GB2524103A - Real-time systems and methods for management of alimentation - Google Patents

Abstract

A computer implemented method for controlling the intake of alimentation, such as medication or nutrition, in accordance with a time-based target comprises receiving data relating to the aliment being consumed, maintaining a balance of the alimentary constituent and generating a temporal estimate for the constituent. For example, the data relating to the amount of paracetomol consumed will be received, the total balance of paracetomol generated and the time that dose of paracetomol will last is calculated. The time take for groups of nutrients to be used by the body can also be calculated. A plurality of predictive temporal estimates are formed from the nutritional and pharmaceutical balances, enabling the user to make immediate and informed choices in real-time, to correct or fine-tune the alimentation in order to achieve or maintain dietary, medicinal and developmental goals. The system may be programmed to take account of the interaction between different foods and drugs and the lifestyle and genetics of the user. A mechanically-implemented system for controlling the intake of alimentation is also disclosed. The system may comprise rulers or gauges, such as slide rule, to assist with the calculation of temporal profiles.

Description

Real-time systems and methods for management of alimentation

Description

TECHMCAL FIELD

This invention relates generally to processes and systems for managing the alimentation of a living organism, and more particularly to systems arid methods that allow users to explore, investigate and assess, at a glance and in real-time, a plurality of effects of actual and intended alimentation of a living organism in order to maintain, or progress towards, an alimentary goaL The invention is particularly suited, hut not limited to, use in the management of nutrition arid medication with respect to changing patterns of metabolic activity in humans. aiñmal livestock and domestic pets.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Management of alimentation includes the monitoring, control and balancing of the con-sumption of foods and medicines with respect to a variable metabolic and physiological uptake.

Nutritional management is critical for health maintenance and for the prevention and treatment of illness. In humans, excessive food consumption causes conditions including obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, yet the World Health Organization states that average levels of body mass index are likely to continue rising in almost all countries.

Conversely, excessive dietary restriction causes symptoms of malnutrition including a weakened immune system, impaired kidney function, low blood pressure, menstrual irregularities and osteoporosis. Ivlalnutrition is decreasing globally but is still a cause of concern for elderly adults and patients in hospital or long-term care. Malnutrition can be caused by a metabolic response to injury and disease; a critically ill patient may in a matter of three weeks lose up to one-fifth of their body's protein.

Medicinal management involves the administration of the proper quantities and fre-quencies of pharmaceutical substances. Particular combinations of foods and drugs are known to interact, sometimes causing adverse or beneficial reaction. For example, the consumption of grapefruit or grapefruit juice increases the pharmaceutical effect of many drugs including statins, antiarrhythmics and antihistamines and may result in urn intended overdose. An example of a beneficial interaction is the synergistic combination of the antibiotics sulbactarn and ampicillian. When several different foods and (hugs are combined there is a possibility of interaction a) between various foods, b) between vari-ous drugs, c) between various drugs and foods, and d) between these and the physical, medical, nutritional and genetic condition of the consumer. About 40% of elderly peo-ple living at home consume a combination of pharmaceuticals and are thus particularly affected.

There is imicreasixig consumer interest, in Lhe nialerial constiluent.s of foodst.uffs and plia.r-maceuticals, and in the general determinants of a healthy life. Government agencies arid food producers continue to generate an increasing amount of nutritional and pharma-ceutical data. Furthermore, an increasing quantity of information is becoming available about the influences on mitrition and medicine of genetics, environment, lifestyle, illness and disease.

It is difficult for an individual to deal with this mass of data on a daily basis. In dietary management, food, exercise and activity logs are tedious to maintain because the consumer is required to set aside time to quantir and record their meals and activities accurately arid to perform calculations with respect to calorific and nutritional content.

Although food package labeling now includes a summary of particular nutrients, they are quantified in a conffising variety of different units and portion sizes. FIesh and unprocessed foods are unlikely to be nutritionally labeled.

Nutritional target levels are difficult to manage because their units and values are differ-ent for the various types of nutrient, and because they may need to he adjusted to stilt the individual. When there is a plurality of nutritional constituents of interest, for exam-ple proteins, fats, carbohydrates, minerals, amino acids, stcrols and salt, the calculations must be performed for each separate constituent. If the interactions between foods and drugs are to be included, the calculations become yet more burdensome. There is there-fore little or no immediate reward to maintain motivation. Furthermore, for dietary restriction, the psychological focus is on the denial of food, making the process painful and hard to maintain.

Various methods have been introduced to simplify the process of interpretation and use of nutritional data. Scores or indicators have been devised based on calorific value alone or in conjunction with factors such as proteins, fat and carbohydrates. Although such scores compress a plurality of factors into a single easily understood number, in doing so they disguise the complexity of the information in ways that depend on the particular formulation used. Therefore the particular contributions of various nutrients such as salt, carbohydrate or saturates are no longer explicit and can not be separately monitored.

Such scoring systems assume normal, healthy individuals and do not take into account such factors as injury, illness, disease or medication.

Numerous computational devices have been proposed to assist with nutritional calcu-lations; however, even when the results are readily available, it is not obvious how to translate them into daily behavior. Results are typically shown in grapincal form or as proportions with respect to targets over daily, weekly or monthly time periods that arc too long for managing food intake on a moment to moment basis. Audible or graphical alarms may be given when maximum nutritional target values are exceeded or near, but the nature of these warnings is retrospective and therefore not timely enough to enable a flexible and informed decision at the moment a food choice is made. The time periods over which consumption is evaluated are also too long to act as an aid to motivation.

Such systems are again biased for normal, healthy individuals.

Automated irmeal planning systems have also been introduced that generate menus op-timized for nutritional balance; however, such approaches require advance planning and discipline in order to adhere to the dietary schemes generated. Deviations from such schemes may not be readily accommodated limiting the freedom to make ad hoe or impulsive choices.

Due to the above restrictions, alirnentation is still in practice difficult to manage. Con-sinners may therefore be unaware of the various imbalances accumulating from their food and drug intake. The same applies to those responsible for managing nutrition on behalf of others, for example hospital and institutional managers, and similarly veterinarians, farmers, and owners of domestic pets.

Thus, it is desirable to provide a system and method that allows users to explore, in-vestigate and assess, at a glance and iii real-time, a plurality of effects of actual and intended alimentation of a living organism in order to maintain, or progress towards, an alimentary goal. This, for example, would enable a user to balance as well as limit the quantities of nutritional and pharmaceutical constituents such as calories, salt, pro-tein, carbohydrate, sugars, fat and substances such as caffeine and paracetamol, that may originate from a plurality of interacting sources in their diet, with respect to their changing patterns of activity and lifestyle.

Such an improved solution has now been devised.

STATEMENT OF INVENTION

Thus, there is a method, corresponding system and device(s) as defined in the appended claims.

The features and advantages described below in relation to one embodiment may be present in other or all embodiments of the invention.

In accordance with the invention, there may be provided a computer-implemented method for controlling the alimentation of a host organism in accordance with a time-based ali-inentary target, the method comprising the steps: i) receiving data relating to the type and amount of an alimentary source or alimen-tary sink; ii) using the data to generate or maintain a set of balances storing respective amounts of alimentary constituents of the aliment; iii) generating or adjusting a temporal estimate for each balance to give the value of each balance as a chronological prediction.

Thus, the invention may provide a means for controlling or influencing the alimentary intake of a host organism over a period of time so as to comply with, or at least work towards, the alimentary target. The time-based target may be used to constrain the alimentary intake of the host. The invention may be viewed as receiving data from a variety of sources, and applying one or more time-based functions to process the data and provide an aliment-related prediction to a user.

One advantage of the invention is that it enables a user to balance a combination of foodstuffs, medications and other alirnents iii such a way that one or more targets relating to one or more alimentary constituents are approached or met over a pie-determined time period or measurement period.

The invention also enables the user to make immediate, informed choices regarding alimentation. It also enables the user to fine-tune alimentation on an on-going basis, as time elapses, based on the information provided by the estimates-This advantage is not

provided by the prior art arrangements.

In one sense, the invention may be viewed as providing an improved tool for the analysis, monitoring and/or temporal estimation of an on-going alimentation process. Addition-ally or alternatively, it may be viewed as providing an improved metabolic analysis tool.

In one sense, it provides a scientific tool for calculating the metabolism of a number of alimentary intakes by a given user, by considering the effect of a number of metabolic iniluences over a period of time.

The host organism (which may be referred to simply as the "host") may be a human being. The alimentary target may relate to one or more desired alimentary values, or one or more desired quantities of aliment constituents, per unit of time. The time-based target may relate to a specific time period such as, for example, a day, a week or a month. The time period to which the target refers may be variable.

The ta-get may also relate to a particular aliment e.g. an alimentary source such as food or medication, and/or an alimentary sink such as exercise. Additionally or alternatively, it may refer to a constituent of an alimentary sonrce or sink snch as a. particular nutrient or phannaeologieal material.

The target may be provided by a user of a device upon which the method is executed, or may be obtained from an electronic source such as a database -The user may provide the target during an initial set-up process, and/or at the start of a measurement period.

The target may be adjusted by the user after it has been provided.

The data relating to the type and amount of an alimentary source or alimentary sink niay be received from the user. The user may provide the data using an input device associated with a computing device upon which the method is arranged for execution.

The input device may be a keyboard, a touehscreen or a microphone, for example.

Alternatively, the data may be received from a database or other electronic source. The data may he received from an electronic source wlnch is remote (physically separate) from the input device. It may be received via a wireless communications network.

The received data may be stored in volatile or non-volatile memory associated with the computing device.

The data may be used to generate or maintain a set of one or more balances, wherein each balance stores a respective amount of an alimentary constituent of the aliment. The balances may function as a tally or running total for each respective constituent.

Preferably, the generation or adjustment of the temporal estimate for each balance is per-formed to give the value of each balance as a chronological prediction in real-time.

Preferably, the method further comprises the step of comparing at least one of the estimated balances with an alimentary target to establish whether the target is likely to be met. One or more of the a]imentary target(s) may be stored on the same device upon which the method is arranged for execution. Additionally or alternatively, one or more alimentary targets may be stored on another device, separate f.rom execution device.

The method may further comprise the steps: i) receiving data related to attributes of the host; ii) using the data to adjust at least one of the estimated balances.

The attributes may be data items relating to the host. They may be variables. They may relate to characteristics or preferences associated with the host. Examples of host-related attributes include age, gender, weight, physical dimension etc. These may be stored in a database. They may be altered by a user via an interface provided in association with the device upon which the method is arranged to execute.

The method may further comprise the steps: i) receiving data related to interactions between specified alimentary constituents; ii) using the data to adjust at least one of the estimated balances.

The respective amounts of alimentary constituents may be derived by: estimating the amount of each alimentary constituent based on one or more aliment models; or receiving the amount of each constituent as an input.

The method may further comprise the step of storing data in a database, the data relating to: one or more host-related attributes, including gender, age, height arid/or weight; one or more alimentary sources; and/or one or more alimentary sinks.

