of the individual along the time . The consequence is that they lose their effectiveness after some time , because the organism of the person tends to adapt to the new calorie ingestion .

So, if today a calorie deficit/surplus of 20% is generating great results for a person, after a couple months the results may not be the same and, maybe, it will be necessary a positive or negative adjustment on those calorie parameters .

Pre-established meals with rigid menus Another aspect that makes clear the rigid character of the existing systems is related to the menus and the available meals .

In the line of thinking that supports diets based on the distribution of macronutrients , what is important in the preparation of those meals is the proportion that this distribution occurs , the type of macronutrients present in the meals , and the amount of calories present on them. The amount of caloric values of daily meals must be equal to the aim of daily calorie ingestion established for the user .

In the case of these diets , in the systems of state of the art , the user always receives prepared meals with predetermined foods , which makes it impossible for the person to do any modification in the meals of the diet — in a way that the meals maintain the same proportion of macronutrients , the same type of macronutrients , and the same pre-established calorie values .

The user who wants to stick with the diet will have to ingest exactly those foods , and in those quantities , prescribed for the meals . Usually, there is no flexibility in the choice of foods . If a set of foods was defined for lunch — in a proportion of, for example, 40% carbohydrates, 30% proteins and 30% fat — and this meal has to have a total of 500 cal, the user will be restricted to those foods in a determined quantity in order to follow the diet . Sometimes , the existing systems may offer a few variations of menu, but in a very limited manner and, even so, the proportion of macronutrients after the change does not remains the same . This happens because the foods do not have the exactly same nutritional properties . It is rarely possible to use the same amount of a new food that matches exactly the same nutritional properties of a determined quantity of another one . What is normal is that each food has its own amount of calories , carbohydrates , proteins , and fats , in a clear way .

In the same way, the existing systems work with prepared meals , pre-determined foods , in a way that in most of the times the meals follow a proportion of macronutrients and a determined number of calories .

For the line of thinking that supports diets based on the alimentary pyramid, what is important on the preparation of meals is the distribution of the portions of foods related to the different alimentary groups — Starchy, Vegetables/Legume, Fruits , Dairy Products , Meat , Fats , and Sugars — and the respective calorie value of each one of them in the meals . The sum of the calorie values of the daily portions must be equal to the aim of daily calorie ingestion established for the user .

The systems of the state of the art , which are based on this theoretical approach, always offer prepared meals with pre-determined foods for the user . This makes it almost impossible for him to do any modification on the meals of the diet and still keep the same distribution of portions and calorie values defined by the particular system. A user may even have knowledge of the foods that belong to different alimentary groups , but to change a certain food the person would have to know what amount of this new food is compatible, in number of calories, to the amount of the previously prescribed food . Once more, some of the systems of the state of the art may offer possibilities of variations of menus , but , even so, in a restricted manner . The system may offer a list of equivalents with amounts of certain foods already pre- established, so the user is able to substitute . However, the diet is limited only on those foods that are on the list and on that specific quantity .

To the systems that take into account only the calorie count , the important thing on the meal set up are the caloric values . The sum of the caloric values from daily meals must be the same as the aim of daily calorie ingestion established for the user .

In short, in all systems of the state of the art — based on alimentary pyramid, on macronutrient proportion, on calorie count, or on combinations — usually the user remains restricted to the prescribed foods . In most of the times , when the user wants to change a food in a meal , the person needs to change all or several of the foods of that specific meal , because the meals are already established and set on the system. The fact is that none of the systems of the state of the art allows the user to have control of the foods chosen to constitute the meals of his or her diet . In other words , it is the system that chooses and not the user . There is no interaction between system-user .

Types and quantity of meals The management systems o nutrients and calories of the state of the art establish the types of meals and the quantities of meals the user may have , and also its schedule . For example, one of them might establish five meals per day, which are arranged this way : breakfast , snack, lunch, second snack, and dinner . Once this is established, it is the responsibility of the user to follow the norms to remain in the diet . In case the person wants to substitute a meal for another one , replacing lunch for another snack for example, the system will not be able to adapt this new snack to reach the same obj ectives the lunch was reaching before . In the same way, if the user wants to have less or more meals like, for example, to add an extra snack after dinner — what would be the sixth meal of the day — the system also will not be able to add this new meal and adapt all others to keep the same obj ectives of the menu as a whole as it was before . Once more, the user is not in control of his or her choices .

