Nourished tracks five food groups. Eat a variety across all of them and you'll be rewarded — neglect any one group for too long and you'll start to feel it.
⚡ Quick Reference
| Group | Penalty | Vanilla Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 🍎 Fruits | Unluck I | Apple, melon, sweet berries |
| 🥦 Vegetables | Slowness I | Carrot, potato, beet |
| 🥩 Proteins | Mining Fatigue I | Cooked beef, salmon, egg |
| 🌾 Grains | Weakness I | Bread, cookie, pumpkin pie |
| 🥛 Dairy | None | Milk, rabbit stew* |
*Rabbit stew inherits from its dairy/vegetable ingredients via recipe analysis.
The Five Groups
🍎 Fruits
Generally sweet foods grown on trees, bushes, or vines.
Vanilla: Apple, golden apple, melon slice, sweet berries, chorus fruit
Modded: Most fresh fruits from Farmer's Delight, Pam's HarvestCraft 2, Croptopia, and similar mods.
Neglect penalty: Unluck I
🥦 Vegetables
Foods that grow in the ground, on stalks, or as leafy greens.
Vanilla: Carrot, potato, beetroot, beetroot soup
Modded: Tomatoes, onions, cabbage, salads, and vegetable-based dishes.
Neglect penalty: Slowness I
🥩 Proteins
Meat, fish, eggs, and plant-based proteins like tofu and legumes.
Vanilla: Cooked beef, cooked chicken, cooked salmon, egg
Modded: Tofu, tempeh, grilled meats, seafood dishes.
Neglect penalty: Mining Fatigue I
🌾 Grains
Breads, baked goods, starches, and cereal-based foods.
Vanilla: Bread, cookie, pumpkin pie
Modded: Rice, pasta, sandwiches, baked goods, tortillas.
Neglect penalty: Weakness I
🥛 Dairy
Milk and milk-derived foods.
Vanilla: Milk bucket
Modded: Butter, cheese, cream-based sauces and soups.
No neglect penalty — tracked and contributes to your balance score but no debuff by default. Configurable.
🤔 Edge Cases
| Food | Classified As | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Tomato | Vegetables | Culinary vegetable |
| Mushroom | Vegetables | Closest food-group equivalent |
| Corn / Maize | Grains | Cereal crop |
| Honey | Fruits | Sugar keyword / fruit classification |
| Tofu | Proteins | Protein keyword |
| Nuts | Proteins | High-protein plant food |
| Pumpkin Pie | Grains + Fruits | Recipe inheritance |
| Stews and soups | Varies | Inherits from main ingredients |
❤️ Staying Balanced
When all five groups are above 75%, you passively receive:
- Health Boost I
- Regeneration I
Both effects stay active as long as your diet stays balanced and fade when any group drops below the threshold.
⚖️ Balance Score
The Diet Screen shows a balance score — how evenly spread your nutrition is across all five groups.
| Score | What it means |
|---|---|
| 90–100 | Excellent — near-perfect dietary variety |
| 70–89 | Good — well-rounded diet |
| 50–69 | Moderate — some groups being neglected |
| Below 50 | Poor — diet heavily skewed |
Staying above 70 is solid for most playthroughs.
🔄 Variety Matters
Eating the same food repeatedly gives diminishing returns over time. Rotating what you eat always pays off. Food memory fades naturally, so avoided groups recover their full value on their own.