The data relating to the one or more alimentary sources may be stored in an alimentary source database comprising data relating to a plurality of foods, medicines and other materials iutended for bodily incorporation. One, some or each of the alimentary sources in the database may be associated with one or more constituents or ingredients including nutrients and pharmacologically active/inactive ingredients. The data in the alimentary source database may be stored in normalized form.

The data relating to the one or more alimentary sinks may be stored in an alimentary sink database. Said alimentary sinks may include, for example, basal metabolic rate, resting metabolic rate, thermic effect of food, physical activity and duration, and host attributes.

The method may further comprise the step of storing rules relating to: the effects of alimentation with respect to attributes relating to the host; requirements or restrictions concerning administration and/or dosage of an. ali-ment; and/or interactions between specified aliments.

The method may further comprise the step of: providing an interface ananged to enable a user to select and input data relating to an ingested or intended aliment and/or an alimentary sink.

The method may further comprise the step of: providing at least one of the balance estimates to the user in a chronological format to enable the user to adjust the timing, type and/or quantity of at least one aliment in order to achieve an alimentary target.

The method may further comprise the step of converting the balane into a chronological form by: obtaining a set of target values and associated rules from a database; using the rules to adjust the target values; comparing each balance with an associated adjusted target value; arid expressing the result of the comparison with respect to a specified time interval.

Preferably, the temporal estimate for each balance is generated or adjusted in relation to a plurality of coustant time intervals, or a plurality of time intervals which are vari-able.

Preferably, data is received from the user relating to alimentary constituent a.nd time intervals, preferably wherein the user enters said data by manipulating two gTaphieal representations which are moveable relative to each other. The user may enter said data into the device on which the method is arranged for execution. The advantage of this feature is that it provides an intuitive and easy-to use interface for entry of tIme data.

The temporal estimate for each balance may he generated or adjusted with reference to the current time, or the actual or potential time at which the aliment is/may be taken by the host.

The method may further comprise the step of generating an alarm if one or more of the balances is determined to be at an unsafe level. The unsafe level may be determined by comparing the balance against a predetermined range or value. Thus for example, if the balance meets, exceeds or approaches a threshold, an alert may be generated. The alert may be provided to the user of the invention or to a third party. It may be provided in any form, such as a tactile form (e.g. vibration), audible form, arid/or visual form. The visual form may be a warning message displayed on a screen or may be colour-coded. For example, the balance may turn from green to red. The alert may be sent to a third party via a wireless communications network. It may be sent as an email or SMS message, for

example.

Also in accordance with the invention, there may be provided a corresponding system.

The system may he arranged to implement the method as described above.

The system may be a comnputer-inipleniented system for controlling a host's alirnentation in accordance with a time-based alimentary target, the system comprising at least one software component arranged and configured to perform an embodiment of the method described above.

The at least one software component may comprise an interface arranged to enable input of data relating to: the type and amount of an aliment which the host has taken or may take; an alimentary sink; and/or attributes relating to the host.

The system may comprise a computing device arranged to execute the at least one software component. The computing device may be a portable computing device, such as a tablet computer, a sntartphone, or a laptop computer. This provides the advantage that the user can keep the invention with them and use it over the passage of time as the estimates and/or balances are adjusted. This enables the user to provide data for input and also derive guidance from the invention regarding alimentation even when going about regular daily activities.

The system may comprise an alimentary somee database comprising data relating to a plurality of foods, medicines and other materials intended for bodily incorporation.

One, some or each of the alimentary sources in the database may be associated with one or more constituents or ingredients including nutrients and pharmacologically ac-tive/inactive ingredients. The data in the alimentary source database may be stored in normalized form.

The system may comprise an alimentary sink database comprising data! relating to one or more alimentary sinks. Said alimentary sinks may include, for example, basal metabolic rate, resting metabolic rate, therinic effect of food, physical actity and duration, and host attributes.

The system may further comprise an Arithmetic Processor as described hereinafter, which may comprise a Units Selector, a Units Convertor, and incrementor, and/or a decreinentor. Additionally or alternatively, it may comprise a Quantity Adjuster, Mag-nitude Adjuster and/or Accumulator as described hereinafter.

The system may comprise a chronological mapping component as described hereinafter.

The mapping component may be arranged to convert the plurality of balances into a chronological form. rfffi may be performed by obtaining one or more target values and associated rules from a database. A chronological mapping algorithm may be applied to the respective balances to compare each balance with an associated target value with respect to a specified time interval. Preferably, the chronological mapping algorithm involves a function which may be referred to asa"pacing function". The pacing function may be based on a constant or a variable time interval. This provides the advantage that the alimentary guidance provided by the invention can be presented to the user in a variety of formats and in a flexible manner which suits the needs of the individual user, A mapping nay be applied to the pacing ftmction to modify the distribution of timings in a specified manner, The mapping may be presented in a variety of forms, such as a mathematical expression, a table or by graphical representation.

The system may comprise a wearable computing device arranged to execute the systeni described above. The wearable computing device may he arranged to execute the at least one software component. For example, it may be a watch with computing capabilities, or may he worn around the neck on a lanyard. Other wearable embodiments may also be envisaged, by the skilled person.

Also in accordance with the invention, there may be provided a mechanically-implemented system for controlling a host's alimnentation iii accordance with a time-based alimentary target, the system comprising at least one mechanical component arranged and config-ured to perform an embodiment of the method described above.

For example, the invention may be implemented as a pair of elements (e.g. rulers or gauges) arranged to be slidable or moveable relative to one another. Movement of one element may cause corresponding niovernent of the other elemnent.

These and other aspects of the present invention will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to, the embodiment described herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only and with reference to the accompany drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is an exemplar apparatus for the management of alimentation in a living organ-isin.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary arrangement of components for the management of alimentation in humans FIG. 3 is an embodiment of the Database.

FIG. 4 is an embodiment of the Alimentary Source Selector and the Alhnentary Sink Selector.

FIG. 5 is an embodiment of the alimentary source Quantity Adj aster and the alimentary sink Magnitude Adjuster.

FIG. 6 is an embodiment of the Accumulator.

FIG. 7 is an embodiment of the Chronological Mapper.

FIG. 8 is an embodiment of the Interface.

FIG. 9 is an embodiment of the Main Screen of the User Interface.

FIG. iOa is an embodiment of the User Interface showing a list of foods.

FIG. lOb is an embodiment of the User Interface showing a selection of options related to a particular food choice.

FIG. lOc is an einbodinient of the User Interface showing the adjustment of food quan-tity and units of measure.

FIG. lod is an embodiment of the User Interface showing a list of alimentary con-stituents.

FIG. lOe is an embodiment of the User Interface showing a further list of alimentary constituents.

FIG. 1 la is an embodiment of the User Interface showing a list of medicines.

FIG. lib is an embodiment of the User Interface showing a selection of options related to a particular medicinal choice.

FIG. lic is an embodiment of the User Interface showing the adjustment of medicinal quantity and units of measure.

FIG. lid is an embodhnent of the User Interface showing list of medicinal alimentary constituents.

FIG. 12a is an embodiment of the User Interface showing a list of activities.

FIG. 12b is an embodiment of the User Interface showing a selection of options related to a particular activity choice.

FIG. 12c is an embodiment of the User Interface showing the adjustment of activity duration.

FIG. 12d is an embodiment of the User Interface showing alimentary constituents de-pleted as a result of an activity.

FIG. 13 is an embodiment of the User Interface showing user-defined lists.

FIG. 14 is an embodiment of the User Interface showing choices made for a daily mea-surement period.

FIG. 15a is an embodiment of the User Interface showing alimentary constituents pre-sented in chronological form FIG. 15b is an embodiment of the User interface showing accumulation of calories in chronological form.

FIG. The is an embodiment of the User Interface showing accumulation of saturates in chronological form.

FIG. 15d is an embodiment of the User Interface showing accumulation of caffeine in chronological form.

FIG. 16 shows an embodiment as a slide rule.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

For tIns application the following terms and definitions shall apply: The term "alimentation" as used herein refers to the nutritional and pharmaceutical necessities and support of life.

The term "alimentary source" as used herein means a material, foodstuff or pharmaceu-tical that provides alimentation, including those administered by swallowing, injection, inhalation or contact.

The term "ahinentary sink" as used herein means a cause of alimentary depletion in-volving the metabolic and physiological uptake of nutrients and pharmaceuticals.

The term "ailment" as used herein means either an alimentary source or an alimentary sink.

The term "alimentary source constituent" as used herein means an ingredient of ai alimentary source, such as a nutrient or a pharmacologically active or inactive mate-rial.

The term "alimentary sink constituent" as used herein means a material affected by an alimentary sink, such as a nutrient or a pharmacologically active or inactive ingredi-ent.

The term "alimentary constituent" as used herein means an ingredient of an alimentary source that is affected by an alimentary sink, such as a nutrient or a pharmacologically active or inactive material.

The term "alimentary genomics" as used herein means the nutritional and pharmaceu-tical relationships between health, disease and genetics.

The term "host" as used herein means a living organism that is the subject of controlled or managed alimentation.

The term "host characteristic" as used herein means a permanent, long terni or medium term property or attribute of a living organism, including age. gender, height, weight, adipose and lean tissue mass, alimentary genomics, physical condition, pregnancy, habit-ual levels of physical activity and fitness, lifestyle factors, environmental chemicals and 1.0 pathogens, and medical and pathological condition including illness, disease and trauma, idiosyncratic factors such as sensitivities, allergies and tolerances, and susceptibility to additive, synergistic or antagonistic interactions between aliments.

Thc term "host variable" as used herein means a transient or day-to-day quantity re-lated to alirnentation of a living organism, including recent alimentary history, type and amount of physical activity, environmental factors such as temperature, altitude and air quality, and the route by which aliments are administered.

The term "host attribute" as used herein means a host characteristic or a host vari-able.

The term "ingestion" as used herein means the consumption or bodily incorporation of an alimentary source by a host organism.

The term "user" as used herein means the operator of a system for controlling or manag-ing the alimnentation of a host. In some circumstances the user and the host may be the same person, but in other circumstances they may be separate entities such as physician and patient.

DETAmED DESCRIPTION

Processes and systems are described for managing alimnentation of a living organism from moment to moment in real-time, based on the determination of a plurality of balances of supplied and metabolized nutritional and pharmaceutical constitnents with respect to one or more alimentary and host models. Quantitative data for the calculation are obtained by one or more of manual selection and adjustment and by automated instru-mentation including physiological and biomedical detectors. A plurality of predictive temporal estimates are formed from the nutritional and pharmaceutical balances. cmi-abling the user to make immediate and informed choices in real-time, to correct or fine-tnne the alinientation in order to achieve or maintain dietary, medicinal and devel-opniental goals.

Now turning to the figures, FIG. 1 illustrates an apparatus 100 for determining a plural-ity of predictive temporal estimates based on one or more models 101 including aliment models 102 and host models 103 as informed by periodic input of alimentary types 104, alimentary amounts 105, host characteristics 106 and host variables 107.

Aliment models 102 include quantitative descriptions of a.) alimentary types such as foods and pharmaceuticals, b) alimentary constituents such as nutrients and pharmaco-logically active commiponcnts, c) coefficients of digestion, absorption and extinction, and half lives, of alimentary constituents, and d) synergistic or antagonistic interactions be-tween alimentary constituents. Host models 103 include quantitative descriptions of the effects of host characteristics and host variables on the physiological uptake of alimentary constituents.