The existing systems also do not allow this flexibility of choice . The types of meals an their quantity are already pre-determined . Thus , in the existing systems there is almost no flexibility for the user to choose which and how many meals he or she is going to take . Size of meals The systems of the state of the art establish an amount of calories that the person will ingest during a day and, from that , they determine the amount of calories that each meal will have . This way, the sum of the calories from all the meals of the day must be equal to the amount of calories defined for the individual to consume in a day .

For example, it is necessary a daily consumption of 1500 cal in order for the user to remain in their diet , and these calories must be distributed along the five daily meals . In this example, we can have the following caloric distribution : breakfast = 300 cal , snack = 100 cal , lunch = 500 cal , second snack = 100 cal , dinner = 500 cal (Total = 1500 cal ) .

Once we have defined this , the user can not decide if he or she wants to eat more or less in any of the meals — changing the caloric distribution among them — without having to do a complete reorganization of the caloric distribution among all meals of their alimentary planning . The user cannot, for example, eat a bigger breakfast (of 500 cal, for example) and a smaller lunch ( of 300 cal , for example) . Most of the existing systems will not give you this opportunity . The ones that offer this do it in a rigid way usually with predetermined food quantities . Most of the times , it is impossible for the user to increase or decrease the calorie number and content for all the meals in existing systems . On those , there are many types of pre- established meals with a predetermined number of calories . One more time it is the system that imposes a strict condition to the user, who remains with very much limited choices .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention provides a new interactive management system of nutrients and calories , through which it is possible to create conditions for the user to access a complete and personalized alimentary program that embodies diets and physical exercises .

Thus , the system of this invention allows the user to interact in order to obtain a weight loss or a muscular mass gain program that meet exactly their expectations and interests , with a brand new personalized degree . The system has a preferable characteristic of being available on the internet — which makes possible its use anywhere in the world, as long as there is a connection available —, though this is not its exclusive means of access .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Differently from the existing system of the state of the art, the one developed by this invention offers an alimentary program that allows the complete integration between the diet and the exercise program. This way, the user has the possibility of following a dynamic diet that regulates the calories to be ingested accordingly to the amount/intensity of physical exercises to be executed. So, if a user has to do a specific exercise during a day, and this exercise results in an extra calorie consumption, the system calculates how much this exercise will help that person burn calories and it adj usts their diet in order for it to keep a caloric deficit/surplus well dosed, constant , and proportional .

Referring to the example given previously, if we assume the caloric expenditure to be of 2000 cal , in the days that the user does not exercise the system according to this invention will calculate a diet of 1600 cal (a decrease of 20%) . On the other hand, on those days that the user ^' exercises and has a higher caloric expenditure — for example, of 2600 cal — the user is going to have a diet of 2080 cal ( a decrease of 20% ) . In the same example, for muscular mass gain the system according to this invention will proj ect a diet of 2400 cal

( 2000 cal + 20% = 2400 cal) on those days that the user does not exercise, and of 3.120 cal ( 2600 cal + 20% = 3120 cal ) on those days that he or she does exercise . Besides , as each person has a specific response to this caloric cut/addition, according to his or her metabolism through time , it is important that the system allows an adj ustment of the caloric deficit/surplus in order to reassure that the diet remains effective . In the system of this invention, if the user notices that the desired results stopped, the person is able to modify the calorie amount ingested . This will be done by decreasing or increasing the ingestion of calories and, by doing that, the user will adapt the diet to their individual characteristics and he or she will also always guarantee the best results — lose weight or gain muscular mass . This characteristic of interactivity is new and it does not exist in other systems of state of the art . This system adapts the diet to the metabolic reality of its user, and it will be translated by its obtained results along the time .

This new system is sufficiently flexible to allow the user to choose what he or she wants to eat in the meals , and also allows the user to change the foods anytime he or she wants — and still remain on the diet . Thus , the users will be eating what they like and they will always have the possibility of changing their menu themselves . Besides , this system allows the users to alter the types and quantities of meals creating a dynamic, stimulating, and effective diet .

Another characteristic of this new system is that it offers flexibility for the users to choose the caloric content of their meals and also to modify these contents anytime , without going out of the diet .

This invention reveals an interactive management system of nutrients and calories , which allows the users to build a full , personalized and completely under control alimentary program — one that can integrate diet and aerobic and/or anaerobic exercises programs .

