METHODOLOGY

How Heart Help is scored

Heart Help turns logged food and lifestyle behaviors into a simple 0–100 daily adherence score. The score is designed to make habits easier to see and improve. It is not a cardiovascular-risk percentage, diagnosis, lab interpretation or substitute for medical care.

Score and Health Signals are deliberately separate

Blood pressure, resting heart rate, weight, waist measurement, cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose and A1c can be tracked in Health Signals. Those measurements do not add or subtract daily Heart Help points. Family history and existing health conditions can personalize guidance, but they do not penalize the score.

Food · up to 45 points

Vegetables, fruit, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, fish, unsaturated fats and fiber build the food score. Sodium, saturated fat and added sugar are included as quality signals when enough nutrient information has been logged.

Movement · up to 20 points

Logged movement builds toward the daily movement component. Weekly totals are shown separately so the app does not pretend a single day represents a full exercise pattern.

Sleep · up to 10 points

Logging a heart-supportive sleep routine contributes to the score. Heart Help rewards the behavior entry; it does not diagnose a sleep disorder.

Nicotine · up to 10 points

A nicotine-free day earns this component. People working on quitting can still track progress without being given a medical risk score.

Stress reset · up to 5 points

A practical recovery action such as a short breathing break, walk or other calming routine can earn this small behavior component.

Alcohol · up to 5 points

No alcohol earns the full component. Heart Help does not frame alcohol as heart-protective or encourage someone who does not drink to start.

Hydration · up to 5 points

Hydration can be tracked against a personal goal. This component can be disabled for people following clinician-directed fluid guidance.

Health Signals · 0 score points

Blood pressure, heart rate, weight, waist, LDL, HDL, triglycerides, total cholesterol, glucose and A1c live in their own tracking layer so health measurements are never confused with adherence points.

Food scoring in detail

The food subtotal is capped at 45 points. Exact point weights are a Heart Help product-design choice informed by current cardiovascular dietary guidance; they are not a validated clinical diet score.

Vegetables
up to 6
Fruit
up to 4
Whole grains
4
Legumes
3
Nuts & seeds
3
Fish / seafood
4
Unsaturated fats
4
Fiber progress
up to 5
Sodium quality
up to 5
Saturated-fat quality
up to 4
Added-sugar quality
up to 3

Nutrient-quality points are intentionally scaled when the food log is incomplete so a nearly empty log does not receive a perfect sodium, saturated-fat or added-sugar score. Added sugar is tracked separately from naturally occurring total sugar when the food data source provides it.

Important limitations

A score of 90 means the user logged more of the behaviors Heart Help is designed to reinforce. It does not mean “90% heart healthy,” a 10% disease risk, or any other biological state.

Health Signals are personal records and trends, not automated diagnoses. Decisions about medication, treatment targets, abnormal test results or symptoms belong with an appropriate healthcare professional.

Heart Help may show general educational context from established public-health sources, but it does not create an ASCVD risk estimate or replace clinician-directed cardiovascular care.

REFERENCES & SOURCE LINKS

Evidence used to shape Heart Help

Methodology status

Heart Help scoring version 1.0 is a transparent wellness and behavior-adherence methodology, not a validated clinical scoring system. Health measurements remain outside the daily score by design.