Together, the models 101 describe the quantities of aliments and their constituents that are available to the host's metabolism, and give the rates and amounts at which those substances are metabolized under various conditions.

One or more estimators 108 are used for a) determining said availability of each alimen-tary constituent of each candidate aliment with reference to the models 101, b) balancing 109 a plurality of respective supplied and metabolized alimentary constituents for a phi-rality of candidate alirnents, adjusted with respect to the models 101 arid c) prediction of a plurality of temporal estimates based on said models 101.

It will be appreciatcd that many alternative embodiments of the apparatus described in FIG. I may be implemented in whole or in part with various degrees of functionality and comple3dty.

An embodiment may be in the form of an electronic device such as a stand-alone calcu-lator, personal computer, smart TV, tablet, smartphone, smart watch, smart spectacles, and smart or wearable clothing, where the term "smart" denotes computing or intelligent systems.

Further alternative embodiments may be in the form of slide rules and spreadsheets, me-chanical or electromechanical devices, marked beads, strips and wristbands and printed

tables.

In their simplest form, approximate or basic calculations may be performed manually by obtaining or measuring the various nutritional values and converting them by hand into their corresponding temporal values; however, in a preferred embodiment the calculation may be performed by a mechanical or electronic device, providing the advantage that the detailed calculation is performed accurately, quickly and easily without the need for manual intervention.

FIRST EMBODIMENT -ELECTROMC DEVICES

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary arrangement for the management of alimentation in humans 200, consisting of the following modules or components; One or more Databases 201 including models of alimentary sources, sinks and their constituents, host characteristics and variables including the personal preferences, con-dition and characteristics of the user, and relationships, interdependencics or interactions between any of the above.

An Alimentary Source Selector 202 that permits the user to choose a particular alimen-tary source from the Database.

An Alimentary Sink Selector 203 that permits the user to choose a particular alimentary sink from the Database.

A Quantity Adjuster 204 that allows the user to modify the quantity of the selected alimentary source, for example with respect to the amount to be consumed.

A Magnitude Adjuster 205 that allows the user to modify the magnitude of the selected alimentary sink, for example with respect to the duration of a particular activity or exercise.

An Accumulator 206 that. a) keeps one or more records of the of the various constituents of each alirnent chosen by the user, b) further adjusts the quantities and magrutudes of these constituents in order to account for host characteristics and variables including interdependencies and interactions, and the personal preferences, condition and charac-teristics of the user. c) calculates a balance of each alimentary constituent, said balance consisting of a further adjusted value for each particular alimentary source constituent with respect to that of the respective alimentary sink constituent, and d) maintains cu-mulative totals of said balances of each respective constituent for the chosen plurality of aliments.

A Chronological Mapper 207 that converts the plurality of cumulative totals of ali-inentary constituent balances, as generated by the Accumulator, into standard units of time.

An Interface 208 to accept user input and to provide outputs such as indicating the plurality of ailment choices, adjustments and results, and to provide communication with one or more of internal and external systems.

The components of FIG. 2 may be embodied by discrete or integrated electronic de-vices. Said components may be distributed locally or remotely, or the entire sct may be embodied as a standalone device. The solid lines indicate either wired or wireless communication. For example, the Database may be resident on the device or may be hosted remotely. Similarly the other components may be integrated into a single device or may be distributed for example amongst wearable devices. The commimieation is bidirectional and components may act transparently. In some embodiments a common data bus is employed.

The use and operation of FIG. 2 is as follows. The user consumes food and medicines (alimentary sources) and engages in various activities (alimentary sinks) during their day At any arbitrary time, for example as they are about to cat or take exercise, using the apparatus they a) select the alimentary source or sink information from the Database. b) adjust the respective quantity or magnitude appropriately, and c) enter the selection. The apparatus then maintains a list of these entries and, for the totality of alimentation thus far, presents an accumulated update of the plurality of constituents, or of a single constituent of interest, taking into account factors including interactions between aliments, and interdependencies with the personal preferences, condition and characteristics of the user and their environment.

The information is presented in a common chronological form; for example, after break-fast the system may report that, for example, "Your calorie ingestion takes you to 12.30 PM. Your salt ingestion takes you to 2.15 PM." A list of further constituents such as vitamins, minerals, anuno acids, proteins, carbohydrates and fats may be similarly re-ported. This gives the user immediate feedback in a familiar and easily understood way, allowing them to make informed decisions about future actions including what to consume and when. In the case of dietary restriction, the psychological focus is shifted away from the painful denial of food, instead to the positive anticipation of a deserved and entitled next meal.

As the user makes further selections, the chronological results are immediately updated.

For example, after breakfast the user takes a brisk morning walk for 20 minutes. After entering the appropriate alimentary sink information, the system now reports, say, "Your calorie expenditure takes you to 11.30 AM. Your salt expenditure takes you to 1.15 PM." The effect of the exercise is therefore partially to offset the effect of the earlier meal which, as shown above, would otherwise have been 12.30 PM and 2.15 PM respectively.

At any time, the user may explore the future effect of alimentation by browsing, selecting, adjusting and entering various alimentary sources and sinks. Ii.; in the light of such examination, the user decides to change or avoid that selection, the user can simply amend it or delete it from the accumulated list.

As the day continues, the user progresses towards a set of targets designed to achieve reduction, gain or maintenance of the entire set of alimentary constituents, or some combination thereof. Such targets are defined by the user during an initial set-up phase and depend on the individual; for example, the European Guideline Daily Amounts (ODAs) for the average requirements of an adult woman include energy: 2000 kcal; salt: 6g; protein: 45 g; carbohydrate: 230 g; sugars: 90 g; fat: 70 g; saturates: 20 g and fibre: 24g. For pharmaceuticals the targets are set by the manufacturer or diagnostician, and may include a set of rules for administration of the drug; for example up to two 500 mg tablets of paracetamol to be taken up to four times a day, with no more than eight to he taken in a 24 hour period.

The process of managing alimentation is therefore the balancing of the combination of a plurality of foodstuffs and other aliments in such a way that the respective targets of the alimentary constituents are approached or met over a certain overall time or measurement period.

A more detailed description of the components of FIG. 2 now follows.

DATABASE

FIG, 3 shows an embodiment of the Database 300 consisting of electronic circuitry including a Database Engine 301, Memory 302 including Database Storage 303, working Volatile Memory 304 and Non-Volatile Memory 305, and an Input/Output interface 306.

The Database Engine 301 permits entry, storage and retrieval of data. Data is stored in electronic or machine-readable form including Database Storage 303, with intermediate and other results in Volatile Memory 304 and persistent data in Non-Volatile Memory 305, and may in some embodiments also be available via one or more local or remote hosts.

The Database Storage 303 contains information including a set of persona] character-istics of one or more users, a comprehensive set of nutritional and pharmaceutical data concerning alimentary sources, alimentary sinks, their constituent substances, and a sot of rules governing a) the effects of alimentation with respect to the particular character-istics and variables of the user. b) requirements concerning administration and dosage, c) the generation of targets, and d) interactions and interrelationships between the above.

The information stored in the Database may be obtained from existing references or may be defined, provided and detailed by the user.

The Database communicates with other components either directly or indirectly via the Input/Output interface 306. For example, the Database may present a plurality of data to a particular component. Said component then signals one or more requests for further or refined information back to the Database which, in turn, presents the results of the request.

a. User characteristics, preferences and history In some embodiments, data is included relating to certain personal characteristics, pref-erences and histories of one or more users. Personal host characteristics of the user include anthropometric measures such as age, gender, weight, physical dimensions, lean and fat mass, and metabolic parameters including the uptake arid expenditure rates of various alimentary constituents under various environmental, physical, medical and existing nutritional conditions.

User preferences include preferred imits of measure, preferred methods of calculation, or direct entry, of targets, chronological conversion, and metabolic parameters. User histo-ries may include those of medication, activity, meals, menus and favourite foods.

b. Alimentary sources reference In sonic embodiments, the alimentary sources reference consists of data relating to a plurality of foods, medicines, and matcrials intended for bodily incorporation including by ingestion, inhalation or dennal absorption. Each alimentary source has associated with it various constituents or ingredients including nutrients and pharmacologically active materials, arid pharmacologically inactive materials such as bullring agents, colours and flavouring.

This data is stored in a normalised form; for example nutrients are given in quantities per g of foodstuff. Below it will be seen that these nornmlised values are later adjusted in accordance with the quantity consumed, and also by various rules to account for effects including those of personal characteristics and food and drug interdependencies.

In some embodiments, tools and terriplates are provided for the user to select aliments corresponding to dietary regimes including glyceimic index, hay diet and vegetarian and vegan options, or to modify or ignore selected nutrient values in foods such as fibre that some consider are not absorbed during digestion. Other schemes may be added incrementally as knowledge emerges in the general field (i.) Foods In some embodiments, food composition databases are used including the United States Department of Agriculture National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference. Release 26 of this database contains data on tip to 150 constituents for 8,463 foods.

Alternative embodiments inchide food composition databases for particular regions such as Asia, Africa, Canada, Caribbean, United States, Europe, Latin American, the Middle East and Oceania, directories of which are maintained by the Food and Agriculture Orga-nization of the United Nations. Some embodiments include food composition databases from manufacturers and distributors such as supermarket chains.

(ii.) Pharmaceuticals In certain embodiments, information about the composition of pharmaceuticals is ob-tained from national sources including the United States Food and Drug Administration, and from international sources such as the European Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Fur.) of the Council of Europe, the World Health Organization International Pharmacopocia (Ph.

mt.) and the electronic Medicines Compendiwu (eMC). Alternative embodiments in-clude data from pharmaceuticals manufacturers and distributors.

(iii.) Contaminants In some embodiments, the alimentary source reference may include food contanunants such as arsenic, lead, mercury and methylmercury, obtained from organisations includ-ing the United States Food and Drug Administration, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

(iv.) Toxicities In some embodiments, toxicity levels for ailments and contaminants are included, ob-tained from sources including the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs): Tolerable Upper Intake Levels, Vitamins., Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine, National Academies.

c. Alimentary sinks In some embodiments, reference data. describing various alimentary sinks are included.

Said alimentary sinks include basal metabolic rate (BMR). resting metabolic rate (RMR), thermic effect of food (TEF), physical activity and duration, and other host character-istics and variables as defined above.

Data on the effects of physical activity on mctabolic energy is obtaincd from publications including the Compendium of Physical Activities. Further information on alimentary sinks on factors including the rate and extent of absorption, anatomical distribution and metabolism of alimemits is obtained from the medical literature.

The data is stored in a normalised form; for example, physical activities are presented in Metabolic Equivalent (MET) values with respect to a statistically average person.

As will be seen, these normalised values are later adjusted in accordance with host characteristics and variables as directed by rules described below.

d. Targets The reference data for targets relate to a set of standard quantities of desired alimentaiy constituents per unit time, usually over a 24 hour period.

