Guidelines Used to Develop Everyday Health Recipes

Guidelines Used to Develop Everyday Health Recipes

The following is a list of the guidelines Everyday Health Group uses to develop and tag each of our recipes. These are general guidelines and may not align with your specific health needs. Always speak with your healthcare team before making any changes to your diet.

Nutrient Standards for Recipes on Everyday Health

Daily Totals (for All Meals and Snacks)

  • Calories: 1200–2000
  • Fat: 27–67g
  • Saturated fat: less than 13g (as low as possible)

  • Carbohydrates: 120–250g
  • Added sugars: less than 30g (as low as possible)

  • Sodium : less than 2300mg (as low as possible)

Overall


Breakfast

  • Calories: 300–500
  • Fat: up to 17g
  • Saturated Fat: up to 4g
  • Carbohydrates: 30–63g
  • Added sugars: up to 8g
  • Sodium: up to 800mg

Lunch

  • Calories: 300–600
  • Fat: up to 20g
  • Saturated fat: up to 5g
  • Carbohydrates: 30–75g
  • Added sugars: up to 9g
  • Sodium: up to 800mg

Dinner

  • Calories: 300–700
  • Fat: up to 23g
  • Saturated fat: up to 7g
  • Carbohydrates: 30–75g
  • Added sugars: up to 10g
  • Sodium: up to 800mg

Snack or Side Dish

  • Calories: 75–200
  • Fat: up to 7g
  • Saturated fat: up to 2g
  • Carbohydrates: 7–25g
  • Added sugars: up to 3g
  • Sodium: up to 300mg

Dessert

  • Calories: up to 250
  • Fat: up to 10g
  • Saturated fat: up to 4g
  • Carbohydrates: up to 30g
  • Added sugars: up to 12g
  • Sodium: up to 300mg

Everyday Health Recipe Tags

Diabetes-Friendly

These recipes contain whole foods with a focus on vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean protein, and healthy fats.


Refined grains, saturated and trans fats, alcohol, and added sugars are significantly limited to promote heart health and keep blood sugar levels in check. At the same time, the number of calories in each dish are intended to support a healthy weight and total carbohydrates are kept in line with general recommendations for a healthy diabetes diet.

Heart-Healthy

These recipes feature a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, and healthy fats, while limiting processed foods, refined carbohydrates, added sugar, and salt.

Mediterranean

Following a diet that aligns with the dietary choices traditionally followed in the Mediterranean has been shown to have significant health benefits.

As such, these recipes contain ingredients consistent with a Mediterranean-style diet including fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, whole grains, extra-virgin olive oil, seafood, and a limited amount of poultry, eggs, and dairy products.

Gluten-Free

A gluten-free diet is recommended for those with celiac disease, nonceliac gluten sensitivity, or gluten ataxia.

These recipes do not contain any ingredients that contain wheat, barley, rye, or any ingredients known to be processed in a plant that also processes any of these ingredients. Always read the ingredients label to double check ingredients.

Vegetarian

Following a vegetarian diet or a flexitarian diet (eating vegetarian meals most of the time) has been shown to have multiple health benefits.

 There are a few types of vegetarian diets including pescatarian (eat fish) and ovo-vegetarian (eat eggs, but no dairy products). Our tag indicates that the recipe is lacto-ovo vegetarian and does not contain any meat, poultry, fish, or shellfish (eggs and dairy products are included).

Vegan

Following a balanced vegan diet may lead to lower LDL “bad” cholesterol levels, insulin levels, and possibly even weight — potentially contributing to better health outcomes long-term.

These recipes do not contain any products of animal origin including all dairy products, eggs, and honey.

Low-Sodium

The American Heart Association’s recommendation of limiting daily sodium intake to 2,300 milligrams (mg) or less per day (even less if you have heart disease or other risk factors) as a way to lower blood pressure and decrease the risk of heart attack and stroke.

These recipes meet the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s definition of 140 mg of sodium or less per serving in order to support a heart-healthy lifestyle.

High-Fiber

Dietary fiber is a beneficial nutrient found in plant-based foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds which has been linked to lower blood sugar and cholesterol levels, improved bowel regularity, maintaining a healthy weight, and even increased longevity.

 Despite its numerous benefits, many Americans fail to get enough fiber each day.

To help you toward your daily fiber needs, each of these recipes contains at least 5 grams (g) of fiber per serving.

High-Protein

Protein is essential to overall health because it supports the building of healthy bones, muscle, skin, and blood, among other functions.

 Protein is especially important if you are physically active on a regular basis. The amount of protein you need each day varies by weight and activity level. Our high-protein recipes contain at least 25 g of protein per serving.

Low-Carbohydrate

While there is no technical definition for what is considered a low-carbohydrate food, we use the guideline that is outlined by StatPearls, which is that fewer than 26 percent of the calories in the recipe come from carbohydrates.

This may not be low enough to meet the guidelines of some low-carbohydrate diets, such as the keto diet. Speak with a registered dietitian to make sure you are meeting your specific dietary needs.

Low-Calorie

A calorie is a unit of energy, notes StatPearls.

 The more calories in a food, the more energy we get from it. If our bodies don’t use that energy right away, it gets stored for later use and can cause weight gain if this happens regularly. Foods that are lower in calories, therefore, support a healthy weight. Any snacks, appetizers, side dishes, or beverages containing 40 calories or less per serving are considered low-calorie.

For simplicity, we also consider all entrees that contain 360 calories or less per serving to be low-calorie.

Low-Fat

Eating foods lower in fat can help to keep calories lower, thereby supporting a healthy weight. These recipes contain 3 g of fat or less per serving.

While keeping the amount of fat in mind is important, the type of fat you choose matters even more. Our recipes focus on foods low in saturated fat and high in healthy unsaturated fats (olive oil, avocados, nuts) as much as possible.

