WO2019150376A1 - A method and a computer software for selecting food items for a user - Google Patents

A method and a computer software for selecting food items for a user Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2019150376A1
WO2019150376A1 PCT/IL2019/050133 IL2019050133W WO2019150376A1 WO 2019150376 A1 WO2019150376 A1 WO 2019150376A1 IL 2019050133 W IL2019050133 W IL 2019050133W WO 2019150376 A1 WO2019150376 A1 WO 2019150376A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
food
person
ingredients
user
group
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/IL2019/050133
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Ilana DARIEL
Original Assignee
Dariel Ilana
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
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Publication date
Application filed by Dariel Ilana filed Critical Dariel Ilana
Publication of WO2019150376A1 publication Critical patent/WO2019150376A1/en

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Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
    • A23L—FOODS, FOODSTUFFS, OR NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES, NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES A21D OR A23B-A23J; THEIR PREPARATION OR TREATMENT, e.g. COOKING, MODIFICATION OF NUTRITIVE QUALITIES, PHYSICAL TREATMENT; PRESERVATION OF FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS, IN GENERAL
    • A23L33/00—Modifying nutritive qualities of foods; Dietetic products; Preparation or treatment thereof
    • A23L33/30—Dietetic or nutritional methods, e.g. for losing weight
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q10/00—Administration; Management
    • G06Q10/10—Office automation; Time management
    • G06Q10/101—Collaborative creation, e.g. joint development of products or services
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
    • G09B—EDUCATIONAL OR DEMONSTRATION APPLIANCES; APPLIANCES FOR TEACHING, OR COMMUNICATING WITH, THE BLIND, DEAF OR MUTE; MODELS; PLANETARIA; GLOBES; MAPS; DIAGRAMS
    • G09B19/00—Teaching not covered by other main groups of this subclass
    • G09B19/0092—Nutrition
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G16—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR SPECIFIC APPLICATION FIELDS
    • G16H—HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS, i.e. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE HANDLING OR PROCESSING OF MEDICAL OR HEALTHCARE DATA
    • G16H10/00—ICT specially adapted for the handling or processing of patient-related medical or healthcare data
    • G16H10/60—ICT specially adapted for the handling or processing of patient-related medical or healthcare data for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G16—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR SPECIFIC APPLICATION FIELDS
    • G16H—HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS, i.e. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE HANDLING OR PROCESSING OF MEDICAL OR HEALTHCARE DATA
    • G16H20/00—ICT specially adapted for therapies or health-improving plans, e.g. for handling prescriptions, for steering therapy or for monitoring patient compliance
    • G16H20/10—ICT specially adapted for therapies or health-improving plans, e.g. for handling prescriptions, for steering therapy or for monitoring patient compliance relating to drugs or medications, e.g. for ensuring correct administration to patients
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G16—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR SPECIFIC APPLICATION FIELDS
    • G16H—HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS, i.e. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE HANDLING OR PROCESSING OF MEDICAL OR HEALTHCARE DATA
    • G16H20/00—ICT specially adapted for therapies or health-improving plans, e.g. for handling prescriptions, for steering therapy or for monitoring patient compliance
    • G16H20/60—ICT specially adapted for therapies or health-improving plans, e.g. for handling prescriptions, for steering therapy or for monitoring patient compliance relating to nutrition control, e.g. diets
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G16—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR SPECIFIC APPLICATION FIELDS
    • G16H—HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS, i.e. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE HANDLING OR PROCESSING OF MEDICAL OR HEALTHCARE DATA
    • G16H50/00—ICT specially adapted for medical diagnosis, medical simulation or medical data mining; ICT specially adapted for detecting, monitoring or modelling epidemics or pandemics
    • G16H50/20—ICT specially adapted for medical diagnosis, medical simulation or medical data mining; ICT specially adapted for detecting, monitoring or modelling epidemics or pandemics for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems

Definitions

  • the present invention relates generally to methods and systems for assisting a person to maintain or improve his/her health. More particularly, to methods and means to allow tailoring of solutions to help a person to maintain his/her health condition by taking into account various parameters associated with food consumed by that person .
  • US 7,882,150 is one such publication that describes a solution where a user establishes a user profile that includes information relating to his nutritional needs, and when the user is at restaurant where he is presented a food menu he accesses his profile to be provided with suggestions regarding suitable options among the available menu options.
  • US 9,092,811 describes a solution whereby a shopping list that comprises multiple food items and one or more available replacement food items for each of the food items based on nutritional composition is obtained, and computer program automatically filters out food items that are not suitable for the user, based on user input via the user interface, to produce an updated guideline- based shopping list for the user.
  • US 7,421,285 discloses a system for maintaining, tracking, and correlating personal health information with parameters that include gastronomic information, real time ingestion of food, ingestion of medications, ingestion of supplements, adverse allergic reactions, symptoms, health indicators related to the user, recommended procedures, recommended treatment, recommended medications, and notification information for use in an emergency based on user profile.
  • US 8,647,121 describes systems and methods of grading food items by which a user customizable profile allows the user to specify nutritional needs, dietary goals, or a medical state.
  • the user profile is used to provide a user specific grade to one or more food items. This grade is configured for a user to compare food items and learn which provides better nutrition according to
  • US 8,924,239 discloses a system for i proving health and monitoring diet has been developed which enables a consumer before making important decisions which effect health to consider health, nutrition, dietary, budget, and time information resources more easily before decisions are made.
  • the system has a variety of user inputs that enable the user to access information easily and enter information easily, so that the personal profile and health history and diet information is up-to- date.
  • This system is adjustable to contain additional modules of information such as dietary restrictions which can be used to regularly recommend or restrict purchase decisions at the point of sale, storage, preparation, or consumption .
  • the challenge becomes by far more complicated when taking into account interactions that exist between food ingredients and medications which that person is taking, medications that are taken either on a regular basis or on a temporary basis, as well as cross-reactivity that exists between different ingredients causing negative reaction .
  • the present invention seeks to provide a novel solution to enable matching food that is consumed by an individual and that individual's clinical condition, illnesses, medications, food-intolerance, food-allergy nutrigenomics findings, gut microbiome and the like.
  • a third party e.g. a food/meal supplier
  • a method for selecting at least one food item/recipe from a plurality of available food items/recipes wherein the selection ensures that when a person consumes that at least one selected food item or food specified in the selected recipe, it would either have a positive effect or would not adversely affect that user, and wherein the selection of the at least one food item/recipe is carried out after confirming at least one member of the group that consists of :
  • food ingredient as used herein and throughout the specification and claims, is used to denote a substance that forms part of a mixture or a product or a fruit or a vegetable .
  • An ingredient may be any member of the group that consists of proteins, carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins as well as any other chemical compound that is likely to affect the human body .
