M+ Application

M+ Application – Find products that support positive Nutrition & Metabolic Health

Be among the first to apply key criteria of the Metabolic Matrix to purchasing products in the *USA. Developed by an international team of scientists, the Metabolic Matrix filter is a science-based way to ensure that you are selecting products that provide optimal metabolic health & nutrition. The nutrition facts and ingredients on food labels only tell part of the story. This filter need is based on scientific criteria that point to products that can have a positive impact on your metabolic health, supporting the brain, protecting the liver, and feeding the gut. Providing you with maximum ability to apply your own preferences, the Metabolic Matrix filter contains three sub-filters that you can apply per your own preferences.

Find the healthiest, best-priced products in the *USA across Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Create and share your lists of favorite products. Buy online or in your local store.

*The USDA provides a national branded food database and is among only a few countries in the world that offer this data. As other countries develop their own national branded food databases, the application will be extended to support those countries as well.

This application is made possible by Robert H. Lustig Research Foundation, working in collaboration with Perfact, a cutting-edge food data science company.

How is this filter, this set of criteria, designed to support your metabolic health, different than what is already available?

There are many shortcomings of the multiple systems that have been compiled with an effort at evaluating processed foods and their impact on health:

• a focus on macronutrients and micronutrients (instead of on health outcomes);
• the limited impact on changing consumer behavior;
• a retrospective point of view that pays little attention to guiding manufacturers to create healthy products; and
• a propensity to be corrupted by political influence.

In addition, these systems expose structural issues which are no less severe. For an in-depth analysis explaining how the Perfact technology is more advanced than other tools previously available, read section 2.2 of the peer-reviewed methods article in Frontiers in Nutrition: The Metabolic Matrix: Re-engineering ultraprocessed foods to feed the gut, protect the liver, and support the brain.

This filter includes three levels of filtration that you can apply. These are TIERED, progressive filters. When you apply “Value Adds” this applies all the “Do No Harm” criteria as well. When you apply “Premium Choices” this applies all the “Do No Harm and “Value Adds” criteria as well.

The criteria in these filters include the following

A. Do No Harm

1. No added trans-fats or artificially hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated vegetable oils or margarine
2. No more than 4g of added sugar per serving (2 g if a beverage)
3. No additives with health risks
4. No synthetic emulsifiers in fermented milk products
5. Less than 2:1 ratio of kilocalories to milligrams of sodium
6. No harmful sweeteners

B. Value Adds

1. No oil that has more than 40% omega-6 fatty acids
   (sunflower, cottonseed, soybean, or corn oil)
2. Dietary fiber ratio (to carbohydrate) >1:10

C. Premium Choices

1. 100% Certified organic
2. Non-GMO
3. Only cold-pressed plant-based oils

​Scientific References Supporting Metabolic Matrix

Peer Reviewed Methods Paper: The Metabolic Matrix: Re-engineering ultraprocessed foods to feed the gut, protect the liver, and support the brain, Frontiers in Nutrition

References cited in the Methods Paper: https://metabolicmatrix.info/methods-paper-references/

Supplementary References: https://metabolicmatrix.info/supplementary-references/

Science supporting the three pillars of the Metabolic Matrix

Protect the Liver: https://metabolicmatrix.info/protect-the-liver/

Feed the Gut: https://metabolicmatrix.info/feed-the-gut/

Support the Brain: https://metabolicmatrix.info/support-the-brain/

Sweetener References: https://metabolicmatrix.info/sweetener-references

Sweetener Review: https://metabolicmatrix.info/sweetener-review/

 Evidenced-based critique and evaluation of omega-6 plant-based oils: https://metabolicmatrix.info/evidenced-based-critique-and-evaluation-of-omega-6-plant-based-oils/