Anti-Inflammatory

Chronic inflammation in the body contributes to a number of chronic diseases including diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, depression, and dementia.

 While all of our recipes are built using whole, nutritious foods, these recipes are particularly high in foods that have known anti-inflammatory effects while at the same time limiting ingredients that contribute to inflammation.

Cholesterol-Conscious

The foods you eat affect the cholesterol levels in your body. Research has shown that it isn’t dietary cholesterol (the cholesterol you see listed on a nutrition facts label) that matters as much as it is important to limit the amount of saturated fat and trans fat in your diet.

These recipes focus on whole foods, especially fruits, vegetables and whole grains, while limiting unhealthy fats and added sugars to support healthy blood cholesterol levels

Family-Friendly

Feeding a family a nutritious meal may feel tricky, especially on busy weeknights. These recipes are easy to prepare and include foods and flavors that will generally be enjoyed by everyone — even picky eaters. These recipes also serve four or more people.

Quick & Easy

In a crunch for time? No problem! These recipes are quick and easy to prepare — making them the perfect choice when you’re in a time crunch. These breakfast and lunch recipes can be assembled in less than 15 minutes and dinner recipes will be ready in less than 30 minutes.

Ketogenic Diet

The ketogenic diet was originally developed as a treatment for epilepsy in children.

 More recently, the diet has been purported to have weight loss benefits as well. While more research is still needed and there is no technical recommendation for macronutrients, our keto recipes contain 70 percent or more of calories come from fat and 5 percent or fewer come from carbohydrates to help maintain ketosis.

Paleo Diet

The paleo diet is formulated to mimic the diet that people may have eaten during the Paleolithic Era.

More specifically, this diet contains only ingredients that could be hunted or gathered and does not contain any dairy, legumes, grains, refined sugars, potatoes, or highly processed foods. Because the diet eliminates added sugar and processed foods, following this type of diet may help to improve health. However, it also eliminates healthy foods such as whole grains and legumes, so it may not be a good fit long-term.

Whole30 Diet

The Whole30 Diet is a short-term elimination diet.

 While the goal is not weight loss, the founders claim that it may help improve a myriad of health conditions. The 30-day plan does not contain any added sugars (including maple syrup, honey, agave, and artificial sweeteners), alcohol, grains, legumes (including all forms of soy and peanuts), dairy, baked goods, or processed foods.

Psoriasis-Friendly

Psoriasis is a chronic autoimmune disorder that affects the skin. Food cannot cause or treat psoriasis, but, because this disorder results in widespread inflammation in the body, eating a diet rich in anti-inflammatory foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats may help to decrease disease symptoms.

Additional Source: Interview with Ross Radusky, MD, a board-certified dermatologist at the Dermatology Treatment and Research Center in Dallas, Texas, who is part of Everyday Health’s Health Expert Network.

Eczema-Friendly

Food allergies are a comorbidity of eczema and atopic dermatitis.

While it is important to avoid any foods to which you are allergic, eliminating additional foods has not been shown to improve symptoms.

 As such, these recipes are rich in anti-inflammatory foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats, and fish while limiting any red or processed meat, refined grains, or added sugar.

Additional Source: Interview with Ross Radusky, MD, a board-certified dermatologist at the Dermatology Treatment and Research Center in Dallas, Texas, who is part of Everyday Health’s Health Expert Network.

Crohn’s Disease-Friendly and Ulcerative Colitis-Friendly

Diet cannot prevent or cure Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis. However, eating a healthy diet may improve symptoms and increase periods of remission.These recipes are plant-focused (fruits, vegetables, whole grains) with some fatty fish and olive oil and free from processed foods, added sugar, alcohol, caffeine, and citrus.

Additional Source: Interview with Pritesh Mutha, MD, board-certified interventional gastroenterologist and associate professor at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, and a member of Everyday Health’s Health Expert Network.

GERD-Friendly

There are a number of factors that can trigger acid reflux or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) symptoms including eating large meals, lying down after you eat, and eating certain foods.

While trigger foods vary from person to person, these GERD-friendly recipes do not contain any of the most common food triggers including chocolate, mint, citrus, tomatoes, onions, garlic, carbonated beverages, caffeine, alcohol, and spicy or high-fat foods.

Cancer Prevention

While no specific food can prevent cancer, following a healthy and well-balanced diet may decrease your risk of developing cancer.

These recipes contain whole, unprocessed ingredients including fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and healthy fats and limit red and processed meats, refined grains, alcohol, and added sugar.


Additional Source: Interview with Nimit Sudan, MD, hematologist and medical oncologist with UCLA, and a member of Everyday Health’s Health Expert Network

ADHD

While there is no specific diet for ADHD and diet should not be used as a substitute for treatment or medication, eating well-balanced meals may help to improve symptoms for some.

These recipes are packed with plant-based protein, healthy fats, fatty fish, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat/fat-free dairy and do not include any red or processed meats, refined grains, caffeine, or added sugars.

Additional Source: Interview with Heidi Green, MD, board-certified psychiatrist and addiction medicine specialist in Raleigh, North Carolina, who is part of Everyday Health’s Health Expert Network

Depression & Anxiety

If you are struggling with depression and anxiety, seek help from your medical team or a qualified therapist right away. Diet cannot treat depression or anxiety, but eating a healthy diet can support better mental health.

 These recipes are packed with plant-based protein, healthy fats, fatty fish, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat/fat-free dairy and do not include any red or processed meats, refined grains, or added sugars.

Additional Source: Interview with Heidi Green, MD, board-certified psychiatrist and addiction medicine specialist in Raleigh, North Carolina, who is part of Everyday Health’s Health Expert Network

EDITORIAL SOURCES
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
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