Standard guidelines for nutritional targets are obtained from sources including the United States Department of Agriculture Dietary Reference Intakes, the Food and Drink Federation of the United Kingdom, the National Health and the Medical Research Coun- cil (NHMRC) of Australia, and other national and international references. Pharinaceu-tical targets are obtained from medical sources such as the United States Food and Drug Administration, and from international sources such as the European Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Eur.) of the Council of Europe, and the World Health Organization International Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Tnt.).

The data is stored in a normalised form for example, for an normal adult the target for vitamin K is 0.001 mg a day per kilogram of body weight. Below it will be seen that said normalised values may be adjusted in accordance with rules to include the effects of host characteristics and variables that differ from the reference normal.

In some embodiments the user may choose manually to modify the targets with respect to the method of calculation and its parameters. Targets may also be entered directly by the user or a diagnostician and in some embodiments automated assistance with target calculation is provided.

In certain embodiments, intermediate targets may be set for different times of day and may take the form of a collection of profiles., curves or vectors rather than a collection of singlc values. For example, target profiles can be set to give high protein but low carbo-hydrate in the morning, changing to low protein and high carbohydrate in the evening.

The concept can be extended over longer time periods, for example giving a gradually changing balance of daily nutrient profiles over progressing weeks or niontlis.

e. Rules In some embodiments, rules are included for describing one or more of alhnentation, units of measure and conversion, administration and dosage, and generation of targets, warnings and alarms.

(i.) Alimentation The effective amounts and dosages of alimentary sources made available to the metabolism depend not only on the quantity ingested, but also on certain host characteristics and variables as defined above. Similarly, the effect of alimentary sinks on these amounts and dosages depends on the rate at which they are metabolised, which in turn also depends on said host characteristics and variables In some embodiments, rules are used to modify the alimentary reference data with

IT

respect to the above mentioned host characteristics and variables. There is a distinction between the rules affecting alimentary sources and those affecting alimentary sinks. Rules for an alimentary source constituent describe the quantity of substance that is available to the metabolism, Rules affecting an alimentary sink constituent give the rate and amount at which that substance is metabolised.

Rules that describe the interactions between aliments and host characteristics and vari-ables may he represented in forms including one or more collections of a) quantitative relationships such as univariate and multivariate models, or b) unquantitative or par-tially quantitative heuristics or rules of thumb, Said models and heuristics may be used to generate a set of weightings or coefficients that are subsequently used to mod-ify, correct or revise the value of the quantity or amount of the respective alimentary constituent.

Rules to calculate basal metabolic rate (BMR) include the original or revised Harris-Benedict equations and the Muffin St Jeor Equation, which have gender, heiglit, weight, and age as independent variables, or the Katch-MeArdle formula (BMR) or the Cun-ningham Formula for resting metabolic rate (RMR), both of which use only the lean body mass as the independent variable.

(ii.) Administration and dosage In some embodiments, rules are included for the administration and dosage of aliments.

For example, drug dosages may be decided on the bases of host characteristics and variables as defined earlier.

As above, adnunistration and dosage rules are obtained from the medical literature, from pharmaceutical manufactures as well as from sources such as the United States Food and Drug Administration, and from international sources such as the European Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Eur.) of the Council of Europe, and the World Health Organization International Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Tnt.) or may be entered entered directly by the user or diagnostician.

(iii.) Units of measure and conversion factors With appropriate rules, the standard measures as supplied by the alimentary source and sink databases may he converted into more convenient units. For example, alimentary source constituents may be converted from quantities pcr lOOg to quantities including per serving, per slice and per oz.

(iv.) rllargets Rules for deternuning target values describe the relationships between a) normalised requirements, recommendations or guidelines for alimentary constituents as obtained from the reference data, and b) the host characteristics and variables of a particular user or individual. In some embodiments, targets may be adjusted with respect to said relationships.

In some embodiments, rules for determining target values arc obtained from sources including the Food and Nutrition Board. Institute of Medicine, National Academies, the Food and Drink Federation of the United Kingdom, the National Health and the Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia. the European Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Eur.) of the Council of Europe, and the World Health Organization International Pharmacopoeia (Ph. mt.).

(v.) Warnings and alarms In certain embodiments, warnings and alarms may be raised according to certain prop-erties of alimentary constituents; for example a warning is given if a target is set at a value that infringes safe limits, or if an ingested quantity is too small or to great with respect to a particular time period.

SELECTION

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of electronic circuitry 400 consisting of a Text Processor 401, iimhiding a Database Query Generator 402, Search Engine 403, Selection Manager 404, Formatter 405, and Memory 406 including working Volatile Memory 407 and Non-Volatile Memory 408, and an Input/Output interface 409.

In some embodiments, an Alimentary Source Selector and an Alimentary Sink Selector are both implemented in the form of 400 by separate arid distinct circuitry, although in some embodiments they may share some or all of their mechanism.

a. Alimentary Source Selection In some embodiments, the Text Processor 401 of the Alimentary Source Selector includes a Selection Manager 404 that permits the user to choose a particular alimentary source from a list or index of items including foodstuffs and pharmaceuticals. The choices are presented by the Formatter 405 to the user in a convenient textual or graplncal form such as an index of brand or product names, and may be grouped into convenient categories such as a list or lucrarchy of merm options. A search facility may be also provided by the Search Engine 403.

The data comprising the collection of choices is initially obtained by generating an appropriate query using the Database Query Generator 402 arid dispatching a request via the Input/Output interface 409 to the Database (FIG. 3 as mentioned earlier). The Database then responds with a list or plurality of items describing a choice of alimentary source.

The Alimentary Source Selector interacts with the user also via the Input/Output in-terface 409, using directly or indirectly attached devices including a keyboard, push buttons or touch-screen shared with a display device. In alternative embodiments the selection is made using a camera in conjunction with a barcoded label or dot matrix code on the foodstuff or aliment container or packaging, or with radio-frequency identification devices.

After a selection is made, the Alimentary Source Selector then further queries the Database for further information including the alimentary constituents and rules as-sociated with the selected alimentary source. Intermediate and other results are stored in the Memory 406 and are passed to other components via the Input/Output interface 409.

b. Alimentary Sink Selection In some embodiments, the Text Processor 401 of the Alimentary Sink Selector includes a Selection Manager 404 that permits the user to choose a particular alimentary sink froni a list or index of items including type of physical activity, lifestyle and environmental factors. The choices are presented by the Formatter 405 to the user in a convenient textual or graphical form and may be grouped into convenient categories via a list or hierarchy of menu options. A search facility may be also provided by the Search Engine 403.

The data comprising the collection of choices is initially obtained by generating an appropriate query using the Database Query Generator 402 and dispatclnng a request via the Input/Output interface 409 to the Database (FIG. 3 as above). The Database then responds with a list or plurality of items describing choices of alimentary sink.

The Alimentary Sink Selector interacts with the user also via the Input/Output interface 409, using directly or indirectly attached devices including a keyboard, push buttons or touch-screen shared with a display device. In alternative embodiments the selec-tion is obtained in real-time, based on data from distributed sensors such as heart and respiration rate monitors, pedometers. power meters and GPS trackers.

After a selection is marie, the Alimentary Sink Selector then further queries the Database for further information including the alimentary constituents and rules associated with the selected alimentary sink. Intermediate and other results are stored in the Memory 406 and are passed to other components via the Input/Output interface 409.

ADJUSTMENT

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of electronic circuitry 500, consisting of an Arithmetic Processor 501. including a Units Selector 502, Units Convertor 503, Incrementor 504, Decrcmentor 505, and Memory 506 including working Volatile Memory 507 and Non-Volatile Memory 508, and an Input/Output interface 509.

In some embodiments, an alimentary source Quantity Adjuster and an alimentary sink Magnitude Adjuster are both implemented in the form of 500 by separate and distinct circuitry, although in some embodiments they may share some or all of their mecha-Ilism.

a. Quantity Adjuster In some embodiments, the Arithmetic Processor 501 of the Quantity Adjuster includes a Units Selector 502 that permits the user to select a unit of measure of the alimentary source, a Units Convertor 503 that converts the selected units of measure into standard form, and an Incrementor 504 and Decrementor 505 that permit the user to increase or decrease the quantity of alimentary source.

The Quantity Adjuster 500 communicates with the user via the Input/Output interface 509, or directly, using I/O devices including a keyboard. push buttons or touch-screen shared with a display device. In alternative embodiments the quantity adjustment is made by contact or non-contact measurement or communication such as via a weighing scale, a camera in conjimction with image processing algorithms to estimate quantity Ilsilig a barcoded label or dot matrix code printed on the foodstuff or aliment container or packaging, or via radio-frequency identification devices that communicate the quan-tity.

After the quantity has been input, the Quantity Adjuster then adjusts, modifies or alters the alimentary source constituent values presented via the Alimentary Source Selector in accordance with the quantity selected and its units of measure. Intermediate arid other results are stored in the Memory 506 and are passed to other componcnts via the Input/Output interface 509.

b. Magnitude Adjuster In some embodiments, the Arithmetic Processor 501 of the Magnitude Adjuster includes a Units Selector 502 that permits the user to select a unit of measure of the alimentary sink, a Units Convertor 503 that converts the selected units of measure into standard form, and an lucrementor 504 and Decrementor 505 that permit the user to increase or decrease the quantity of alimentary sink.

The Magnitude Adjuster 500 communicates with the user via the Input/Output interface 509, or directly, using I/O devices including a keyboard, push buttons or touch-screen shared with a display device. In alternative embodiments the magnitude adjustment is made by contact or non-contact measurement or communication such as directly from distributed sensors such as heart and respiration rate monitors, pedometers, power meters and UPS trackers.

After the magnitude has been input. the Magnitude Adjuster then adjusts, modifies or alters the alimentary sink constituent values presented via the Alimentary Sink Selector in accordance with the magnitude selected and its units of measure. Intermediate arid other results are stored in the Memory 506 and are passed to other components via the Input/Output interface 509.

ACCUMULATOR

In some enbodimcnts, the Accumulator is implemented in the form of FIG. 6, which shows electronic circuitry 600 consisting of a Text and Arithmetic Processor 601, in-cluding a Database Query Generator 602. List Manager 603, Arithmetic Unit 604, Clock 605, and Memory 606 including working Volatile Memory 607 and Non-Volatile Memory 608, and an Input/Output interface 609.

For one or more ailments, the Accumulator further adjusts, modifies or revises the a-imentary source and sink constituent values presented via the Quantity Adjuster and Magnitude Adjuster, in accordance with host characteristics and variables, user prefer-ences and the respective rules as obtained from the Database using the Database Query Generator 602. Said revision may result from the application of rules in such forms as mappings or weightings that represent quantified relations between a plurality of inputs, or may represent an imquantified interaction, nile of thumb, or a potential interaction.

Intermediate and other results are stored in the Memory 606 and are passed to other components via the Input/Output interface 609.

The List Manager 603 maintains lists of alimentary sources and sinks and enables the user to define and manage one or more said lists. Ailments may therefore be combined into lists such as favourite foods, meal menus and other collections including exercise and medicinal regimes, and are managed by actions including adding, deleting, reordering or changing alhneut details.