  • cross-reactivity is used to denote an adverse effect on an individual, wherein that adverse effect (or a similar one) occurs when one of the ingredients of one food product is similar to an ingredient comprised in at least one other food product.
  • cross-reactivity occurs when a protein that is comprised in a food product induces an allergic reaction that would also be induced by consuming a food product that comprises a similar protein.
  • the method provided is used for recommending food items/recipes to a person (e.g. a user) who is taking one or more specific medications, wherein the method comprises the steps of:
  • a database which comprises a plurality of medicaments’ identifications and one or more food ingredients (which encompass among others chemical compounds, nutrients, minerals, food types such as fruits, vegetables, and the like, all of which are referred to hereinafter as "food ingredients") that are associated with each respective medicament , wherein the one or more food ingredients are likely to have an effect on a person taking that medicament with which the respective one or more food ingredients are associated; obtaining information that pertains to one or more medicaments which should be taken by the user;
  • one or more recommended food items/recipes e.g. ones that either do not contain any food ingredient that is likely to have an adverse effect on a person taking the one or more medicaments or include food ingredient (s) that is/are likely to cause a positive effect on a person taking the one or more medicaments
  • the database further comprises information that relates to each of the associated one or more food ingredients.
  • that information enables determining food ingredients that have negative effect on the user when consumed with the associated medicament, and/or determining food ingredients that have positive effect on the user when consumed with the associated medicament (e.g. for substituting food ingredients that are likely to be depleted from the body while taking that medication by the user), and/or determining food ingredients that require a respective time period that should lapse between the time that the associated medicament was consumed and the time at which corresponding food ingredient can be consumed by that person.
  • the method further comprising a step of determining whether there is cross reactivity between tine one or more food ingredients and other food ingredients.
  • the one or more recommended food items/recipes are selected to ensure that they include ingredients that would not adversely affect the user and if applicable, the or more recommended food items/recipes are selected to include ingredients that would positively affect the user, either by mitigating adverse effect (s) of the medicament or by compensating for losses of chemical constituents from the body of a user, losses that incur/are accelerated by the medicament being taken by the user.
  • the one or more medicaments is at least one member of a group that consists of: a) a medicament taken by the user on a regular basis (e.g. for treating a clinical situation) , b) a medicament taken by the user on a temporary basis (e.g, for treating coughing) and c) any combinaLtion of a) and b) .
  • the method comprises the steps of:
  • a database which comprises a plurality of groups, each of which comprises identifications (e.g. names) of at least two members being food ingredients which are different from each other, and wherein all members included in each of the groups is capable of inducing an adverse effect to a user who is negatively affected by another member of that respective group;
  • the selection further ensures that consuming the at least one selected food item or food specified in the selected recipe, would have a positive effect on the user taking one or more specific medications.
  • the selection further ensures that consuming the at least one selected food item or food specified in the selected recipe, should be separated by a specific time period that should extend before or after, as the case may be, between the consumption of food ingredient that would have a positive effect on the user taking one or more specific medications, and the time at which the relevant medication is taken by the user.
  • the selection further comprises determining a maximal quantity threshold for the at least one selected food item or food specified in the selected recipe, to ensure that consuming the at least one selected food item or food specified in the selected recipe, would not have an adverse effect on the user.
  • the step of enabling provisioning of the information regarding the plurality of recommended food items/recipes to a third party comprises forwarding to said third party a digital object comprising that information, wherein that digital object may be forwarded for example in a form of a computer file, a URL, a barcode, and any combination thereof.
  • a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program for performing a set of instructions to be executed by one or more computer processors, the computer program is adapted to perform a method for selecting at least one food item/recipe from a plurality of available food items/recipes, wherein the selection ensures that when a person consumes that at least one selected food item or food specified in the selected recipe, it would either have a positive effect or would not adversely affect that user, and wherein the selection of the at least one food item/recipe is carried out after confirming at least one member of the group that consists of: c) that the selected food item/recipe, if consumed by a user taking a specific medication, whether or not there is a period of time required to lapse between the consumption of food and medication, would nave either a positive effect or no negative effect on that person; and d) that the selected food item/recipe is not included in a group comprising a plurality of food ingredients, wherein members of that
  • the method comprises the steps of:
  • a database which comprises a plurality of medicaments’ identifications and one or more food ingredients that are associated with each respective medicament, and retrieving therefrom one or more food ingredients are likely to have an effect on a person taking that medicament with which the respective one or more food ingredients are associated;
  • a food provider e.g. a food provider
  • the method comprises the steps of:
  • the one or more medicaments is at least one member of a group that consists of: a) a medicament taken by the user on a regular basis, b) a medicament taken by the user on a temporary basis, and c) any combination of a) and b) ,
  • the at least one food ingredient to which the *user is intolerant comprises a reaction inducing agent.
  • a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program for performing a set of instructions to be executed by one or more computer processors, the computer program is adapted to perform a method for generating an object code (hereinafter Food- a certain user, wherein the Food
  • the Food ID comprises information regarding recommended food ingredients for the user, to be consumed, avoided or limited, and wherein these recommendation are based on various parameters associated with that certain user, such as medications taken by that user, while private personal information (such as medical details associated with the user) is not included in the information comprised in that Food ID.
  • the Food ID is a software code which may be in an encoded form, but other forms of materializing this concept should be understood to be encompassed by the present invention.
  • such a Food ID may be the outcome of a "virtual dietitian", that evaluates the user's medical condition and preferences and generates the recommended diet guidelines, which may be provided for example to the user by way of a software embedded in a disk on key, in a printed form to allow the user to go to a supermarket and buy products based on these recommendations or use a software program to generate the shopping list .
  • a virtual dietitian that evaluates the user's medical condition and preferences and generates the recommended diet guidelines, which may be provided for example to the user by way of a software embedded in a disk on key, in a printed form to allow the user to go to a supermarket and buy products based on these recommendations or use a software program to generate the shopping list .
  • Fig. 1 demonstrates an example of a method construed in accordance with an embodiment of present invention, for generating a list of food items/recipes that does not include food that would have an adverse effect on a person taking medicaments;
  • Fig. 2 illustrates an example of a method construed in accordance with another embodiment of present invention, for generating a list of food items/recipes that does not include food that would have an adverse effect on a person who is intolerant to a certain food ingredient .
  • a method for selecting at least one food item/recipe from a plurality of available food items /recipes so that by making this selection the users is ensured that when he/she consumes selected food items or food specified in selected recipes, these food items will either positively affect or will not adversely affect him/her due to medications that he/she is currently taking.
  • a user's Food ID profile may be generated.
