LegalMedical Disclaimer
Medical Disclaimer
1. Purpose and scope
This Medical Disclaimer applies to all Being Optimal Services operated by [PENDING: LEGAL_ENTITY_NAME] (trading as Being Optimal, Site Nutrition), including the nutrition dashboard (planner), account surfaces, Learning Center, Help materials, AI assistant, community forum (where enabled), Certified / brand surfaces, APIs used by the product, notifications, and related documentation at beingoptimal.org and associated subdomains (including https://help.beingoptimal.org, https://community.beingoptimal.org, https://assets.beingoptimal.org).
By accessing or using the Services, you acknowledge that you have read and understand this Disclaimer. It is incorporated by reference into the Terms of Service. Defined terms follow Definitions unless stated otherwise.
2. Not medical advice; no clinician–patient relationship
2.1 Informational and planning use only
The Services provide general nutrition information, meal-planning tools, educational content, and optional automated outputs intended to help you organize food logging, understand nutrient patterns relative to population-style guidance ranges, and prepare questions for your own care team.
Nothing in the Services is:
- medical advice, diagnosis, prognosis, or treatment;
- a prescription, dosing instruction, or clinical protocol;
- a substitute for prenatal, obstetric, midwifery, dietetic, mental-health, or other professional care;
- an emergency triage, crisis line, or remote monitoring service.
2.2 No clinician–patient relationship
Use of the Services does not create a doctor–patient, midwife–patient, dietitian–patient, therapist–patient, or other professional healthcare relationship between you and [PENDING: LEGAL_ENTITY_NAME], its personnel, contractors, or automated systems (including the AI assistant).
Being Optimal is not your Clinician. Your Clinician means your licensed medical or midwifery (or other) professional responsible for your care.
2.3 Your Clinician outranks the product
Always follow instructions from your healthcare provider, maternity unit, or emergency services over any score, flag, article, community post, or AI message. If product content appears to conflict with clinical advice, defer to your Clinician.
3. Canonical product statements
We reuse the following plain-language statements across Help, Learning Center, community, and product surfaces. They apply fully under this Disclaimer:
Master (planning context):
*Planning context, not medical advice — confirm supplement doses and screening (ferritin, 25-OH-D) with your healthcare provider.*
Escalation (beyond nutrition / urgent):
*This one's beyond nutrition — please contact your provider or local urgent care now.*
(On community surfaces, escalation copy may add that the forum will be available after you seek care. On the AI assistant, urgent red-flag messages may instead return a redirect that you should contact your clinician or emergency services if the situation is urgent.)
These statements do not limit any other obligation or right under the Terms of Service or Privacy Policy.
4. Who the Services are for
- The Services are directed to adults (minimum age 18, self-attested). They are not designed as a pediatric or minor-facing clinical tool.
- Pregnancy, postpartum, and preconception nutrition planning are self-directed education contexts. Individual medical risk (high-risk pregnancy, multiples, hyperemesis, gestational diabetes, food allergies, eating disorders, medication interactions, etc.) requires personal clinical care that the product cannot provide.
- If you are under the care of a specialist team, treat product outputs as optional worksheets for discussion — not as care-plan changes.
5. Pregnancy safety topics — planning context only
The product may surface general planning context about nutrients and food patterns commonly discussed in pregnancy nutrition education. That context is not a prescription, restriction list individualized to you, or clinical clearance.
Examples (non-exhaustive) of topics that may appear as planning context:
| Topic | How the product may use it | What it is not |
|---|---|---|
| Retinol / preformed vitamin A | Informational headroom / over-limit awareness relative to planning targets | A clinical assessment of teratogenic risk or approval of your prenatal vitamin |
| Mercury (fish / seafood) | Pattern awareness and preference for lower-mercury choices in optimizer/catalog context | A species-by-species medical order for your pregnancy; national guidance and your Clinician control |
| Caffeine | Informational comparison to planning limits | A medical caffeine prescription or ban tailored to your condition |
| Alcohol | General educational framing that alcohol is not recommended in pregnancy planning tools | Substance-use treatment or clinical counseling |
| Raw / undercooked foods, deli meats, unpasteurized products, etc. | Food-safety planning notes where surfaced | Infection-risk diagnosis or clearance for a specific meal |
| Folate / folic acid | Importance in adequacy models and educational content | Dosing for neural-tube-defect prevention individualized to your history |
| Choline | Educational and adequacy context (often under-discussed nutrient) | A clinical requirement or supplement order |
| Iron, iodine, DHA/EPA, vitamin D, calcium, etc. | Intake tracking vs planning targets | Diagnosis of deficiency/excess or lab interpretation replacing your Clinician |
Confirm with your healthcare provider before starting, stopping, or changing any supplement, prenatal vitamin, prescription, therapeutic diet, or screening schedule — including examples frequently mentioned in product copy such as ferritin and 25-OH vitamin D.
