AI-generated menus versus the Türkiye Dietary Guidelines: nutrient adequacy, ultra-processed food burden, cost, and carbon footprint

Introduction While the use of generative AI tools in meal planning is becoming increasingly widespread, the alignment of the menus they generate with national dietary guidelines, the level of food processing, economic accessibility, and environmental impacts have not yet been sufficiently clarified. This study aimed to compare daily menus generated by ChatGPT and Gemini for different life stages and physiological conditions with the Türkiye Dietary Guidelines (TÜBER) in terms of nutrient adequacy, ultra-processed food (UPFs) content, economic cost, carbon footprint, and short-term temporal