  • Such a user's Food ID profile preferably comprises information that pertains to food ingredients that should be avoided/limited/added by the user taking the medications.
  • this Food ID profile of the user includes one or more guidelines regarding ingredients that should be avoided/limited/added and not private details regarding the individual, such as medications being taken, illnesses and other medical related details.
  • the Food ID is preferably encoded so that it may be forwarded to a third party (e.g. a food supplier, such as a food retailer, restaurants, a recipe provider, a caterer and the like) .
  • FIG. 1 exemplifies an embodiment of a method for obtaining the solution provided by the present invention.
  • a first database is provided (step 100) which is stored at a central entity (e.g. a remote server) .
  • the first database comprises a plurality of medicaments' identifications (e.g, the medicaments' names) and one or more food ingredients that are associated with each respective medicament.
  • the associated food ingredients included in that first database are those which are likely to have an adverse effect on a person taking medicament (s) with which the respective food ingredients are associated.
  • the information that relates to the food ingredients may optionally further comprise information identifying food ingredients that should be consumed by a user taking the respective medicament (e.g.
  • the user accesses a computer soft are/mobile application by using his/her device, and inserts, by using a user interface, information that pertains to the medicaments that are currently taken by the user (step 110) .
  • These medicaments may be ones that are taken on a regular basis (e.g. when :fers :rom chr cal condit: medicaments that are taken on a temporary basis.
  • new names of medicaments may be inserted or names that were previously inserted may be withdrawn, all by the user using the user interface, depending on any change in medications experienced by that user.
  • the information that pertains to the medicaments that are currently taken by the user is preferably stored at a memory located at the same computer/mobile device, where the software/application is stored.
  • the user may trigger, by using the user interface, generation of an infformation file that may be forwarded for example to a third party (e.g. to a food provider for preparing a shopping list or a meal for that user) .
  • a request message is sent r rom tne user device (step 120) towards the first database stored at the remote server.
  • the request message comprises identifications of one or more of the medicaments taken by the user.
  • the request being forwarded from the user device may include less than all of the medicaments taken by the user and stored at the user device, and according to this option the user may determine which of the medicaments’ identifications will be included in the request message being forwarded to the remote server.
  • step 140 information that relates to one or more food ingredients that are associated with all the medicaments identified the request message, is retrieved (step 140) .
  • the information which relates to all food ingredients that might cause an adverse effect for a user taking the medicaments specified in the request message is retrieved (step 140) .
  • the information which relates to all food ingredients that might cause an adverse effect for a user taking the medicaments specified in the request message.
  • the information relates to all food ingredients that either might cause an adverse effect for a user taking the medicaments specified in the request message, and food ingredients that may cause a positive effect for a user ta l king the medicaments specified in the request message (e.g.
  • the retrieved information may be sent to the user device for further processing or may be further processed by one or more processors located at the remote server before being sent to the user device.
  • the Food-ID is a digital object, for example in a form of a computer file, a URL, a barcode pointing to a URL, or any combination thereof so that the data that relates to that user' s food constrains and recommendations resulting from his/her medical condition, may be done without exposing information that relates to his/her medical condition to a third party to whom it may be forwarded.
  • an approach is made to access a second database where different food items/recipes are stored, for retrieving recommended food items/recipes that are in compliance with the Food-ID of the user, (step 150) .
  • the second database would be stored at that remote server, and if the processing is carried out at the user device, the second database may either be stored at that user device or alternat ively at a remote server which in turn will be approached by the user device, once the information sent from the remote server is received by the user device .
  • Information regarding some or all of the recommended food items / recipes that has been retrieved from the second database is packaged into an information file ⁇ step 160) that is adapted to be sent to the user or a third party (e.g. a food/meals provider) ,
  • This information file may then be used by its addressee for example, for preparing food for the user (by a food provider) or for purchasing food in a food store, and the like.
  • Disothiazide i.e.
  • FIG. 2 exemplifies another embodiment of a method for obtaining the solution provided by the present invention .
  • a first database is provided (step 200) .
  • the first database comprises a plurality of groups, each comprising a plurality of food ingredients.
  • the food ingredients members included in each one of the groups include a food ingredient to which the user is intolerant.
  • each of the members included in a certain group includes an agent that may induce the a reaction at different people. So that if one member of a group is known to have an adverse effect on the user, it is likely that some or ail other members of the group will cause a similar adverse effect .
  • an apple may be included in a group that comprises an apple, a pear and apple byproducts, such as cider, pectin, vinegar and the like, as a person who is intolerant to apple is likely to be intolerant to the other members included in that group.
  • Another such group may comprise for example mango, pistachio, cashew and papaya, as a person who is intolerant to one member of this group is likely to be intolerant to the other members included in that group.
  • a certain food ingredient may be included in more than one group .
  • the first database may be stored at the user computer/mobile device or alternatively, at a remote server.
  • the user accesses a computer software/mobile application that had been downloaded to the user device, and inserts, by using a user interface, information that pertains to one or more food ingredients to which he/she is intolerant (step 210) ,
  • the information that pertains to these food ingredients is preferably stored at a memory located at the same computer/mobile device, where the software/application is stored.
  • the user triggers, by inserting a command via a user interface of the device, generating an information file (step 220) that may be fforwarded for example to a third party (e.g. to a food provider for preparing a meal for that user) ,
  • a third party e.g. to a food provider for preparing a meal for that user
  • a computer processor Upon triggering generation of the information file, a computer processor is operative to retrieve the information that pertains to the one or more food ingredients to which the user is intolerant (step 230)
  • the processor uses the Food-ID retrieved in step 240 to retrieve (step 250) recommended food items/recipes that are in compliance with the user's Food-ID.
  • This second database may either be stored at a memory of the user device or at a memory of a remote server.
  • a third party e.g. a food/meals provider
  • This information file may then be used by its addressee for example, for preparing food for the user (by a food provider) or for purchasing food in a food store, and the like.
  • the method exemplified in the examples associated with FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 is carried out for a plurality of users. This is done by inserting the constrains associated with each of the plurality of users, namely, the medications taken by each of the different users (Example 1) or the food ingredients to which each of the plurality of users is intolerant (Example 3), so that the information that pertains to some or all of the recommended food items / recipes that has been retrieved from the second database for packaging them into the information file, includes - food items/recipes that do not contain any food ingredient that might have an adverse effect on any of the plurality of users.
  • a notification would be appended to each food item that does not meet the Food-ID of a certain individual.
  • the process exemplified hereinabove may be considered as a two-stage process, wherein the first stage involves generating a user Food-ID based on various parameters associated with that specific user, such as medications taken, cross reactivity, etc., where the Food-ID details comprise food ingredients that should be either avoided or limited, or added, so that this Food-ID can be digitally sent to the user or to a third party.