User Sign Up

The first interaction with the system, according to this invention, takes the users to supply their personal information, anthropometrical information, as well as the information related to their current physical condition and lifestyle . An example of a computer screen asking these pieces of information is represented in Image 1.

Another aspect of this invention is the possibility of automatic adjustment of all management as the user changes the weight and the age . This information must be supplied in the initial setup of the system. A general example of the system interface setup of the mentioned data is presented as the following :

if}

Full Name; |

E-mail:

Password: |[ Reenter Password: Address Linel: Address Line2: | City: f

State/Proυince/Region: |_ ZIP/Postal Code:

Country: |- Enter Country- Q

Phone Number:

How did you know r: ~— -

, . |- Se ect- about us: Gender: O Male O Female

Birth Date: |£ay.lXJ / |MqnthjJ / (Year IjJ Height: I i m Weight: | _ kg

Activity Level: C Inactive

(without taking into (Spend most of the day seated and doing activities that account physical demands no physical efforts (e.g. watching tv, reading, using exercises) computer, sleeping) C Lightly Active

(Spend most time of the day seated. Spend the remaining time walking and doing low intensity physical activities)

C Moderately Active

(Spend most time of the day stood up, walking or doing mild intensity activities)

C Ve iy Active

(Day by day demands a lot of physical efforts)

My Weight Goal: kg Calculation of Daily Calories

The system resulted from the presented invention allows the users to have an accurate count of their daily calorie expenditure, which is fundamental for the users to program their caloric deficit/surplus because it leads to weight loss or to muscular mass gain, according to what was desired .

Even being at rest, the users spend calories — what is called basal caloric expenditure . According to Harris and Benedict formula (Harris JA e Benedict FG . A Biometric Study of Basal Metabolism in Man (Edition No . 279. Washington, DC : Carnegie Institute- of Washington, 1919 ) , in order to calculate this daily basal caloric expenditure we have to take into account variables such as weight, sex, height, and age of the user . Besides that, this expenditure will take into consideration the physical activity factor of the users to calculate more accurately their caloric expenditure . This physical activity factor may be Inactive, Lightly Active, Moderately Active and Very Active . Each one of them has a numeric value that is used according to the following formula :

DCE = BCE x AFun

In which :

DCE = Daily Caloric Expenditure, in calories ;

BCE = Basal Caloric Expenditure , in calories and

AFun = Activity Function, not dimensional , and the numerical values are : Inactive 1.20

Lightly Active 1.35

Moderately Active 1.50

Very Active 1.75 These factors are used according to the individual' s activity lifestyle which does not include physical exercises .

The basal caloric expenditure is calculated through the following formula : a) for men :

BCE_M = 66 + ( 13.7 x W) + (5 x H) - ( 6.8 x A) ;

In which;

W = Weight, in kilograms ;

H = Height, in centimeters and

A = Age, in years .

b) for women :

BCEw = 655 + ( 9.6 x W) + (1.8 x H) - ( 4.7 x A) ;

In which;

W = Weight, in kilograms ;

H = Height, in centimeters and

A = Age, in years .

The system of this new invention incorporated the physical exercises in the daily caloric expenditure of the users , in order for the calculation of caloric deficit/surplus to be done precisely. This way, another fragment was added to the formula that calculates the daily caloric expenditure .

In order to calculate the calories spent in physical exercises , this system adopted the formula that takes into consideration variables such as user' s weight and exercise' s duration . For each physical activity was established a factor (Harris JA and Benedict FG . A Biometric Study of Basal Metabolism in Man (Edition No . 279. Washington, DC : Carnegie Institute of Washington, 1919 ) .

These three factors together, when applied to the following formula, show as a result the number of calories spent on that physical activity :

CEPA = AF x W x T

In which :

CEPA = Caloric Expenditure in Physical Activities , in calories ; AF = Activity Factor, in (calories/Kg x min) ; W = User' s weight, in Kg and T = Duration of the activity, in minutes .

This way, the system takes into consideration many factors to find the daily caloric expenditure and to calculate the right caloric ingestion necessary to meet an ideal caloric deficit/surplus . An exact calculation of spent calories would be impossible, considering that each user has a different metabolism. However, this estimate of calorie expenditure created by the system is the closest to reality, and it is widely accepted in the scientific field as a form of proj ecting spent calories during a day .

Moreover, the Harris and Benedict formula is one of the several mathematical models , which could be used to estimate the daily caloric expenditure and any different, but acceptable, model could be used here in order to embody the present invention . Therefore, the Harris and Benedict formula is not a limiting feature of the system and method of the present application .

