FoodRef · Scanned Plate · see the dish page
Spaghetti bolognese with parmesan
0 approve · 5 caution · 6 avoid
Cheferee's Consensus
Most of the 11 frameworks cluster together, with Whole30 the main holdout at 1.5. The spread is 4.9 points.
What each diet says
Each score is that framework's own position on this plate, scored as a whole meal — not the average of its parts.
- DASH5.2
- Mediterranean6.4
- Vegan1.5
- Carnivore2.0
- Paleo1.8
- Keto1.5
- Low-FODMAP2.5
- Whole301.5
- Zone4.5
- Anti-Inflammatory4.2
- GLP-14.0
The plate is dominated by refined-wheat spaghetti with red meat sauce and salty parmesan, which pushes against DASH's emphasis on whole grains, low sodium and lean protein. The absence of vegetables or fruit is a notable gap.
Pasta with a tomato-based meat sauce and a little grated cheese fits the Mediterranean pattern reasonably well, though the 35% share of red meat is heavier than the tradition prefers and there are no vegetables, legumes or olive oil visible.
Both the bolognese meat sauce and the parmesan are animal products, together making up 45% of the plate, so this fails vegan principles outright.
Spaghetti is a grain-based plant food and takes up more than half the plate, which disqualifies this meal under carnivore's exclusion of all plant foods, despite the meat sauce and cheese.
Spaghetti is a grain and parmesan is dairy — both are explicitly excluded by paleo, and together they make up 65% of the plate, leaving only the meat sauce as compliant.
At roughly 55% refined-wheat pasta, the carbohydrate load here is far above any ketogenic threshold, regardless of the fat from meat sauce and cheese.
Wheat spaghetti in this quantity is high in fructans, and typical bolognese contains onion and garlic, making this plate a significant FODMAP load; the parmesan is one of the few low-FODMAP elements.
Grains (spaghetti) and dairy (parmesan) are both prohibited on Whole30, and the meat sauce likely contains added sugar or non-compliant ingredients, so this plate breaks the rules on multiple fronts.
The balance is skewed toward carbohydrate from the spaghetti with moderate protein from the meat sauce and some fat from cheese, which is off Zone's 40/30/30 target and lacks the non-starchy vegetables Zone favors.
Refined pasta and red meat are both considered pro-inflammatory, though the tomato base contributes some lycopene; the lack of vegetables, herbs or olive oil limits the anti-inflammatory value.
The plate is calorie-dense and carb-heavy with limited fiber and only moderate protein, which doesn't optimize satiety for GLP-1 users; a smaller pasta share with added vegetables would score better.
Food by food
Our catalog scores for each item. The plate's score above is a judgment on the whole meal, so it will not match the average of these.
spaghetti~55% of the plate · not in our catalog yet▾
We don't have per-diet catalog scores for this food yet, so it has no breakdown here. It still counted toward the plate's score above.
meat sauce~35% of the plate · not in our catalog yet▾
We don't have per-diet catalog scores for this food yet, so it has no breakdown here. It still counted toward the plate's score above.
Parmesan cheese~10% of the plate6.5▾
- Keto9.0
- Vegan1.0
- Paleo2.0
- Mediterranean8.0
- Whole301.0
- Low-FODMAP9.0
- DASH2.0
- Zone6.0
- Anti-Inflammatory5.0
- GLP-1 Friendly5.0
- Carnivore6.0
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Scores describe what each named diet framework's published principles say about this food. They are not FoodRef's opinion on whether anything is healthy, and they are not medical or nutritional advice. Talk to a doctor or a registered dietitian about your own diet.
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