  • the Food-ID comprises only food related information, with no sensitive private information that pertains to that user.
  • the Food-ID may be correlated with a database that includes food offering, where each food offering is associated with a variety of parameters to enable its matching to the user's Food-ID.
  • a processor may then search the database in order to match the food offerings with the user Food-ID, and only those food products that match the Food-ID information will be offered for the user.
  • various other parameters may be taken by the processor for obtaining the recommended food items/recipes, which are better adapted to a particular individual. Such parameters may influence the determination of which food items /recipes should be avoided, or which food items should be added, and/or if there is any upper limit to the quantity that should be consumed by the user (e.g. on a per meal basis) .
  • the present example demonstrates a method that is construed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention .
  • an individual suffering from Thyroid illness takes the medication Levothyroxine .
  • the medicament s specified as one being consumed by the individual, he/she will receive from the database an indication recommending that the medication is taken 2-3 hours before any of the food gradients are consumed: Soy, Walnuts or any other high fiber content food ingredients.

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Abstract

A method and a computer software are provided for selecting at least one food item/recipe from a plurality of available food items/recipes, wherein the selection ensures that when a person consumes the selected food, it would either have a positive effect or would not adversely affect that person, and wherein the selection of the at least one food item/recipe is carried out after confirming at least one member of the group that consists of: a) that the selected food item/recipe, if consumed by the same individual that is taking a specific medication, would have either a positive effect or no negative effect on that person; and b) that the selected food item/recipe is not included in a group comprising a plurality of food ingredients, wherein members of that group of food ingredients might cause a negative effect on that person.

Description

A Method and a Computer Software for Selecting Food Items for a User
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to methods and systems for assisting a person to maintain or improve his/her health. More particularly, to methods and means to allow tailoring of solutions to help a person to maintain his/her health condition by taking into account various parameters associated with food consumed by that person .
Background of the Invention
It has long been established that food choices, and digestion of certain food ingredients have both direct and indirect impact on the human body. In recent years, it has become clear that food ingredients affect differently each individual and the need for personalized diet is required.
The advances in DNA analysis and Gut Microbiome research, has strengthened the understanding that people react differently to the same food ingredients. Such effects include among others gaining or losing weight, psychological effects, and a variety of physiological symptoms/disorders, and in acute cases might lead to diseases and permanent disabilities. Hence, identifying the effect of specific food ingredients to specific people, is critical for the treatment. Yet, understanding the impact of each food ingredient on each individual is a rather complicated task, addressed today by grouping individuals or analyzing a small fraction of known ingredients . However, the food we are eating is composed of hundreds of natural ingredients as well as added or modified industrialized additives, that are added to the food for various reasons among which are to improve taste, smell, look, flavor, texture, shelf-life, composition and others. These ingredients should also be considered so their impact on a specific person may be taken into account.
There are a number of solutions described in the art for computer-based applications that try to adapt diet restrictions to food offering.
US 7,882,150 is one such publication that describes a solution where a user establishes a user profile that includes information relating to his nutritional needs, and when the user is at restaurant where he is presented a food menu he accesses his profile to be provided with suggestions regarding suitable options among the available menu options.
US 9,092,811 describes a solution whereby a shopping list that comprises multiple food items and one or more available replacement food items for each of the food items based on nutritional composition is obtained, and computer program automatically filters out food items that are not suitable for the user, based on user input via the user interface, to produce an updated guideline- based shopping list for the user.
US 7,421,285 discloses a system for maintaining, tracking, and correlating personal health information with parameters that include gastronomic information, real time ingestion of food, ingestion of medications, ingestion of supplements, adverse allergic reactions, symptoms, health indicators related to the user, recommended procedures, recommended treatment, recommended medications, and notification information for use in an emergency based on user profile.
US 8,647,121 describes systems and methods of grading food items by which a user customizable profile allows the user to specify nutritional needs, dietary goals, or a medical state. The user profile is used to provide a user specific grade to one or more food items. This grade is configured for a user to compare food items and learn which provides better nutrition according to
Figure imgf000004_0001
US 8,924,239 discloses a system for i proving health and monitoring diet has been developed which enables a consumer before making important decisions which effect health to consider health, nutrition, dietary, budget, and time information resources more easily before decisions are made. The system has a variety of user inputs that enable the user to access information easily and enter information easily, so that the personal profile and health history and diet information is up-to- date. This system is adjustable to contain additional modules of information such as dietary restrictions which can be used to regularly recommend or restrict purchase decisions at the point of sale, storage, preparation, or consumption .
The challenge becomes by far more complicated when taking into account interactions that exist between food ingredients and medications which that person is taking, medications that are taken either on a regular basis or on a temporary basis, as well as cross-reactivity that exists between different ingredients causing negative reaction .
The present invention seeks to provide a novel solution to enable matching food that is consumed by an individual and that individual's clinical condition, illnesses, medications, food-intolerance, food-allergy nutrigenomics findings, gut microbiome and the like.
Summary of the Invention
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and a computer product that enable matching the individual clinical/medical condition with the food that the individual consumes.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and a computer product adapted to propose food for the user that does not include food ingredients that should be separated in time of consumption, limited or eliminated from his/her diet in view of medicaments being taken by that individual and/or food ingredients and/or nutrients that should be added to the user diet in view of medicaments being taken by him/her .
It is still another object of the present invention, to enable providing an individual with information regarding which food can be used as appropriate substitutes to foods containing ingredients which cause a negative effect to that individual, where such substitutes would provide substantially the same nutritious value to him/her as the foods that should be eliminated, but at the same time, would not cause an adverse effect to the individual.
It is still another object of the present invention to enable providing information regarding which food ingredients should be eliminated from the food which a certain individual consumes, due to cross-reactivity that exists between food ingredients which have a negative effect on that individual.
It is yet another object of the present invention to enable providing recommendations for an individual on food ingredients that he/she should consume/add to the food he/she consumes, such as food ingredients that have a positive effect on a person taking the same medication ( s ) as that individual (e.g. improving the absorption of the medication in the individual system) , or food ingredients which compensate for adverse effects that the medication being taken has on the individual body .
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and a computer product that enable generating an individual food digital ID in a form of a digital object (such as a computer file, a URL, a barcode, and the like) that comprises data that relate to that individual's food constrains and recommendations resulting from his/her medical condition, and providing that food digital ID to a third party (e.g. a food/meal supplier) without exposing information that relates to the medical condition and medications taken by that person, to the third party.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method and a computer product that enable an individual to match his medical condition and preferences with the food he plans to consume, while enabling him to protect his privacy and keep his personal information secured .
Other objects of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the invention taken together with the accompanying examples and appended claims.
In accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method for selecting at least one food item/recipe from a plurality of available food items/recipes, wherein the selection ensures that when a person consumes that at least one selected food item or food specified in the selected recipe, it would either have a positive effect or would not adversely affect that user, and wherein the selection of the at least one food item/recipe is carried out after confirming at least one member of the group that consists of :
a) that the selected food item/recipe, if consumed by the same individual that is taking a specific medication, would have either a positive effect or no negative effect on that person, or the effectiveness of the specific medication; and
b) that the selected food item/recipe is not included in a group comprising a plurality of food ingredients, wherein members of that group of food ingredients might cause a negative effect on that person.
The term "food ingredient" as used herein and throughout the specification and claims, is used to denote a substance that forms part of a mixture or a product or a fruit or a vegetable , An ingredient may be any member of the group that consists of proteins, carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins as well as any other chemical compound that is likely to affect the human body .
The term "cross-reactivity" as used herein and throughout the specification and claims, is used to denote an adverse effect on an individual, wherein that adverse effect (or a similar one) occurs when one of the ingredients of one food product is similar to an ingredient comprised in at least one other food product. For example, cross-reactivity occurs when a protein that is comprised in a food product induces an allergic reaction that would also be induced by consuming a food product that comprises a similar protein. According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, the method provided is used for recommending food items/recipes to a person (e.g. a user) who is taking one or more specific medications, wherein the method comprises the steps of:
providing a database which comprises a plurality of medicaments’ identifications and one or more food ingredients (which encompass among others chemical compounds, nutrients, minerals, food types such as fruits, vegetables, and the like, all of which are referred to hereinafter as "food ingredients") that are associated with each respective medicament , wherein the one or more food ingredients are likely to have an effect on a person taking that medicament with which the respective one or more food ingredients are associated; obtaining information that pertains to one or more medicaments which should be taken by the user;
retrieving from the database provided information related to the one or more food ingredients that are associated with each of the one or more medicaments to be taken by the user;
based on the retrieved information, determining one or more recommended food items/recipes (e.g. ones that either do not contain any food ingredient that is likely to have an adverse effect on a person taking the one or more medicaments or include food ingredient (s) that is/are likely to cause a positive effect on a person taking the one or more medicaments) ; and
enabling provisioning of the determined one or more recommended food items/recipes, to a third party (e.g. in a secured way) and/or to the user.
By yet another embodiment, for each of the plurality of the medicaments * identifications, the database further comprises information that relates to each of the associated one or more food ingredients. Preferably, that information enables determining food ingredients that have negative effect on the user when consumed with the associated medicament, and/or determining food ingredients that have positive effect on the user when consumed with the associated medicament (e.g. for substituting food ingredients that are likely to be depleted from the body while taking that medication by the user), and/or determining food ingredients that require a respective time period that should lapse between the time that the associated medicament was consumed and the time at which corresponding food ingredient can be consumed by that person.
According to another embodiment, the method further comprising a step of determining whether there is cross reactivity between tine one or more food ingredients and other food ingredients.
By yet another embodiment, the one or more recommended food items/recipes are selected to ensure that they include ingredients that would not adversely affect the user and if applicable, the or more recommended food items/recipes are selected to include ingredients that would positively affect the user, either by mitigating adverse effect (s) of the medicament or by compensating for losses of chemical constituents from the body of a user, losses that incur/are accelerated by the medicament being taken by the user.
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, the one or more medicaments is at least one member of a group that consists of: a) a medicament taken by the user on a regular basis (e.g. for treating a clinical situation) , b) a medicament taken by the user on a temporary basis (e.g, for treating coughing) and c) any combinaLtion of a) and b) . By yet another embodiment, when the selection of the at least one food item/recipe is based on determining a group that comprises a plurality of food ingredients, the method comprises the steps of:
providing a database which comprises a plurality of groups, each of which comprises identifications (e.g. names) of at least two members being food ingredients which are different from each other, and wherein all members included in each of the groups is capable of inducing an adverse effect to a user who is negatively affected by another member of that respective group;
providing information that relates to at least one food ingredient which negatively affects a specific user; retrieving from the database, one or more other food ingredients different from the at least one food ingredient provided, that are members which belong to the same food group (s) as the at least one food ingredient provided;
determining a plurality of recommended food items /recipes that do not contain any of the one or more food ingredients which are members that belong to the same food group (s) as the at least one food ingredient provided; and
enabling provisioning of the information regarding the plurality of recommended food items /recipes to the user or a third party (e.g, in a secured waLy) .
According to still another embodiment, the selection further ensures that consuming the at least one selected food item or food specified in the selected recipe, would have a positive effect on the user taking one or more specific medications.
According to still another embodiment, the selection further ensures that consuming the at least one selected food item or food specified in the selected recipe, should be separated by a specific time period that should extend before or after, as the case may be, between the consumption of food ingredient that would have a positive effect on the user taking one or more specific medications, and the time at which the relevant medication is taken by the user.
According to still another embodiment, the selection further comprises determining a maximal quantity threshold for the at least one selected food item or food specified in the selected recipe, to ensure that consuming the at least one selected food item or food specified in the selected recipe, would not have an adverse effect on the user.
By yet another embodiment, the step of enabling provisioning of the information regarding the plurality of recommended food items/recipes to a third party, comprises forwarding to said third party a digital object comprising that information, wherein that digital object may be forwarded for example in a form of a computer file, a URL, a barcode, and any combination thereof.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program for performing a set of instructions to be executed by one or more computer processors, the computer program is adapted to perform a method for selecting at least one food item/recipe from a plurality of available food items/recipes, wherein the selection ensures that when a person consumes that at least one selected food item or food specified in the selected recipe, it would either have a positive effect or would not adversely affect that user, and wherein the selection of the at least one food item/recipe is carried out after confirming at least one member of the group that consists of: c) that the selected food item/recipe, if consumed by a user taking a specific medication, whether or not there is a period of time required to lapse between the consumption of food and medication, would nave either a positive effect or no negative effect on that person; and d) that the selected food item/recipe is not included in a group comprising a plurality of food ingredients, wherein members of that group of food ingredients might cause a negative effect on that person.