The system allows the integration between the diet and the physical activity . This new integration gives the users the possibility of a dynamic management of nutrients and calories ingested by them, adjusting the nutrients and calories according to the amount/intensity of the physical activities to be executed.

So, if the user has in the program a specific exercise for that day and this activity result in extra calorie consumption, this system will calculate how much of this exercise will raise the calorie expenditure and it will adj ust the diet so the user keeps a dosed, constant and proportional calorie deficit/surplus . Besides , the system of this new invention allows the users to redefine their daily calorie ingestion, in a way that they can increase or decrease their caloric cut/addition . In order for this to happen, it is necessary a definition of a new cut/addition percentage, a new number of fixed calories to be cut/added, or, still, a new number of total calories to be consumed during the day . This is an exclusive benefit because each person has their own physiology, and this allows them to adj ust their results so their planning is well personalized and adapted to the body chances they are experiencing .

Therefore, if the user creates a diet with a caloric deficit/surplus of 20% and, after some time, he or she notices that the obtained results are not same as in the beginning, the system allows the person to reconfigure the diet so it begins to have a caloric deficit/surplus of 30% , for example, and goes back to results it was achieving previously . In all diets the system permits that the user defines what is going to be the caloric deficit/surplus ; which can be a proportion in relation to the daily calorie expenditure or a fixed number of calories to be cut/added to the calories spend during the day . There is still a possibility for the user to input directly in this system a fixed number of calories that the person wants to have on his or her daily diet .

The user also may opt to a maintenance diet . For this , he or she will set no cut/addition of calories , this way maintaining the total number of calories ingested equal to the total caloric expenditure of the day .

Meals Chosen by the User in Flexible Menus This system has the characteristic of being universal . This means that it does not matter if the diet is based on the alimentary pyramid, on the distribution of macronutrients , on the calorie count or on the combination of these , the system can adapt perfectly to the specific theoretical conception and offers all the functionalities mentioned below .

The diet offered by the system permits the users to choose the foods they want to eat and, once they are chosen, it creates meals with the picked foods . Besides , the system allows the substitution of those foods , individually, and the change of food specific quantities (weight or units ) while keeping the meal' s obj ective .

This system also allows another brand new functionality; the user can add new foods to the diet by only adding its nutritional information . As today almost all the foods have its nutritional information in their label, the great maj ority of the foods can be added to the system. So, if the user wants a food that is not available on the system' s food database, he or she can add its nutritional information (weight, quantity, calories , carbohydrates , proteins , fats , etc . ) and have it in the meal .

Types and Quantities of Meals

The system also offers a great flexibility in the choice of meals types and quantities during the day . The users can start a diet with five meals a day, distributed as following : breakfast , snack, lunch, second snack, and dinner . Later on, if they wish, the users can change the meal types , as well as meal quantity during the day, without going out of the diet .

Besides , the users can replace lunch for a snack and have the following meal distribution : breakfast , 3 snacks and dinner . They can also add or cut one or more meals along the day and redefine their caloric distribution .

Therefore , if the user is on a diet with five meals a day nowadays and wants to include a sixth meal , the system permits this flexibility and it will recalculate and reorganize the new daily menu, so the user' s obj ective is maintained (a diet directed to weight loss or to muscular gain) .

Whatever the theoretical approach offered to the users , they can change the foods , quantities or include new foods in a meal , and the system will automatically reorganize it , . in order that the nutritional norms established for it are respected .

Size of the Meals The system allows the users to distribute the calories to be ingested during the day according to their will . So, if it was established a calorie ingestion of 1500 cal during the day, the users can distribute that as they want, following the number of meals chosen by them.

This functionality is very useful also on the diets developed for the gain of lean muscular mass , because the meals before or after the physical activities must have more calories to support this greater caloric expenditure . This way, the users have the possibility to adj ust the diet considering the reality of their physical activities . So, if the person wants to exercise in the afternoon, he or she will place a bigger portion of calories in this period, and so on .

The Organization of Macronutrients

On the diets based in macronutrients , the system allows the users to define the global distribution of macronutrients in each meal . So, it is possible to establish a diet with any proportion of macronutrients ( carbohydrates , proteins , and fats ) . As there are many different understandings about what would be the most appropriate macronutrients distribution, this flexibility that the system has to offer is very useful .

