MIP Logo

Dashboard Week – Day 1: What is the best food to eat for the rest of your life?

This post was originally published on The Data School blog between 2018 and July 2025, before our program was renamed to MIP’s Analytics Career Accelerator. References throughout this article to “The Data School” or “DS” all refer to what is now MIP’s Analytics Career Accelerator. The program, its people, and its commitment to launching outstanding analytics careers remain the same – just under a new name.

If you are having trouble viewing this article, please report it here

For day one of dashboard week, we were given 5 data sets from Australian & New Zealand Food Standards. The datasets were centred information around ingredient and recipe nutrients. I chose to use three of the five original datasets and another one from the same website. The question I want to answer is: If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life what would be the best food for an average person’s macronutrient distribution?

Based on some research the acceptable intake distribution of macronutrients for energy is 45-65% carbohydrates, 20-35% of fats, and 10-35% of protein. Using my dashboard, you can find foods with specific percentages of each macronutrient. For example, if you have a 50% carbohydrate diet foods you want to consider are within this range.

I have calculated a score based on the macronutrients reflecting the difference a food’s macronutrient is from the target. Based on the distribution of each macronutrient you have selected (e.g. 50% carbohydrate, 30% protein, 20% fats) a score will be assigned to the foods. Scores closer to 0 are better at fulfilling your macronutrient goals and scores further from 0 are worse. Using roughly the standard person’s macronutrient intake (%55 carbohydrates, 20% fats, 25% protein). Using this configuration, produced a graph that showed all the foods from best to worst.

In the end, we found that Drained canned Legumes and pulses were the best food for the average person to each for the rest of their life. You can find this dashboard here. Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a good day.

Share this post