According to another embodiment of this aspect, the method comprises the steps of:
receiving information that pertains
Figure imgf000012_0001
one or more medicaments that are taken by a user;
accessing a database which comprises a plurality of medicaments’ identifications and one or more food ingredients that are associated with each respective medicament, and retrieving therefrom one or more food ingredients are likely to have an effect on a person taking that medicament with which the respective one or more food ingredients are associated;
generating a list of recommended food items/recipes that do not contain any of the one or more food ingredients retrieved, and/or specifying a time period that is required to lapse between taking the medicament (s) and the respective food ingredient, and enabling forwarding that list to a food provider (e.g. a food provider) .
i accordance with another embodiment of this aspect , the method comprises the steps of:
r\;:ceiving information that relates to at least one food ingredient to which a specific user is intolerant; accessing a database which comprises a plurality of groups, each of which comprises identifications of at least two members being food ingredients which are different from each other, and wherein all members included in each of the groups is capable of inducing an adverse effect to a user who is negatively affected by another member of that respective group and retrieving therefrom one or more other food ingredients different from the at least one food ingredient for which the information was received, that are members which belong to the same food group (s) as the at least one food ingredient ;
generating a list of recommended food items /recipes that do not contain the at least one food ingredient to which a specific user is intolerant, nor any of the one or more food ingredients retrieved which are members that belong to the same food group as the at least one food ingredient, and enabling its forwarding to a third party.
3y yet another emfoodiment o f t h i s aspect, the one or more medicaments is at least one member of a group that consists of: a) a medicament taken by the user on a regular basis, b) a medicament taken by the user on a temporary basis, and c) any combination of a) and b) ,
According to still another embodiment of this aspect, the at least one food ingredient to which the *user is intolerant comprises a reaction inducing agent.
In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program for performing a set of instructions to be executed by one or more computer processors, the computer program is adapted to perform a method for generating an object code (hereinafter Food-
Figure imgf000013_0001
a certain user, wherein the Food
ID comprises information regarding recommended food ingredients for the user, to be consumed, avoided or limited, and wherein these recommendation are based on various parameters associated with that certain user, such as medications taken by that user, while private personal information (such as medical details associated with the user) is not included in the information comprised in that Food ID. Typically, the Food ID is a software code which may be in an encoded form, but other forms of materializing this concept should be understood to be encompassed by the present invention. For example, such a Food ID may be the outcome of a "virtual dietitian", that evaluates the user's medical condition and preferences and generates the recommended diet guidelines, which may be provided for example to the user by way of a software embedded in a disk on key, in a printed form to allow the user to go to a supermarket and buy products based on these recommendations or use a software program to generate the shopping list .
Brief Description of the Drawings
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate several embodiments of the disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the embodiments disclosed herein.
Fig. 1 demonstrates an example of a method construed in accordance with an embodiment of present invention, for generating a list of food items/recipes that does not include food that would have an adverse effect on a person taking medicaments; and
Fig. 2 illustrates an example of a method construed in accordance with another embodiment of present invention, for generating a list of food items/recipes that does not include food that would have an adverse effect on a person who is intolerant to a certain food ingredient . Detailed Description of the Invention
The present invention will be understood and appreciated more fully from the following detailed non limiting examples taken in conjunction with the drawings.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for selecting at least one food item/recipe from a plurality of available food items /recipes, so that by making this selection the users is ensured that when he/she consumes selected food items or food specified in selected recipes, these food items will either positively affect or will not adversely affect him/her due to medications that he/she is currently taking.
According to an embodiment of the method, a user's Food ID profile may be generated. Such a user's Food ID profile preferably comprises information that pertains to food ingredients that should be avoided/limited/added by the user taking the medications. Optionally, this Food ID profile of the user includes one or more guidelines regarding ingredients that should be avoided/limited/added and not private details regarding the individual, such as medications being taken, illnesses and other medical related details. The Food ID is preferably encoded so that it may be forwarded to a third party (e.g. a food supplier, such as a food retailer, restaurants, a recipe provider, a caterer and the like) .
Example 1
FIG. 1 exemplifies an embodiment of a method for obtaining the solution provided by the present invention.
By this example, a first database is provided (step 100) which is stored at a central entity (e.g. a remote server) . The first database comprises a plurality of medicaments' identifications (e.g, the medicaments' names) and one or more food ingredients that are associated with each respective medicament. The associated food ingredients included in that first database are those which are likely to have an adverse effect on a person taking medicament (s) with which the respective food ingredients are associated. The information that relates to the food ingredients may optionally further comprise information identifying food ingredients that should be consumed by a user taking the respective medicament (e.g. food ingredients that may cause a positive effect for a user taking the associated medicament, food ingredients that should preferably be added in order to compensate for loss of chemical constituents from the user ' s body due to taking that medication) , and optionally an upper limit on a food ingredient that can be consumed when taking the respective medicament . Following are some examples to the association of food ingredients with respective medicaments : if the medicament is from the statin family, avoid grapefruit and pomelo or if the medicament is from the diuretic family - add Potassium and Magnesium, if the medicament is Valium - avoid chamomile tea, grapefruit and pomelo, if the medicament is Coumadin (blood thinner) avoid Vitamin-K (available in green leaves, kale, spinach, Brussel sprouts, broccoli), avoid products that affect coagulation (e.g. garlic, ginger), and the like.
Next, the user (who may be a therapist) accesses a computer soft are/mobile application by using his/her device, and inserts, by using a user interface, information that pertains to the medicaments that are currently taken by the user (step 110) . These medicaments may be ones that are taken on a regular basis (e.g. when :fers :rom chr cal condit: medicaments that are taken on a temporary basis. Obviously, new names of medicaments may be inserted or names that were previously inserted may be withdrawn, all by the user using the user interface, depending on any change in medications experienced by that user. The information that pertains to the medicaments that are currently taken by the user is preferably stored at a memory located at the same computer/mobile device, where the software/application is stored.
Now, when required, the user may trigger, by using the user interface, generation of an infformation file that may be forwarded for example to a third party (e.g. to a food provider for preparing a shopping list or a meal for that user) . In response to the command inserted by tine user for generating the information file, a request message is sent r rom tne user device (step 120) towards the first database stored at the remote server. The request message comprises identifications of one or more of the medicaments taken by the user. Optionally, the request being forwarded from the user device may include less than all of the medicaments taken by the user and stored at the user device, and according to this option the user may determine which of the medicaments’ identifications will be included in the request message being forwarded to the remote server.
Next, in response to receiving the request message at the remote server (step 130) , information that relates to one or more food ingredients that are associated with all the medicaments identified
Figure imgf000017_0001
the request message, is retrieved (step 140) . In other words, the information which relates to all food ingredients that might cause an adverse effect for a user taking the medicaments specified in the request message. Optionally, the information relates to all food ingredients that either might cause an adverse effect for a user taking the medicaments specified in the request message, and food ingredients that may cause a positive effect for a user talking the medicaments specified in the request message (e.g. by improving absorption of the medicament within the user system) and/or food ingredients that should preferably be added to compensate for loss of chemical constituents from the user's body, due to the medication being taken. The retrieved information may be sent to the user device for further processing or may be further processed by one or more processors located at the remote server before being sent to the user device.