For one or more lists, the Arithmetic Unit 604 keeps a plurality of numerical remainders or balances of the respective constituents of each said revised alimentary source and sink, where each remainder is the balance or differential of the sum or totality of the said revised values for each respective constituent of the plurality of alimentary sources, less those of the plurality of alimentary sinks. Using the Clock 605, said lists may be cleared automatically at a set time, or periodically as defined by the user, or at any time as decided by the user.

For one or more lists the Arithmetic Unit 804 maintains a plurality of cumulative alimen-tary constituent values for purposes including the monitoring of toxicity and contaminant levels where the Accumulator generates one or muore warnings or alarms as such levels are approached or exceeded.

The Accumulator communicates with the Quantity Adjuster, Magnitude Adjuster and the Database via the Alimentary Source Selector arid Alinmeutary Sink Selector and communicates with the user via the Input/Output interface 609, or directly, using I/O devices including a keyboard, or in alternative embodiments via other devices such as push buttons or a touch screen shared with a display device.

CHRONOLOGICAL MAPPER

FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of electronic circuitry 700 consisting of a Text and Arith-metic Processor 701, including a Database Query Generator 702, Arithmetic Unit 703, Mapper 704, and Memory 705 including working Volatile Memory 706 and Non-Volatile Memory 707, and an Input/Output interface 708.

In some embodiments, the Chronological Mapper is implemented in the form of 700.

1' he Chronological Mapper converts the plurality of balances of time various alimentary constituents as presented by the Accumulator, into a chronological forum.

In order to do this, a set of target values and associated rules are obtained from the Database, using the Database Query Generator 702. For a particular alimentary con-stituent, the chronological mapping is performed by the Arithmetic Unit 703 using an algorithm that includes the comparing of the respective balance with an appropriate target value and expressing the result with respect to a specified time interval.

The Mapper 704 is a look-up table that may be used to apply a further mapping such as to modify the results of the algoritlun in a specified way. Intermediate and other results are stored in the Memory 705 and are passed to other components via the Input/Output interface 708.

a. Pacing Functions An example of a chronological mapping algorithm involves a function, referred to herein as a "Pacing Function." The Pacing Function can take many forms, linear and nonlinear.

In some embodiments. the Pacing F\inction may be chosen by various methods including the selection from a menu or list of pre set alternative choices, or by interactive definition where the user provides a description of the the Pacing Function typographically or graphically. For illustrative purposes, two variations of Pacing Function are described below: Constant Interval, and Variable Interval.

(i.) Constant Interval Pacing Function Constant Interval Pacing Functions include those of the form, tp=fzEv+to (1) where t is a predicted or paced time; r is a fixed or constant time interval or measurement period; V is a target value of an alimentary constituent to he met over the time period r; V is a quantity of the alimentary constituent; to is a base or starting time, for example the start of the waking day or measurement period.

The time interval, i-. is a measurement interval over which the pacing is to be performed, for example over a 16-hour waking day. The factor is therefore constant and represents the number of hours paced per unit of alimentary constituent.

The Constant Interval Pacing Function is applicable when the start and duration of the measurement period is known in advance and the user wishes to distribute or pace evenly or proportionately the alimentary constituents over the incus urernent period. This is the case when the user is keeping regular hours.

Example: Constant Interval Calorie Pacing In this example, the user desires to restrict their calorie intake to 1600 kcal per day and has a 16-hour waking day, going to sleep at midnight and having breakfast with an energy value of 400 kcal at 8 AM. In this case: r is 16 hours; V is a target value of 1600 kca.l; t0 is 1)800 hours (the time of the first meal of the day); is 16 hours in the waking day divided by 1600 kcal per day = 0.01 hours per kcal; v is given by the Accumulator to be a total of 400 kcal.

= 0.01 x 400 + 0800 = 4 hours after 0800 hours = 1200 noon.

Continuing this example, at 1000 hours, the user decides to have a snack with an energy value of 200 kcal. Now, v is 400 kcal + say 200 kcal for the snack, giving a total of 600 kcal.

= 0.01 x 600 + 0800 hours = 6 hours after 0800 = 1400 hours.

In other words, breakfast won]d have sustained the user until noon, but the mid niorning snack extends this to 1400 hours. Note that although, for purposes of example, the snack was taken at 1000 hours, the specific time of day is not required in the calculation.

Table 1 continues this example with a 600 kcal meal at 1200 noon, a 400 kcal meal at 1800 hours, a depletion of 300 kcal due to intensive physical exercise at 2000 hours followed by a 200 kcal snack at 2100 hours and a 100 kcal supper at 2300 hours. Note that at 1800 hours, the target value of 1600 keal has been met, giving a paced time of 2400 hours, midnight, implying no further calorific intake is indicated for the day; however, this is offset by the physical exercise (an alimentary sink) at 2000 hours, giving an earlier paced time of 2100 hours, therefore allowing additional consumption equivalent to 300 keal.

Any alimentary constituent can be similarly treated. Table 1 therefore extends the above example with Constant Interval pacing values for the alimentary constituents: sugars, fat, saturates and salt, with target values based on the European Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs) for the average daily requirements of an adult woman (sugars: g, fat: 70 g, saturates: 20 g and salt: 6 g).

The breakfast meat at 0800 hours is relatively high in saturat and salt, with Constant Interval pacing of 1248 hours and 1440 hours respectively, and relatively low in sugars, with Constant Interval pacing of 0947. By expressing these differences in the common chronological form of paced timing, the user is placed in an informed position to reg-ulate their intake appropriately throughout the rcst of the day. In this example, the consumption of saturates and salt is deliberately made lower in the user's subsequent meals. Also, in this example, the alimentary sink at 2000 hours depletes all of the ali-mentary constituents by various aniounts, permitting further alimentary sourcing after that time, at the discretion of the user (ii.) Variable Interval Pacing Function Variable Interval Pacing Functions include those of the form, T+to-t1 v v+t1 (2) where t, is a predicted or paced time; T is a maximum time interval or measurement period; to is a base or starting time for the measurement period; t] is the time of the first alimentation; V is a target value of an alimentary constituent to be met over the time period T; v is a quantity of the alimentary constituent.

The time interval, T, is a maximum measurement interval over which the pacing is to be performed, usually a 24 hour day although longer or shorter time intervals can be prescribed.

The quantity T + to -t1 varies, representing a residual period that depends on the time of the first alimnentation, t1.

The factor T+t0-ti therefore represents a variable number of hours paced per unit of alimentary constituent.

Variable interval Pacing Functions therefore adjust the rate of pacing, depending on a variable measurement period.

Variable Interval Pacing Functions are applicable when it is not the case that the start and duration of the measurement period is known in advance, for example if the user is not keeping regular hours due to international travel.

Exanipic: Variable Interval Caloric Pacing In this example, the user desires to restrict their calorie intake to 1600 kcal per 24 hours, starting at 0000 hours, nudnight, arid has a variable waking time per day. in this case the user has a 400 kcal meal at 0200 hours. Therefore: T is a measurement period of 24 hours; to is a base or starting time of 0000 hours, or midnight; t1 is 0200 hours; V is a target value of 1600 keal; v is 400 kcal, The ratio is = or 0.01375 keel per hour, an.d = 001375 x 400 + 0200 = 5.5 hours after 0200 hours = 0730 hours.

Continuing the example, the user decides to have a snack with an energy value of 200 kcal at 1000 hours. Now, v is 400 kcal + say 200 keal for the snack, giving a total of 600 kcal.

= 0.01375 x 600 + 0200 hours = 8.25 hours after 0200 = 1015 hours.

in this case the snack at bOO hours represents a late breakfast that paces the user almost to that tinie.

For purposes of comparison with Constant Interval Pacing, Table 2 continues this ex-ample with a 600 kcal meal at i200 noon, a 400 keal inca] at 1800 hours, a depletion of 300 kcal due to intensive exercise at 2000 hours followed by a 200 kcal snack at 2100 hours and a 100 kcal supper at 2300 hours.

The ratio of or 0.01375 kcal per hour, is larger than that of the earlier example of Constant Interval Pacing, and therefore paces each kcal over a longer period.

Again, at 1800 hours, the target value of 1600 keal has been met, giving a paced time of 2400 hours, midnight; howcvcr, in this case the alimentary sink at 2000 hours now gives a paced time of 1953 hours, a greater effect than that of the Constant Interval Pacing of 2i00 hours.

Table 2 further extends the above example for sugars, fat, saturates and salt, with target lues based on the European GDAs indicated earlier (sugars: 90 g, fat; 70 g, saturates: 20g and salt: 6g).

The relatively high levels of saturates and salt in the first meal are reflected in the respective pacing of 0836 and ili0 hours, compared with sugars, paced at 0426 hours, spread out over larger intervals than the Constant interval Calorie Pacing cases in Table i. Similarly, the alimentary sink at 2000 hours affects the pacing of all of the ahiinentaxy constituents by greater amounts when compared to those of Table 1.

b. Note on time calculation The time calculation is based on a universal time referencc such as CMT, but converted to and from local times zones as appropriate.

Times may be expressed as hours and fractions of hours, for example 1315 hours is i3.25 in decimal form for the purposes of calculation. The conversion is performed by the system automatically and the user does not need to be directly concerned about this.

In the above examplcs, each new day is taken to begin at midnight, hut this can be set to any arbitrary time at the discretion of the user, In some embodiments a "reset now" function is provided for this purpose. In some embodiments, carry-over to the following interval (e.g the next day) is provided, either automatically or manually as the user decides.

Time 0800 1000 1400 1800 2000 2100 2300 Energy kcal: 400 200 600 400 -300 200 100 Constant Interval Pacing: 1200 1400 2000 2400 2100 2300 2400 Sugars g: 10 10 20 30 -10 20 10 Constant Interval Pacing: 0947 1133 1507 2027 1840 2213 2400 Fatg; 15 10 25 15 -10 10 5 Constant Interval Pacing: 1126 1343 1926 2251 2034 2251 2400 Saturatesg: 6 3 7 4 -3 2 1 Constant Interval Pacing: 1248 1512 2048 2400 2136 2312 2400 Salt g: 2.5 1.25 1.75 0.5 -1.25 0.75 0.5 Constant Interval Pacing: 1440 1800 2240 2400 2040 2240 2400 Table 1: Example of Constant Interval Pacing Time 0200 1000 1400 1800 2000 2100 2300 Energy kcal: 400 200 600 400 -300 200 100 Variable Interval Pacing: 0730 1015 1830 2400 1953 2238 2400 Sugars g: 10 10 20 30 -10 20 10 Variable Interval Pacing: 0426 0653 1147 1907 1640 2133 2400 Fatg: 15 10 25 15 -10 10 5 Variable Interval Pacing: 0643 0951 1743 2226 1917 2226 2400 Saturatcsg: 6 3 7 4 -3 2 1 Variable Interval Pacing: 0836 1154 1936 2400 2042 2254 2400 Salt g: 2.5 1.25 1.75 0.5 -1.25 (1.75 0.5 Variable Interval Pacing: 1110 1545 2210 2400 1925 2210 2400 Table 2: Example of Variable Interval Pacing c. Mapping the Pacing Function A separate mapping cac be applied to the Pacing Function to modify the distribution of timings in a specified way. For example, some people may want to eat more in the early part or in the later part of the day, or some combination thereof, Or there may be certain honrs in the day where they do not want, or are unable to, eat at all. The mapping serves to modify the times suggested to reflect such preferences. The mapping may be described in various forms, including a mathematical expression or as a table or graphically. The user can interactively specify the mapping as required.