National dietary guidelines, food-safety lists, and upper limits vary by country. Product defaults may reflect a particular standards set; they may not match your local clinical guidelines. When in doubt, follow your jurisdiction’s public-health guidance and your Clinician.
6. Emergency and red-flag situations
6.1 Seek emergency or urgent clinical care
Do not use the Services for emergencies. If you believe you or someone else may be experiencing a medical emergency, mental-health crisis, or obstetric emergency, contact local emergency services immediately (for example, the emergency number for your country) and/or your maternity unit / on-call clinician.
Examples of situations that require human clinical care now, not an app (non-exhaustive):
- Chest pain
- Heavy vaginal bleeding in pregnancy
- Difficulty breathing / can’t breathe
- Loss of consciousness, “passed out,” or unresponsiveness
- Seizure
- Severe abdominal pain or sudden severe headache with neurological symptoms
- Thoughts of suicide, self-harm, or harming others
- Signs of severe allergic reaction
- Uncontrolled vomiting with inability to keep fluids down (as advised by your care pathway)
- Decreased fetal movement or other urgent pregnancy concerns as defined by your maternity team
This list is illustrative, not complete. Trust your instincts and local emergency guidance.
6.2 Product red-flag / escalation behavior
Where implemented, the AI assistant and certain symptom pathways may refuse nutrition coaching and redirect you to care when messages or symptoms match safety patterns (for example: chest pain, heavy bleeding, trouble breathing, loss of consciousness, seizure, suicidal ideation / self-harm, eating-disorder crisis language). Red-flag symptoms are not treated as routine journal entries for automated coaching.
Typical product posture:
*I'm not able to provide nutrition guidance for what you've described. Please contact your clinician or emergency services if this is urgent.*
or the canonical escalation line in §3.
Important limits: automated red-flag detection is imperfect. Absence of a redirect does not mean a situation is safe. Presence of a redirect is not a diagnosis. You remain responsible for seeking appropriate care.
6.3 No emergency monitoring
The Services do not provide continuous monitoring, on-call clinicians, guaranteed response times, or crisis intervention. Push notifications, emails, and AI replies can fail, be delayed, or be wrong.
7. Automated scores, tools, and AI — not diagnosis or treatment
The product produces several automated or semi-automated outputs. Each is described further in Automated Decisions. None of the following is a medical decision, diagnosis, treatment recommendation, or order:
7.1 Day Score / Grade (A–F)
An informational alignment score/grade for a logged day relative to nutrient planning models and targets. A high grade does not mean you are healthy or that your pregnancy is low-risk. A low grade does not mean you or your baby are in danger. It reflects logged food data quality and model assumptions, not a clinical exam.
7.2 Nutrient shortfall / over-limit drivers and pregnancy-critical flags
Rules-based comparisons of logged intake to planning targets and safety headroom (for example, retinol, mercury, caffeine-related limits where modeled). Flags are planning prompts, not lab results or toxicity diagnoses.
7.3 Diet optimizer
Mathematical optimization (including MILP-style solvers) that suggests meal or quantity adjustments. Suggestions are propose-and-accept: you choose whether to apply them. Optimizer outputs do not know your full medical history, allergies beyond what you entered, cultural needs, or Clinician orders.
7.4 Blood-marker comparisons
If you enter lab values, the product may compare them to reference or planning targets configured in the product. That comparison is not laboratory diagnosis, not clinical interpretation of results in context of your full chart, and not a substitute for the ordering Clinician’s read. Units, assay methods, trimester-specific ranges, and comorbidities matter clinically and may not be fully modeled.
7.5 Knowledge Score
An educational progress indicator based on quizzes or learning activities. It measures engagement with educational material, not clinical competence or health status.
7.6 AI assistant (generative)
The AI assistant may answer questions, draft meal edits, summarize consultation packs, or propose journal writes. Key limits:
- Outputs are generative and can be incomplete, outdated, or wrong.
- Writes to your journal/meals/labs (where enabled) are propose-only — you must confirm before commit.
- Safety pre-checks and disclaimers may apply; they are not a guarantee of safety.
- Conversation content and health-context snippets may be sent to AI Model Providers and may be stored in our systems — see the Privacy Policy and Sub Processor List.