Aggregation of the various food ingredients that should be avoided/ limited/added may constitute the Food- ID of the user. The Food-ID is a digital object, for example in a form of a computer file, a URL, a barcode pointing to a URL, or any combination thereof so that the data that relates to that user' s food constrains and recommendations resulting from his/her medical condition, may be done without exposing information that relates to his/her medical condition to a third party to whom it may be forwarded.
Irrespective of where the processing is done, when the processing step begins, an approach is made to access a second database where different food items/recipes are stored, for retrieving recommended food items/recipes that are in compliance with the Food-ID of the user, (step 150) . Preferably, if the processing is carried out at the remote server, the second database would be stored at that remote server, and if the processing is carried out at the user device, the second database may either be stored at that user device or alternat ively at a remote server which in turn will be approached by the user device, once the information sent from the remote server is received by the user device .
Information regarding some or all of the recommended food items / recipes that has been retrieved from the second database is packaged into an information file {step 160) that is adapted to be sent to the user or a third party (e.g. a food/meals provider) ,
This information file may then be used by its addressee for example, for preparing food for the user (by a food provider) or for purchasing food in a food store, and the like.
Example 2
In order to demonstrate the results that may be obtained by applying the method exemplified in Example 1, let us consider an overweight individual suffering from Pre-diabetes, Hyperlipidemia, Hypertension and taking the following medications: Disothiazide (i.e.
Hydrochlorothiazide), Aspirin (i.e. Acetylsalicylic) , Simvastatin, Cardiloc (i.e. Bisoprolol hemifumarate ) and Ikapress (i.e. Verapamil) and in addition he is allergic to tree nuts. The recommended food items/recipes for such a person would be:
- Avoid caffeine, tree nuts, grapefruits and licorice ;
- Limit calories, carbohydrates, fat, saturated fats, cholesterol and sodium that will be included in the recommended food items/recipes; and
- Add vitamin-D, Potassium and Magnesium.
Example 3
FIG. 2 exemplifies another embodiment of a method for obtaining the solution provided by the present invention . In this third example, a first database is provided (step 200) . The first database comprises a plurality of groups, each comprising a plurality of food ingredients. The food ingredients members included in each one of the groups, include a food ingredient to which the user is intolerant. In other words, each of the members included in a certain group includes an agent that may induce the a reaction at different people. So that if one member of a group is known to have an adverse effect on the user, it is likely that some or ail other members of the group will cause a similar adverse effect . For example, an apple may be included in a group that comprises an apple, a pear and apple byproducts, such as cider, pectin, vinegar and the like, as a person who is intolerant to apple is likely to be intolerant to the other members included in that group. Another such group may comprise for example mango, pistachio, cashew and papaya, as a person who is intolerant to one member of this group is likely to be intolerant to the other members included in that group. Also, it should be noted that a certain food ingredient may be included in more than one group . The first database may be stored at the user computer/mobile device or alternatively, at a remote server.
Next, the user accesses a computer software/mobile application that had been downloaded to the user device, and inserts, by using a user interface, information that pertains to one or more food ingredients to which he/she is intolerant (step 210) , The information that pertains to these food ingredients is preferably stored at a memory located at the same computer/mobile device, where the software/application is stored.
Next, the user triggers, by inserting a command via a user interface of the device, generating an information file (step 220) that may be fforwarded for example to a third party (e.g. to a food provider for preparing a meal for that user) ,
Upon triggering generation of the information file, a computer processor is operative to retrieve the information that pertains to the one or more food ingredients to which the user is intolerant (step 230)
(e.g. the user's Food-ID) , and based on that information, to retrieve identifications of all members that are included in the groups to which the one or more food ingredients belong (step 240) .
Using the Food-ID retrieved in step 240, the processor approaches a second datafcase where different food items/recipes are stored for retrieving (step 250) recommended food items/recipes that are in compliance with the user's Food-ID. This second database may either be stored at a memory of the user device or at a memory of a remote server.
Information regarding some or all of the recommended food items/recipes that has been retrieved from the second datafcase in step 250, is packaged into an information file (step 260) that is adapted to be sent to the user or to a third party (e.g. a food/meals provider) .
This information file may then be used by its addressee for example, for preparing food for the user (by a food provider) or for purchasing food in a food store, and the like.
According to another embodiment, the method exemplified in the examples associated with FIG. 1 or FIG. 2, is carried out for a plurality of users. This is done by inserting the constrains associated with each of the plurality of users, namely, the medications taken by each of the different users (Example 1) or the food ingredients to which each of the plurality of users is intolerant (Example 3), so that the information that pertains to some or all of the recommended food items / recipes that has been retrieved from the second database for packaging them into the information file, includes - food items/recipes that do not contain any food ingredient that might have an adverse effect on any of the plurality of users. Optionally, if there are also one or more food items that do not meet the Food-ID of certain individuals, a notification would be appended to each food item that does not meet the Food-ID of a certain individual.
In short, the process exemplified hereinabove may be considered as a two-stage process, wherein the first stage involves generating a user Food-ID based on various parameters associated with that specific user, such as medications taken, cross reactivity, etc., where the Food-ID details comprise food ingredients that should be either avoided or limited, or added, so that this Food-ID can be digitally sent to the user or to a third party. Preferably, the Food-ID comprises only food related information, with no sensitive private information that pertains to that user.
At the second stage, the Food-ID may be correlated with a database that includes food offering, where each food offering is associated with a variety of parameters to enable its matching to the user's Food-ID.
A processor may then search the database in order to match the food offerings with the user Food-ID, and only those food products that match the Food-ID information will be offered for the user.
In addition to the examples described above, various other parameters may be taken by the processor for obtaining the recommended food items/recipes, which are better adapted to a particular individual. Such parameters may influence the determination of which food items /recipes should be avoided, or which food items should be added, and/or if there is any upper limit to the quantity that should be consumed by the user (e.g. on a per meal basis) .
Examples of such parameters may be found in the following list of parameters:
- User gender;
- User age;
- Medications taken by the user (in case that the decision is primarily made based on the food ingredients to which the user is intolerant) ;
- Illnesses from which the user suffers;
- Allergies from which the user suffers;
- Food intolerances of the user;
- Lab tests results;
- User's body composition;
- User's genetic testing results;
- User's gut microbiome results;
- User's life style preferences (Vegan, Vegetarian, Organic food, etc.)
- User's religious constraints;
- User's ethnic and cultural constraints;
- Personal preferences (preferred foods, food which the user dislikes, etc.);
and the like.
Example 4
The present example demonstrates a method that is construed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention .
By this example, an individual suffering from Thyroid illness, takes the medication Levothyroxine . According to the present invention, once the medicament s specified as one being consumed by the individual, he/she will receive from the database an indication recommending that the medication is taken 2-3 hours before any of the food gradients are consumed: Soy, Walnuts or any other high fiber content food ingredients.