For illustrative purposes, an excerpt of a Pacing Function mapping table might be: Paced time: 0900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 Mapped time: 0800 0900 1000 1100 1130 1500 1515 1530 1600 1630 In the above example the user has specified that they do not want to eat after 1200 and beforelSOo. In this case, where for example the Pacing Function predicts a meal is due at 1300. it is now mapped to 1130. A combination of a set of rules and interpolation between points is used to provide fine-grain time mappings as required, so that a prediction of say 1030 maps to 0930, and 1430 maps to, say 1507 in the example here.

In general, the mapping is calculated as the inverse function of the integral of the spec-ification. For example if the user would like to concentrate their eating at the start of the day but wants it to tail-off gradually as the day progresses, the specification could be described as of thc form g = exp (-at) where t is time and a is a decay constant that the describes the degree of tail off. The mapping is then obtained either analytically or by numerical integration followed by, say, a direct inspection algorithm in order to obtain the inverse function.

INTERFACE

FIG. 8 shows an embodiment of electronic circuitry 800 consisting of a Text and Logic Processor 801, including a User Interface Manager 802, Hardware Controller 803, Mern-ory 804 including working Volatile Memory 805 and Non-Volatile Memory 806, and a Peripheral Interface 807 including Input/Output Ports 808, Display Interfaces 809, Communications Interfaces 810 and Other Device Interfaces 811.

In some embodinients, the Interface is implemented as shown in the form of 800. The Interface provides a point of access for other components, peripheral hardware and for the user. In some embodiments, said peripheral hardware is incorporated into the phys-ical casing of the device; in other embodiments some or all of the peripheral hardware is external to the device. The Hardware Controller 803 provides protocols for operations such as handshaking to enable data transfer. The Peripheral Interface 807 also pro-vides appropriate mechanical connections and electrical signals for the various types of peripheral. Intermediate and other data are stored in the Memory 804 and are passed to other components via the Peripheral Interface 807.

a. Peripheral Hardware Peripherals supported by the Interface include Input/Output Ports 808, Display 809, Communications 810 and Other Devices 811 Input/Output Ports 8Q8 include serial ports such as R5232, PS/2, FireWire (WEE 1394) and universal serial bus (USB), and parallel ports such as IEEE 1284 and Parallel Small Computer System Interfacc (SCSI), and optical fibre interfaces. Said Input/Output Ports 808 may also be used to connect devices such as push-buttons, switches, key-board, computer mouse, joystick. touch pad, touch pen, light pen, composite ganie controller, jog dial or shuttle, eye gaze tracker and radio frequency identification (RFID) transceivers. Devices such as one or more digital cameras, image scanners, barcode readers, 3D scanners, range finders and printers, may also be attached.

One or more Display Interfaces 809 are used to connect devices that present information including text, graphics and video and may also include tactile or haptic forms such as braille.

One or more Communications Interfaces 810 provide wired or wireless communication with local or remote devices, systems and networks including the Internet, such as per-sonal area networks (PANs), local area networks (LANs), home area networks (HANs), campus metropolitan area networks (CANs), metropolitan area networks (MANs), wide area networks (WANs) and global area networks (CANs).

Other Device Interfaces 811 support devices including audio input and output, and special purpose instrmnents such as wearable sensors that directly measure or indirectly deduce weight, resting energy expenditure, distribution of fat, blood levels of glucose, caffeine, minerals, vitamins and other alimentary constituents.

b. User Interface FIGs. 9 to 15c show an embodiment of the User Interface where a single screen is employed to accept user input and to display output. Alternative embodiments may use multiple screens. In somc embodiments a touch-screen is used to accept user input; in other embodiments user input is accepted using devices including push-buttons, switches, a keyboard, computer mouse, joystick, touch pad, touch pen, light pen, composite game controller, jog dial or shuttle and eye gaze tracker.

(i.) Main Screen FIG. 9 is a Main Screen 900 that gives options to the user for browsing alimentary sources (Foods 901, Medicines 902), alimentary sinks (Activities 903), user defined lists (Lists 904), choices made today (Today's choices 905) and chronological mappings of today's choices (Clocks 906). Selecting one of the options causes other screens to be presented as follows.

lithe Foods 901 option is chosen, one or more lists or indices of foods is presented, such as that shown in FIG. lOa. If the Medicines 902 option is selected, one or more lists or indices of medicines is presented, an example of which as shown in FIG. ha. If the Activities 903 option is selected, one or niore lists or indices of activities is presented in the form of that shown in FIG. 12a.

If the Lists 904 option is selected, one or more sets of user defined lists may be presented such as the example of FIG. 13, lithe Today's choices 905 option is selected, a list of alimentary choices entered earlier in the current measurement period (usually the current day) is shown, such as the example of FIG. 14.

If the Clocks 906 option is selected, a screen such as that illustrated in FIG. löa appears, where a set of alimentary constituents arc presented in chronological form.

(ii.) Food selection, adjustment and entry FIGs. Wa to We illustrate arm embodiment of a user interface for food selection, adjust-ment and entry. FIG. hOa represents a display or screen l000a showing an excerpt of an extensive list of food choices that can be browsed by the user. In some embodiments a search facility is provided. In FIG. l0a and in all screens other than time main one there are facilities for returning to earlier sc-reens by selecting a "Back" symbol, "" lOOla, arid similarly for scrolling up, "k" 1002a. arid down, "" 1003a.

Convenient headings 1004a as are used to categorise the various food choices 1005a to lOlla. On selecting a food, a new screen is presented offering further choices. For example if the "Fara, in pod, raw" 1005a option is selected, a screen such as that depicted in FIG. lob is presented l000b.

FIG. lob shows a selection of options related to a particular food choice 100Db. Selecting "Adjust amount" lOOlb causes a screen such as shown in FIG. lOc to appear l000c that gives the user the opportunity to adjust the food quantity and units of measure.

Selecting "See nutrients" 1002b causes screens such as shown in FIG. lOd 1000d and FIG. l0e 1000e, displaying one or more lists of alimentary constituents to appear for the given quantity of food.

Selecting "Add to list" 1003b allows the user to append the food and its quantiy to the one or morc user-defined llsts or menus as exemplified in FIG. 13 1300. Selecting "Add to today's choices" 1004b appends the food and its quantiy to the list, exemplified in FIG. 14, that represents the choices made for a daily measurement period 1400.

(iii.) Medicine selection, adjustment and entry FIGs. ha to lld illustrate an embodiment of a user interface for medicinal selection, adjustment and entry. FIG. ha represents a screen llOOa showing an excerpt of an extensive list of medicinal choices that can be browsed by the user. In some embodiments a search facility is provided.

Convenient headings hUla as are used to categorise the various medicinal choices 1102a to 1108a. On selecting a medicine, a new screen is presented offering further choices.

For example if the "Anadin Extra Soluble Tablets " hlO2a option is selected, a screen such as that depicted in FIG. llb is presented 110Db.

FIG. llb shows a selection of options related to a particular medicinal choice. Selecting "Adjust amount" iloib causes a screen such as FIG. llc to appear ilOOc that gives the user the opportunity to adjust the medicinal quantity and units of measure. Selecting "See constituents" 1102b causes one or more lists of alimentary constituents to appear for the given quantity of medicine, as illustrated in FIG. lid hood.

Selecting "Add to list" 1103b allows the user to append the medicine and its quantiy to the one or more user-defined lists as exemplified in FIG. 13 1300. Selecting "Add to today's choices" 1104b appends the medicine and its quantly to the list, excmplified in FIG. 14, that represents the choices made for a daily measurement period 1400.

(iv.) Activity selection, adjustment and entry FIGs. 12a to h2d illustrate an embodiment of a uscr interface for activity selection, adjustment and entry. FIG. 12a represents a screen 1200a showing an excerpt of an extensive list of activity choices that can be browsed by the user. In some embodiments a search facility is provided.

Convenient headings 1201a as are used to categorisc the various activity choices 1202a to 1208a. On selecting an activity, a new screen is presented offering further choices.

For example if the "3.5 mph, level, brisk, firm surface, walking for exercise" 1202a option is selected, a screen such as that depicted in FIG. 121) is presented 1200b.

FIG. 12b shows a selection of options related to a particular activity choice. Selecting "Adjust duration" 1201b causes a screen such as FIG. l2c to appear 1200c that gives the user the opportunity to adjust the activity duration. Selecting "See constituents affected" 1202b causes one or more lists of alimentary constituents to appear. In said lists, the affected constituents may have negative values representing an expenditure or depletion as a result of the given activity, as illustrated in FIG. 12d 1200d Selecting.Add to list" 1-203b allows the user to append the activity and its duration to the one or more user-defined lists as exemplified in FIG. 13 1300. Selecting "Add to today's choices" 1204b appends the activity and its duration to the list, exemplified in FTC;. 14. that represents the choices made for a daily measurement period 1400.

(v.) Lists FIG. 13 illustrates a screen 1300 showing a set of lists of user defined aliments and activities that, for example. relieve the user of the repetitive task of selecting several individual foods each time a particular type of meal, such as a regular breakfast, is con-suined. If one of the lists is selected, the user is presented with a further list (not shown in the interests of brevity) of ailments and their respective quantities or magnitudes, and is gwen facilities including adding, editing, deleting copying and pasting entries.

(vi.) Today's choices FIG. 14 exemplifies a screen 1400 showing list of aliments and activities taken in the current (usually 24-hour) measurement period. The entries are presented as a rurming order, with the topmost entry being the first in the measurement period or day. A Clear list" button 1401 may be used to reset or clear the list by deleting or removing all of its items. In some embodiments the list is cleared automatically at a particular time, for

example midnight.

(vii.) Clocks FIG. 15a is an example of a screen 1500a showing showing a chronological mapping of the totality of calories: 475 kcal 1501a, protein: 13.18g 1502a, carbohydrate: 69.04 g 1503a. sugars: 20.95 g 1504a, fat: 18.09 g 1505a. saturates:ll.545 g 1506a, salt: 1.46 g 1507a and caffeine: 146 mg 1508a in the collection, of entries in "Today's choices" (FIG. 13 as mentioned above.) In order to perform the chronological mapping, the following rules are applied for exern-plary purposes.

Rule 1. The totality of each alimentary constituent is obtained by the superposition principle, that is the net value of two or more contributions of an alimentary constituent is the sum of their individual values. For example, the total calorie value of 475 kcal 1501a is the sum of the calorie contributions of the individual aliments and activities shown in the "Today's choices" list (FIG. 13) mentioned earlier.

Rule 2. For protein, carbohydrate, sugars, fat and salt, activity reduces quantity in proportion to calorific expenditure.

Rule 3. The metabolic half-life of caffeine is unaffected by exercise.

