Inspiration
As Lehigh students, we’ve all experienced the struggle of finding a healthy, satisfying meal on campus that actually aligns with our personal goals — whether that’s staying energized through classes, building muscle, or just eating better. We realized many students lack access to personalized nutrition guidance, even though it’s key to both physical and mental well-being.
What it does
NourishLU helps students locate nutritious, fulfilling meals on campus that align with their dietary goals.
- Calculates personalized macronutrient and calorie targets using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation.
- Recommends real meals from Lehigh dining halls that best match those targets.
- Includes a chatbot assistant for quick questions and a simple, student-friendly interface.
How we built it
Frontend: React Backend: Node.js + Express server connected to a PostgreSQL (AWS RDS) database + Groq’s fast LLM API for AI inference Data: Custom meal dataset with nutrition info from Lehigh dining menus Domain routing: Duck DNS Logic: Personalized recommendations generated from the user’s height, weight, age, activity level, and goals (gain/maintain/lose)
Challenges we ran into
Unable to utilize AWS for chatbot, so we used Groq - free LLM
Accomplishments that we're proud of
- Providing an accessible outlet for students to efficiently utilize their meal plan
- Tackling food insecurity amongst college students
- Manual database and table creation/population
What we learned
- creating websites takes a long time
What's next for NourishLU
- incorporate API keys to all Lehigh menus (daily dining hall changes)
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