This system has also an additional function, which allows the user to configure the macronutrients and the types of carbohydrates and proteins individually, by meal and, even so, keep the calorie value established previously for the user .

This possibility of choosing the macronutrients and its types to be ingested in each meal is very important, especially on the diets of muscular mass gain . This happens because, in these diets , there are different recommendations of types of carbohydrates and proteins , depending _. on the meal the user is eating . Usually, these variations are linked to the time of day that the meal is eaten or if it is a meal right before or after a physical exercise . These variations aim to maximize the muscular tissue gain and the fat loss .

Research studies demonstrate that the ingestion of great amounts of simple carbohydrates , before and after anaerobic exercises , is very important to create an anabolic effect . On the other hand, the ingestion of simple carbohydrates , without a planned physical activity, will result in a fat accumulation . Regarding proteins , only the complete proteins are basic substances for the formation of muscular tissue . The organism to produce energy, but not to create muscular tissue, might even use the incomplete proteins . Taking this into consideration, when using the system the users have the possibility of planning their meals choosing what proportions of simple and complex carbohydrates they want in each meal . Also, the can choose how they want to consider incomplete proteins .

They can ignore incomplete proteins and consider only the complete proteins in the counting, consider both completes and incompletes , or count the incompletes as carbohydrates . Anyway, the system will adapt these new caloric and nutritious parameters to the original obj ectives of the diet .

Without ignoring the incomplete proteins , the system will create a meal with less complete proteins than usual , so the incomplete proteins will enter the calculation of total proteins . Considering this hypothesis , the meals will have exactly the same desired number of calories , but on the other hand they will loose in complete proteins . If the incomplete proteins are ignored, the meals will have the complete proteins in the wanted proportion and the system will not count the incomplete proteins in the total protein calculation . But from this standpoint, this will create a meal with a few more calories than it is wished.

Finally, the user, considering the incomplete proteins like carbohydrates , will receive meals with the exactly same number of calories the person wanted, but the real amount of "true" carbohydrates will be reduced to accommodate this adaptation . This is possible because the incomplete protein can be converted in glycogen and generates energy for the body . The user has the power to decide which case he wants .

In the system there is an additional functionality in which the users can also save different configurations of macronutrients and calories distribution for different days . This makes it possible for them to distribute differently the macronutrients according to the days that they exercise with weights . The system allows the possibility of not choosing macronutrients proportions and types . Doing this the user can change food quantities of a meal limited only by the total number of calories of this meal . After each change, the system shows the present macronutrients distribution . Additional Information

Due to the present interactivity and flexibility of this new system, it is possible for the user to transpose information from books and other publications to the system. This permits a total interaction with such information . It is like all information could be materialized in one system — and this new system allows that .

This new system can be implemented and offered by any means , from a manual mean to a computer mean . Preferably, this system is supposed to be implemented and offered by some computer program (CD-ROM ' s , for example) or the Internet . This last possibility makes it possible for the users to access it on-line, so they can create their meals with all convenience, wherever they are, any time of the day or week .

When the implementation and the availability happen through the computer, it will be possible to create graphics and reports that will help the users to keep track of the evolution of their specific diet . And the information provided by these graphics and reports will function as a guide to the realization of eventual adj ustments . The computer reads codification in a proper language of algorithms that correspond to the stages involved in processing the personal information of the user and the nutritional information about the suggested diet . It is important to highlight that the computer and the equipment type referred to previously are j ust accessory aspects of the present invention; merely related to its implementation and disposability . However, nothing stops invention from being implemented and available by other means — manually or any other mean that is adequate to the execution of the present invention in all its possibilities .

A not limiting example of programming language for the execution of this interactive management system of nutrients and calories is the ASP [Active Server Pages) . So, any other functionally equivalent language can be used with the purpose of protection here specified .

Finally, it is important to mention the fact that the management system of nutrients and calories does not involve the use of any type of drug to increase or decrease body mass . The results obtained through the proposed diets are achieved only by the efficient distribution of calories and nutrients in a calculated and precise manner .

EXAMPLES After choosing the foods in the system, a combination was created for lunch :

The system according to the present invention allows the user to change or even exclude any food present on the meal . In the example below, the Spinach, cooked was excluded, and the remaining foods are recalculated in order for the user to keep the aim of the diet .