Rule 4. For simplicity no interdependencies or other factors are assumed regarding the metabolic and physiological uptake of nutrients and pharmaceuticals Rule 5. The respective chronological mappiug for each nutrient is obtained with a Con-stant Interval Calorie Pacing Function where the corresponding target is the European Guideline Daily Amount (GDA) for the average requirements of an adult woman: en-ergy: 2000 kcal, protein: 45 g, carbohydrate: 230 g, sugars: 90 g, fat: 70 g, saturates: g arid salt: Gg, except for caffeine where the target is user-dcflncd at 201) mg.

Rule 6. The measurement period has a duration of 16 hours where the first meal of the day is taken at 0800 hours.

For example, total saturates are calculated using the above rules as follows: Rules 1 to 4. Total saturates: 11.545 g = 1.39 g (Milk, 1/4 cup) + 0.005 g (Tea, 1 cup) + 0.738 g (Bread, 4 slices) + 2.568 g (Butter) + 8.144 g (Candies, 1 bar) -1.3 g (Walking, 30 mins). There is no contribution from the Anadin tablets.

Rules 5 and 6. Constant Interval Calorie Pacing Function = 1I5 x 16 + S hours, = 17.236 in decimal notation, or 1714 hours.

It is immediately obvious by inspection that the chronological mappings for calories 1501a, protein 1502a, carbohydrate 1503a, sugars 1504a, fat 1505a and salt 1507a fall in the range 1143 to 1248 hours and can he seen to be in reasonable nutritional balance as they fall in the vicinity of 1200 midday. The chronological mapping for saturates is 1714 houzs and is an indicator that the consumption of saturates is relatively high compared to the other nutrients. The chronological mapping for caffeine is 1941 hours, relatively high, and may be regarded as a discouragement to the user of taking further caffeine later in the day.

In some embodiments a further facility is provided to the user for the purpose of making explicit the contributions of the various aliments with respect to their constituents.

Many users are primarily concerned with the contribution of ailments to their calorie count. In order to explore said contributions, selcctiug "Calories" 1501a will cause a screen such as that shown iii FIG. lSb to be displayed 1500b winch shows the accu-mulation of calories (kcal) in chronological form, with respect to the running order of aliments: Milk, 1/4 cup 1501b, contributing 39 kcal, maps to 0819 hours. Tea, 1 cup (8 fi oz) 1502b, contributes only 2 kcai. mapping to 0820 hours. Bread, 4 slices 1503b, contributing 293 kcal, maps to 1040 hours. Butter 15Q4b has a contribution of only 36 kcal, napping to 1058 hours-Candies, 1 bar 1505b, contributes 235 kcal, mapping to 1250 hours.

Walking, 30 mm 150Gb, expends 130 kcal, mapping to 1148 hours and therefore offset-ting the previous contributions to some extent. There is no further contribution from the Anadin tablets at the end of the list 1507b. It can thus be seen that the calorie contribution is reasonably paced, although the user might be surprised to see that the calorie contribution of their intake of bread is higher than that of the candy bar.

Analogously, the user may be concerned that the accumulation of saturates is relatively high. In this case, selecting "Saturates" 1506a will cause a screen such a that shown in FIG. 15c to be displayed 1500c.

FIG. lEe shows the accumulation of saturates in chronological form 1500c, with respect to the running order of aliments: Milk, 1/4 cup 1501c, contributing 1.39 g saturates, maps to 0907 hours. Tea, 1 cup (8 fi oz) 1502c, has only traces of saturates, 0.005 g, having insigthficant effect. Bread, 4 slices 1503c, contributing 0138 g saturates, maps to 0942 hours. Butter 1504c has a larger contribution of 2.568 g saturates, mapping to 1146 hours.

Candies, 1 bar 1505c, contributes 8.144 g saturates, mapping to 1817 hours and is by far the largest contribution making a difference of over six and a half hours. Walking, mm 1506c, depletes saturates by 1.3 g, mapping to 1714 hours, improving matters a little; nevertheless, in the light of this information the user may wish to review their consumption. There is no further contribution from the Anadin tablets at the end of the list 1507c.

lithe user \vould similarly like to explore the contribution of caffeine, selecting "Caffeine Ph Eur" 1508a will cause a screen such as that shown in FIG. lad to be displayed l500d.

FIG. lad shows the accumulation of caffeine in chronological form 1500d. In this case, the contributors are: Tea, I cup (8 fi oz) 1502d, 47 lug, mapping to 1146 hours; Candies, 1 bar 1505d, 9 ing, 1229 hours; Anadin Extra Soluble Tablets 1507d, 90 mg, mapping to 1941 hours It is therefore clear that the largest contributor to caffeine intake is in this case medication.

SECOND EMBODIMENT -SLIDE RULE

FIG. 16 shows an embodiment as a slide rule 1600 with a pair of independent sections 1602 and 1603 that move relative to each other in the direction indicated by double headed arrow 1601.

One section is marked with logarithmically spaced nutritional values 1602 and the other section is marked with logarithmically spaced temporal measures 1603.

In some embodiments, the mitritional scales 1602 are marked in accordance with Eu-ropean Guideline Daily Amounts (ODAs) for the average requirements of an adult woman. It will be appreciated that in other alternative embodiments the nutritional scales may vary in number, nutrient type and magnitude of value, and may be indepen-dently mountcd such that they slide against each other, thus allowing their respective targets to he set individually. Also the temporal scale may be marked for arbitrary periods of time and may be marked with respect to a particular starting point hi thne such as 0800 hours. For certain regimes the time period may be may be greater or less than 24 hours. The slide rule nay be embodied in various geometrical formats including linear and circular dials and clock faces.

The slide rule embodies a chronological mapping with the Pacing Function, (3) where t, is a prcdicted or paced time; r is a time interval or measurement period; T is a target quantity of a particular alimcntary constituent to be met ovcr the time period r v is a quantity or magnitude of the alimentary constituent with target T. In this embodiment, t gives a time that is relative to an arbitrary base time or mea-surement period.

In operation, the user first must choosc a set of target values and the time period over which said targets are to be met. The temporal slider 1603 is then moved in order to align the the respective nutritional target with its time period on the temporal scale.

For example, the maximum GDA values 1604 may be used as targets to be met over a 16 hour period. In this case the temporal slider 1603 is displaced such that the GDA maxima 1604 are aligned with the 16-hour mark 1605.

Then, as foods and activities are undertaken during the measurement period, the user ascertains the quantity of one or more of the calories, sugars, fat, saturates and salt, corresponding to each food serving or activity of interest. Said quantity is then accumu-lated incrementally along its respective nutritional scale: alimentary contributions left to right, alimentary depletion right to left. For each accumulated quantity, the corre-sponding paced time is then located on the temporal scale. For example, a cumulative consumption of 500 kcal 1606 corresponds to 4 hours from the start of the 16 hour mea-surenient period 1607, while a cumulative consumption of 3 g salt 1608 corresponds to 8 hours from the start of the 16 hour measurement period 1609.

Energy keal: 0 250 500 750 1000 1250 1500 1750 2000 Sugars g: 0 11.25 22.5 33.75 45 56.25 67.5 78.75.90 Fat g: 0 8.75 17.5 26.25 35 43.75 52.5 61.25 70 Saturates g: 0 2.5 5 7.5 10 12.5 15 17.5 20 Salt g: 0 0.75 1.5 1.25 3 3.75 4.5 5.25 6 Mapped time 0800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 2200 2400 Table 3: Example of Printed Table Paracetarnol mg: 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 400O Mapped time 0800 1200 1200 1600 1600 2000 2000 2400 2400 Table 4: Example of Rule for Administration of Paracetamol

THIRD EMBODIMENT -TABLES

A collection of tables may be printed with respect to various targets and time intervals.

In use, the alimentary data is obtained from sources including printed material such as food labels, the tables being used to assist with manual accumulation and chronological napping. The tables may be printed in various formats and geometries including linear and circular dials and clock faces.

In the case of Table 3, the targets are based on the ODAs for the average requirements of an adult woman. For this table, the first meal of the day is a1 0800 and the targets are to be met over a 16 hour period.

As food is ingested, the values of its constituents are incremented left to right and the correspondingly mapped time read-off For example, if a total of 1000 kcal have been consumed, this will last the user until 1600 hours. The sugar, fat, saturates aud salt are treated similarly. For the effects of activities, the values of the corresponding constituents may be decremented right to left. For example if 250 kcal are expended by an hour's brisk walk, then the accumulated calories are reduced to 750 kcal, which will now last the user until 1400 hours.

The chronological mapping need not be mathematically linear; for example, Table 4 shows a rule for the administration of 4000 mg of paracetamol over 8 hours starting at 0800 hours, where the dosage is spaced in four-hour intervals.

RAMIFICATIONS

Further enhancements to the system can be made such as calculating optimal meals, modif'ing targets so as to take into account real-time information from external sensors, and the exploitation of real-time user data for marketing, medicine and government.

These are described in more detail below, together with discussion of further rami-fications in human nutrition, horticulture, farming and veterinary science, medicine, industry and the environment

MEAL SUGGESTIONS

An optimisation engine can be used to help the user plan meals such as based on the constraints of the food's nutrients as obtained from the Database, the amounts already eaten that day and their cumulative nutrient distributions, the remaining time, and the user's preferences and history of selections. The objective of the automated optimisation is to balance the targets of multiple nutrients (e.g. calories, carbohydrates, specific vitamins, saturated fat and salt).

A variation on this theme is for the user to specify at which times of day and how many times during the day they would prefer to eat, and the system then gives suggestions for meals optinused appropriately, If the user has unanticipated extra nieals, or misses meals unexpectedly, the system updates the optimal suggestions in real-time.

DYNAMIC TARGETS

Targets could he modified dynamically to reflect the changing demands on a person's energy and nutrient uptake as the day progresses. For exaniple the target calorie value could be changed in real-time depending on energy expenditure as obtained from sensors or estimated from user input. Other nutrient targets could be analogously modified with appropriate sensing.

DYNAMIC NUTRIENT PROFILING

Similarly, a nutrient profile can be modified dynamically in the light of feedback from sensors or user input. The amplitude and form of a curve is defined in anticipation of a certain daily profile, but is then adjusted in accordance with changes in sensor data. For example, profiles may be defined for lugh protein but low carbohydrate in the morning, changing gradually to low protein and high carbohydrate in the evening. Said profiles are then dynamically modified, for example, so that they develop peaks in at variable times of the day when the user is expending high energy as detected by external sensors.

REAL-TIME DATA

In order to use an electronic embodiment of the above described systems and methods for management of alimentation, users must explore potential alimentary choices, arid adjust, accept or reject them on a moment by moment basis as suits them at arbitrary times of the day or night.

Such information may be immediately communicated in wired or wireless form to one or more local or remote devices, servers, systems and networks including the internet.

Thus, with a large number of users, a mass or cloud of real-time data may be generated for purposes such as marketing, resource distribution, health and government.