- AI is not your Clinician and must not be used as emergency care.
When assistant text includes dosing-like language, product systems may append a clinician-confirmation notice (for example, that content is general nutrition context only and dosing must be confirmed with your Clinician). That notice does not convert AI text into a prescription.
8. Content sources, catalog accuracy, and Learning Center
- Nutrient composition values are derived primarily from the Nutrient Data Source (USDA FoodData Central) and curated catalog entries, with provenance concepts such as source identifiers where available. See Editorial Content Standards.
- Catalog data can be incomplete, basis-dependent (e.g. cooked vs dry), averaged, or mismatched to the exact brand/preparation you ate.
- Learning Center articles, Help guides, methodology pages, and community posts are educational. Community users are not clinicians for each other; see Community Guidelines.
- Editorial standards and evidence labeling are described in Editorial Content Standards. Even well-sourced educational content is not personalized medical advice.
9. Supplements, medications, and screening
- Confirm all supplement brands, doses, forms, and timing with your healthcare provider — including prenatal vitamins, iron, vitamin D, omega-3s, herbal products, and over-the-counter items.
- The Services do not comprehensively check drug–nutrient or drug–drug interactions.
- Screening and labs (including ferritin, 25-OH-D, hemoglobin, thyroid panels, glucose testing, etc.) are ordered and interpreted by your Clinician. Logging a value in the product does not order a test or replace follow-up.
- Do not delay recommended clinical care because a Day Score looks “good enough.”
10. Allergies, intolerances, and special diets
Food catalog search, Combos, Templates, and optimizer suggestions may not fully encode every allergen, cross-contact risk, religious dietary law, or medical diet (e.g. gestational diabetes carbohydrate prescription, renal diet). You must verify ingredients against your allergies and Clinician instructions before eating.
11. Mental health and eating disorders
If you are experiencing disordered eating, severe anxiety about food or weight, or mental-health crisis, contact appropriate clinical or crisis resources. Product scores and “optimization” framing can be unhelpful or harmful in those contexts; consider pausing use and working with a qualified professional. Red-flag language in messages may trigger a care redirect (§6), but detection is incomplete.
12. Third-party and community content
Links to third-party sites, partner/affiliate destinations, Certified brand materials, and user-generated community content are provided for convenience or community. Being Optimal does not control all third-party medical claims. See Advertising Affiliate Disclosure and Community Guidelines.
13. No warranty of clinical fitness
To the maximum extent permitted by law, and without limiting non-waivable consumer rights in EU/EEA, UK, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and other regions with non-waivable consumer protections, the Services are provided for general information and planning. Being Optimal does not warrant that:
- any score, flag, article, or AI output is accurate, complete, or appropriate for you;
- use of the Services will improve pregnancy outcomes, nutrient status, or lab results;
- red-flag systems will catch every dangerous situation;
- targets match your Clinician’s orders or your country’s guidelines.
Additional disclaimers and liability terms appear in the Terms of Service. Where documents conflict on health/safety characterization, this Medical Disclaimer controls.
14. Your responsibilities
You agree that you will:
- Use the Services only as a planning and education aid.
- Seek timely professional care for symptoms, screening, and treatment decisions.
- Verify supplements, medications, and dietary changes with your Clinician.
- Not rely on the AI assistant or community as emergency or clinical services.
- Provide accurate-enough logging if you choose to use scores (garbage-in / garbage-out applies).
- Read the Privacy Policy regarding health-related data you choose to enter.
15. Contact
- Product support (non-emergency): [email protected]
- Privacy questions: [email protected]
- Legal notices: [email protected]
Do not email emergencies. Email is not monitored as a clinical hotline.
For imprint-style contacts and service of notice, see Contact And Legal Notices.
16. Related documents
| Document | Relationship |
|---|---|
| Terms Of Service | Incorporates this Disclaimer; contract terms |
| Privacy Policy | How health-related Personal Data is processed |
| Automated Decisions | Inventory of scores, optimizer, AI (AD-1–AD-6) |
| Editorial Content Standards | Evidence, nutrient data provenance, content review |
| Acceptable Use Policy | Misuse of AI and health features |
| Community Guidelines | No peer medical advice; escalation norms |
| Definitions | Day Score, Borg, Clinician, Special Category Health Data |
| Versioning And Acceptance | How material updates are accepted |
17. Changes
We may update this Disclaimer as the product or law changes. Material changes follow the process in Versioning And Acceptance. The version and effective date appear at the top of this document.
*Operator draft — session legal-suite-20260713. Not legal advice. Counsel review required before publication.*