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the examples provided illustrate some ways of establishing a method that enables to automatically offer an individual with food items that would positively affect the user or that would not have an adverse effect upon his health. However, similar methods may be used to achieve that goal, without departing from the scope of the present invention.
It is to be understood that the above description only includes some embodiments of the invention and serves for its illustration. Numerous other ways of carrying out the methods provided by the present invention or the use of different parameters, may be devised by a person skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention, and are thus encompassed by the present invention.

Claims

Claims
1. A method for selecting at least one food item/recipe from a plurality of available food items/recipes, wherein the selection ensures that when a person consumes that at least one selected food item or food specified in the selected recipe, it would either have a positive effect or would not adversely affect that person, and wherein the selection of the at least one food item/recipe is carried out after confirming at least one member of the group that consists of:
a) that the selected food item/ recipe, if consumed by the same individual that is taking a specific medication, would have either a positive effect or no negative effect on that person, or the effectiveness of the specific medication; and
b) that the selected food item/ recipe is not included in a group comprising a plurality of food ingredients, wherein members of that group of food ingredients might cause a negative effect on that person.
2. The method of claim 1, for recommending food items/recipes to a person who is taking one or more specific medications, wherein the method comprises the steps of:
providing a database which comprises a plurality of medicaments ' identifications and one or more food ingredients that are associated with each respective medicament, wherein the one or more food ingredients are likely to nave an effect on a person taking that medicament with which the respective one or more food ingredients are associated;
obtaining information that pertains to one or more medicaments which should be taken by the person; retrieving from the database provided information related to the one or more food ingredients that are associated with each of the one or more medicaments to be taken by the person;
based on the retrieved information, determining one or more recommended food items/recipes; and
enabling provisioning of the determined one or more recommended food items/recipes, to a third party and/or to the person.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein for each of the plurality of the medicaments * identifications, the database further comprises information that relates to each of the associated one or more food ingredients.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein said information enables determining food ingredients that have negative effect on a person when consumed with the associated medicament, and/or determining food ingredients that have positive effect on a person when consumed with the associated medicament and/or determining food ingredients that require a respective time period that should lapse between the time that the associated medicament was consumed and the time at which a specific food ingredient can be consumed by that person.
5. The method of claim 2, further comprising a step of determining whether there is cross-reactivity between different food ingredients .
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more recommended food items/recipes are selected to ensure that they include ingredients that would not adversely affect the person and if applicable, the or more recommended food items/recipes are selected to include ingredients that would positively affect the person, either by mitigating adverse effects of the medicament or by compensating for losses of chemical constituents from the body of a person, losses that incur/are accelerated by the medicament taken by the person.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein said one or more medicaments is at least one member of a group that consists of: a) a medicament taken by the person on a regular basis, b) a medicament taken by the person on a temporary basis and c) any combination of a) and b) .
8. The method of claim 1, wherein when the selection of the at least one food item/recipe is based on determining a group that comprises a plurality of food ingredients, the method comprises the steps of:
providing a database which comprises a plurality of groups, each of which comprises identifications of at least two members being food ingredients which are different from each other, and wherein all members included in each of the groups is capable of inducing an adverse effect to a person who is negatively affected by another member of that respective group;
providing information that relates to at least one food ingredient which negatively affects a specific person;
retrieving from the database, one or more other food ingredients different from the at least one food ingredient provided, that are members which belong to the same food group (s) as the at least one food ingredient provided;
determining a plurality of recommended food items /recipes that do not contain any of the one or more food ingredients which are members that belong to the same food group (s) as the at least one food ingredient provided; and
enabling provisioning of the information regarding the plurality of recommended food items/recipes to a third party.
9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the step of enabling provisioning of the information regarding the plurality of recommended food items/recipes to a person or to a third party, comprises forwarding to said third party a digital object comprising that information, wherein that digital object may be forwarded for example in a form of a computer file, a URL, a barcode, and any combination thereof.
10. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program for performing a set of instructions to be executed by one or more computer processors, the computer program is adapted to perform a method for selecting at least one food item/recipe from a plurality of available food items/recipes, wherein the selection ensures that when a person consumes that at least one selected food item or food specified in the selected recipe, it would either nave a positive effect or would not adversely affect that person, and wherein the selection of the at least one food item/recipe is carried out after confirming at least one member of the group _!l 1_ _ !1_ f .
a) that the selected food item/recipe, if consumed together with a specific medication, would have either a positive effect or no negative effect on that person; and
b) that the selected food item/recipe is not included in a group comprising a plurality of food ingredients, wherein members of that group of food ingredients might cause a negative effect on that person .
11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein said method comprises the steps of:
receiving information that pertains to one or more medicaments that are taken by a person;
accessing a database which comprises a plurality of medicaments’ identifications and one or more food ingredients that are associated with each respective medicament, and retrieving therefrom one or more food ingredients are likely to have an effect on a person taking that medicament with which the respective one or more food ingredients are associated;
generating a list of recommended food items /recipes that do not contain any of the one or more food ingredients retrieved, and/or specifying a time period that is required to lapse between taking the medicament (s) and the respective food ingredient, and enabling forwarding said list to a food provider.
12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein said method comprises the steps of:
receiving information that relates to at least one food ingredient to which a specific person is intolerant; accessing a database which comprises a plurality of groups, each of which comprises identifications of at least two members being food ingredients which are different from each other, and wherein all members included in each of the groups is capable of inducing an adverse effect to a person who is negatively affected by another member of that respective group and retrieving therefrom one or more other food ingredients different from the at least one food ingredient for which tine information was received, that are members which belong to the same food group (s) as the at least one food ingredient ;
generating a list of recommended food items/recipes that do not contain the at least one food ingredient to which a specific person is intolerant, nor any of the one or more food ingredients retrieved which are members that belong to trie same food group as the at least one food ingredient, and enabling its forwarding to a third party,
13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the one or more medicaments is at least one member of a group that consists of: a) a medicament taken by the person on a regular basis, b) a medicament taken by the person on a temporary basis, and c) any combination of a) and b) .
14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the at least one food ingredient to which the person is intolerant comprises a reaction inducing agent.
15. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program for performing a set of instructions to be executed by one or more computer processors, the computer program is adapted to perform a method for generating a software object specific to a certain user, wherein said software object comprises information that relates to recommended food ingredients for the user, to be consumed, avoided or limited, and wherein said recommendations are based on various parameters associated with said certain user, while avoiding including personal information thereat .
PCT/IL2019/050133 2018-02-04 2019-02-04 A method and a computer software for selecting food items for a user WO2019150376A1 (en)

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