As required and permitted, the real-time data may comprise all available information about each user mcludi ig their individual identification, the aliments they are consider-ing and choosing. a time stamp for each consideration and choice entered, one or more physical locations at and around the time of entry, host characteristics and variables, target values and rules as employed by the uscr, and information about how well their targets are being met.

a. Social Networking An electronic embodiment of the above described systems may include a platform for social networking in which online communities interact so as to share support and infor-mation and exchange feedback and ideas. Such platforms include micro-blogging sites such as Twitter, and social media sites such as Facebook. Social networking features may include a "Tweet This" function for the selected aliments and showing pacing times for various nutrients, for example "1 cup (202 g) rice, white, with pasta, cooked, has enough calories to last me until mid day." h. Online Market Intelligence A stream of real-time data that describes consumer behaviour actually at the moment of consideration and choice is of particular commercial interest; real-time insight into users' thought processes can be derived from their browsing, exploration, adjustment and selection of alimentary possibilities.

Market areas include health, fitness and lifestyle, weight management programmes, phar-maceuticals, insurance, and food production and distribution. Real-time monitoring of alimcntation is of practical benefit to physicians and to pharmaceuticals manufactur-ers, where the data stream is complementary to medical instrumentation and may be used, for example, to support patient adherence to medicinal and health regimes. Insur-ance companies may similarly benefit for example by tailoring offers depending on such monitoring.

Food producers and distributors may benefit by using the data to identi long and short term trends including the immediate effect of advertising, and to rapidly respond to the market. In medicine and pharmacy, the data may be particularly useful in epidemiol-ogy.

Supermarkets niay identify opportunities for developing and optimising strategies for market penetration by exploiting the relationships and correlation of aliment choices with purchasing behaviour; for example, foods purchased at particular supermarket chains and geographic locations can be identified via their loyalty card schemes and compared with foods actually consumed as given by the real-time data stream, As well as determining new market opportunities, supermarkets may use the information to optimise the product mix and replenishment cycle, for example depending on changing local conditions or fashion as identified or predicted by the real-time data.

c. Real-time market push As well as reacting to user behaviour, marketers xmiay use the real-time data to inter-act with the user at the specific time of alimentary exp'oration and choice. Affinity analysis may be used to give specific recommendations based on alimeritar Instory and demographics including age, gender, locality and lifestyle.

d. Real-time data analytics The real-time data can be examined, explored and analysed with the purpose of testing hypotheses and drawing conclusions about properties of the information including hidden variables, relationships and patterns. For example, analysis of data including the times where the user has entered particular aliments may reveal periodic and aperiodic patterns of general and specific appetite for individuals and groups, including patterns of change over time. In medicine and pharmacology, the data enables possibilities including the exploration of real-time epidemiologica.l relationships.

APPLICATIONS IN HUMAN NUTRITION

The obvious applications are related to human nutrition.

a. Dietary and health Balanced nutrition, neither insufficient nor excessive., is important in the avoidance of disease and the promotion of mental and physical capability.

b. Sports Sports nutrition is a specialised fomll of human nutrition where the tinnng and monitor-ing of nutrient consumption and release is important. In this case there can be a long list of nutrients to be controlled, and the targets are chosen to match the relatively high demands of this industry-Nutrient profiles call be matched to the individual character-istics of the athlete, and can be adjusted dynamically depending, say, on the varying real-time demands of training as measured by sensors and/or by calculation. The system nses optimisation as described above to adjust the meal constituents and the times that meals are recommended to be taken.

c. Catering In institutional environments, catering managers could use the system to optimise the nutrition of a mass of similarly categorised people (as opposed to tailoring to an indi-vidual as described above) to match collective demands. For example, the alimentary targets of a school canteen differ from those of a residential care home.

d. Food labelling Used as indicators of nutritional value for standard food portions on food labels, chrono- logical mappings are more meaningful than percentage values because they give guide-lines to the number of hours for which foods provide sustenance for an average person, whereas percentages arc an abstraction.

APPLICATIONS LN PLANT AND ANIMAL NUTRITION

The current application is human nutrition, but the same principles could be applied to veterinary and horticultural nutrition.

a. Veterinary and farming In this case the Database is biased towards animal alimentation where the associated rules and targets are different for different species or breeds-If a feeding routine is to be followed, the system could provide an alarm at, or ahead of, the calculated feeding times.

The facility for changing the distribution of timings could be used to match the feeding regime to the habits of particular animals. Several different breeds could be managed from the samc device by selecting between their respective targets and alimentation history.

b. Horticulture Here the database contains the values of the nutrients in various plant foods, soil types and other relevant factors such as geographical location and soil composition. The rules and target nutrient profiles ca-n be matched to the variety of plant and their expected seasonal behaviour, and the profiles can be updated dynamically depending, say, on the environmental conditions. Optimisation can be used to balance the food nutrient composition, the feeding times and the constraints of economy. Rather than a hand-held device, the system in this case is more likely to form part of a fixed automated installation.

APPLICATION IN OTHER FIELDS

The principle of the above described processes and systems is that a large quantitative database of items and their constituents is used together with characteristic rules, and target values for each constituent, a given time period over which the target is to be met, and a list of constituents to be consumed and those already consumed, in order to convert quantities expressed in arbitrary units into a temporal form. The objective is to meet the target values of multiple constituents in a specified way-The same pnnciple

can be applied in oIlier fields.

a. Medical In medicinal dispensation a large database of drugs and their constituents might be used to optimnise a medication scheme where different drugs share subsets of similar constituents that contribute towards a target-The Pacing Function could he mapped to reflect a particular medication profile, medication profiles could be used analogously to nutrient profiles and could he modified dynamically depending on feedback from blood

tests for example.

b. Industrial This approach can be used in manufacturing where a mix of lumped materials is pro-cessed into a final product. The database contains properties of the various materials and their sources, the targets reflect various quality parameters, and the Pacing Func-tion is related to the rate of production. Profiles of material constituents can be set up analogously to nutrient profiles and can be dynamically adjusted via data obtained from sampling. The system provides predictive information that can be fed forward to later production stages.

e. Environmental A similar approach may be relevant to the workplace. domestic, urban and country-side envirorunents where there are health risks associated with exposure to a plurality of sources and constituents of pollutants and other agents sonic or all of which may interact.

According to the World Health Organization, the biological effects are greatest at the earliest stages of life: From conception through adolescence, rapid growth and developmental pro-cesses occur that can be disrupted by exposures to environmental chemicals.

These include anatomical, physiological, metabolic, functional, toxicokinetic, and toxicodynamic processes.

\%Torkplaee Exposure Limits (WELs) of about 500 substances used in the work environ-ment are listed in EH4O workplace exposure limits.

In this case, the database includes information relating to environmental agents arid their constituents as well as a set of rules describing their interactions including those between the host characteristics and variables of the user. Selection and quantification of exposure to agents is by manual input and automated sensing, followed by the calculated accumulation of exposure of each constituent of each agent, the application of rules, and by chronological mapping to provide a readily understood indication of the degree of risk associated with exposure. Data may also be incorporated from remote sensors including fixed installations such as air quality monitoring stations, to give a more complete picture of the immediate environment.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments illustrate rather than limit the invention, and that those skilled in the art will be capable of designing many a!-ternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. In the claims, any reference signs placed in parentheses shall not be construed as hunting the claims. The word "comprising" and "comprises", and the like, does not exclude the presence of elements or steps other than those listed in any claim or the specification as a whole. In the present specification, "comprises" means "includes or consists of" and "comprising" means "including or consisting of". The singular reference of an element does not exclude the plural reference of such elements and vice-versa. The invention may be implemented by means of hardware comprising several distinct elements, and by means of a suitably programmed computer. In a device claim enumerating several means, several of these means may be embodied by one and the same item of hardware. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutu-ally different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.

Claims (20)

1. CLAIMS1. A computer-implemented method lbr controlling the alimentation of a host organ-ism in accordance with a tinibased alimentary target, the method comprising the steps: i) receiving data relating to the type and amount of an alimentary source or alimentary sink; ii) using the data to generate or maintain a set of balances storing respective amounts of alimentary constituents of the ailment; iii) generating or adjusting a temporal estimate for each balance to give the value of each balance as a chronological prediction.
2. 2. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of comparing at least one of the estimated balances with an alimentary target to establish whether the target is likely to be met.
3. 3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, and further comprising the steps: i) receiving data related to attributes of the host; ii) using the data to adjust at least one of the estimated balances.
4. 4. A method according to claim 1, 2, or 3, arid further comprising the steps: I) receiving data related to interactions between specified alimentary constituents; ii) using the data to adjust at least one of the estimated balances.
5. 5. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the respective amounts of alimentary constituents is derived by: estimating the amount of each alimentary constituent based on one or more aliment models; or receiving the anioiint of each constituent as an input.
6. 6. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the method comprises the step of storing data iii a databaac, the data relating to: one or more host-related attributes, including gender, age, height and/or weight; one or more alimentary sources; and/or one or more alimentary sinks.
7. 7. A method according to any preceding claim, and comprising the step of storing rules relating to: the effects of alimentation with respect to attributes relating to the host; requirements or restrictions concerning administration and/or dosage of an ailment; arid/or interactions between specified ailments.
8. 8. A method according to any preceding claim, and further comprising the step of: providing an interface arranged to enable a user to select and input data relating to an ingested or intended aliment and/or an alimentary sink.
9. 9. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the alimentary target relates to one or more desired alimentary values, or one or more desired quantities of aIlment constituents, per unit of time.
10. 10. A method according to any preceding claim, and further comprising the step of: providing at least one of the balance estimates to the user in a chronological format to enable the user to adjust the timing, type and/or quantity of at least one aliment in order to achieve an alimentary target.
11. 11. A method according to any preceding claim and further comprising the step of: converting the balances into a chronological formn by: obtaining a set of target values and associated rules from a database; using the rules to adjust the target values; comparing each balance with an associated adjusted target value; and expressing the result of the comparison with respect to a specified time inter-val.
12. 12. A method according to any preceding claim wherein the temporal estimate for each balance is generated or adjusted in relation to a plurality of constant time intervals, or a plurality of time intervals which are variable.
13. 13. A method according to any preceding claim wherein data is received from the user relating to alimentary constituent and time intervals, preferably wherein the user enters said data by manipulating two graphical representations which are moveable relative to each other.
14. 14. A method according to any preceding claim wherein the temporal estimate for each balance is generated or adjusted with reference to the current time, or the actual or potential time at which the aliment is/may be taken by the host.
15. 15. A method according to any preceding claim wherein an alarm is generated if one or more of the balances is determined to be at an unsafe level.
16. 16. A computer-implemented system for controlling a host's alimentation in accor-dance with a time-based alimentary target, the system comprising at least one software component arranged and configured to perform the method of aiiy we-ceding claim.
17. 17. A system according to claim 16 wherein the at least one software component coIn-pris an interface arranged to enable input of data relating to: the type and amount of an aliment which the host has taken or may take; an alimentary sink; and/or attributes relating to the host.
18. 18. A system according to claim 16 or 17 wherein the system comprises a portable computing device arranged to execute the at least one software cormiponent.
19. 19. A system according to claim 16 or 17 wherein the system comprises a wearable computing device arranged to execute the at least one software component.
20. 20. A mechanically-implemented system for controlling a host's alimentation in ac-cordance with a time-based alimentary target, the system comprising at least one mechanical component arranged and configured to perform the method of any preceding claim.