The system also allows the user to increase or decrease the food amount in the meals , without changing the aim of the diet . J<j

This system permits as well the complete change of a meal , in case the user wishes to vary the menu in a fast and aleatory way with foods chosen by him or her . Using this functionality on the example above , the system could create the following meal :

In practice, the user who chose to have five meals a day can distribute the calories in the following manner :

As the system is flexible and interactive , xf later on the user wants to review the caloric distribution, he or she will be able to do that . For example , the user could reorganize the caloric distribution of his or her meals in the following manner (keeping the original amount of calories ) :

In diets based in macronutrients , the system allows the user to define the distribution of macronutrients in each meal . So, to exemplify, it is as possible to establish a breakfast of 55% carbohydrates , 30% proteins and 15% fats , as it is one of 40% carbohydrates , 30% proteins and 30% fats .

meal

The system allows the user to include new foods in the user' s diet . The user can do this anytime he or she is using the system, just inputting the respective nutritional information of the foods in the system. Nutritional Information of the New Food

Name:

Serving Weight: grams

Serving Size: unit(s)

Calories:

Total Carbohydrate: j grams

Protein: grams

Total Fat: I grams

Saturated Fat: > grams (OPTIONAL)

Cholesterol: ^! mg (OPTIONAL)

Dietary Fiber: grams (OPTIONAL)

Alimentary Group: <- Selection ->

(Type of Carbohydrate JjJ (Type of Protein '•Have I

Even though the present invention is presented as described above, it must be clear to experts of this technique that the invention is not limited to itself; it can change while being consistent with the principles and characteristics defined in the attached claims .

Claims

1. An interactive management system of nutrients and calories , characterized in that it comprises the following steps : signing up an user, through a provided personal, anthropometrical and lifestyle activity level; preliminarily calculation of the user' s daily caloric expenditure; determining, through the interaction between user and system: the amount and the intensity of physical exercises planned by the user; the amount of daily calories to be reduced, increased or maintained; the type and the quantity of meals to be offered; the distribution of total daily calories among meals ; the type and the distribution of macronutrients in each meal ; and providing to the user the ability to change any of the previous stages anytime .

2. The system, according to claim 1 , characterized by the fact that, in the calculation step of daily caloric expenditure, the Harris and Benedict formula is used.

3. The system, according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the determining step additionally includes the ability of adjusting daily caloric expenditure based on the amount and the intensity of physical exercises planned for the day .

4. The system, according to claim 1 , characterized by the fact that the determining step additionally includes the definition of the total amount of daily calories, which involves reducing, increasing or maintaining, in numbers or in percentage, the total number of calories, or establishing a fixed total number of calories .

5. The system, according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that, in the determining step, the definition of the type and the quantity of meals to be offered is based on the user' s personal preferences .

6. The system, according to any of the previous claims , characterized by the fact that it includes the ability of changing the user' s data and the quantitative and qualitative nutritional parameters, anytime the system is used.

7. The system, according to any of the previous claims , characterized by the ability to allow the user to include new foods that are not in the system' s database, anytime the system is used, by means of inputting the respective nutritional information of the foods in the system.

8. The system, according to any of the previous claims , characterized by the fact of being implemented and available through a computer .

9. The system, according to claim 8 , characterized by the fact of being implemented and available in CD-ROM or through the Internet .

10. The system, according to claims 8 or 9 , characterized by the capacity of generating graphics and reports related to the diet evolution related parameters .

11. The system, according to any of the previous claims , characterized by the possibility offered to the user of changing one or more foods in each meal, while keeping the same caloric and macronutrient obj ectives .

12. The system, according to any of the previous claims, characterized by the possibility offered to the user of changing the foods in each meal randomly, among the user' s preferred foods , while keeping the same caloric and macronutrient obj ectives .

13. The system, according to any of the previous claims, characterized by the possibility of changing food guantities in each meal while keeping the same caloric and macronutrient obj ectives .

14. The system, according to any of the previous claims, characterized by the automatic adjustment of daily caloric expenditure when the user changes weight and age .

15. A method of using the interactive management system of nutrients and calories, according to any one of the claims 1 to 14 , characterized in that it comprises the steps of : receiving and storing of the user' s data; processing the user' s data under predetermined criteria, with or without interaction with the user; and providing results of management of calories and nutrients by suitable means for the user .

16. The method, according to claim 15 , characterized by the fact of being applied in the elaboration of weight loss diets eventually associated with physical exercises or muscular mass development diets .

17. The method, according to claim 15 , characterized by the fact of being applied in the elaboration of diets for users who have sensitive diseases or special health conditions related to the type or quantity of food.