Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Platebreaker and nutrition tracking.

Getting Started

What is Platebreaker?

Platebreaker is a nutrition platform for discovering recipes, planning meals, and tracking intake across 113 nutrients (262 are viewable in the database). All nutrition data comes from USDA FoodData Central, and targets follow guidelines from major nutrition authorities worldwide. It goes well beyond basic calorie counting.

Is Platebreaker free?

Platebreaker is in alpha/beta and all features are free during this period. Future pricing will have two tiers: Demo ($0, limited features) and Standard ($5/mo or $30/yr). Check platebreaker.com/pricing for current details.

Nutrition Targets

Why are my targets different from my friend’s?

Targets are personalized based on your age, sex, height, weight, activity level, life stage (pregnancy, breastfeeding, menopause), and which nutrition authority you choose. Different authorities have slightly different recommendations, and even small differences in body weight or activity level change the calculations.

Can I change my nutrition authority?

Yes. Go to your profile and edit it to choose from NASEM (US/Canada), NHMRC (Australia/New Zealand), EFSA (European Union), NNR (Nordic Countries), or Platebreaker’s conservative default. Your targets update immediately. See Choosing Your Authority for guidance.

What does “Target Cycle” mean?

Some nutrients don’t need to be consumed every single day because your body stores them. Water-soluble vitamins need daily replenishment, while fat-soluble vitamins and minerals can be stored for multiple days. You can meet your vitamin D target over a week, not necessarily each day. See Nutrient Targets & Limits for details.

Can I customize my targets?

Yes. You can adjust targets for any of the 113 tracked nutrients in three ways: absolute amounts (e.g., 100g protein), percentage of energy (e.g., 25% protein), or per kilogram of body weight (e.g., 1.8g/kg protein). See Custom Targets & Limits for details.

What’s the difference between a Target and an Upper Limit?

A target (RDA, AI, PRI) is the amount you should aim to meet daily. It covers the needs of 97-98% of healthy people, and exceeding it modestly is fine. An upper limit (UL) is different. That’s the maximum daily amount unlikely to cause harm, and you should not exceed it chronically, especially from supplements.

See Understanding Targets & Limits for a full explanation.

Should I try to hit 100% of every nutrient every day?

Aim for 100% on average over the target cycle (1-7 days depending on the nutrient). In practice, 80-120% is excellent for most nutrients, and going above 100% is usually fine since targets are minimums, not maximums. Just stay under the upper limits. Focus on weekly patterns rather than stressing about one imperfect day.

If you’re consistently under 50% on a nutrient, that may indicate a deficiency worth addressing. Between 50-80% there’s room for improvement. Above 150% consistently, check whether you’re still under the upper limit.

Why is my protein target so high/low?

Protein targets depend on activity level and goals. Sedentary people need around 0.8 g/kg at minimum. If you’re active, that goes up to 1.2-1.6 g/kg. Strength training pushes it higher still, to 1.6-2.2 g/kg. Endurance athletes land around 1.2-1.4 g/kg. Weight loss goals also raise protein needs to help preserve muscle.

Check that your activity level, current weight, and goals are set correctly. You can also adjust your protein target manually through Custom Targets.

Recipe Discovery

How does recipe discovery work?

The Discover tab shows category cards and carousels on the home screen. You can also search by keywords, ingredients, or tags and apply filters across six categories: Sort By, Features, Ranges, Tags, Domains, and Date. Every recipe gets a score from -10 to +10 based on how well it fills your current nutrient gaps, and those scores update as you add meals to your plan.

See Recipe Discovery for details on how scoring works.

Where do recipes come from?

All recipes come from public recipe websites. Platebreaker reads structured recipe data (schema.org/recipe JSON-LD metadata) from those sites, matches each ingredient to the USDA database, and calculates nutrition. Every recipe links back to the original creator’s page.

Can I add my own recipes?

Custom recipe creation is coming soon.

Why don’t some recipes show all nutrients?

Nutrition data completeness depends on USDA data availability (not all foods have complete profiles), how well ingredients match to the database, and recipe complexity. More ingredients means more potential for missing data. Each recipe has a data quality score indicating how complete its nutrient profile is. See Data Sources & Traceability for details.

Tracking

How accurate is nutrition tracking?

Roughly plus or minus 5-15% for most nutrients when using USDA data. Portion sizes, cooking methods, and natural food variation all affect accuracy. Weighing calorie-dense foods (oils, nuts, grains) gives the best results, while vegetables you can estimate more freely. Consistent tracking matters more than perfect precision. Look at weekly averages.

Do I need to track everything?

Track all meals and snacks, beverages with calories, and cooking oils and condiments. Zero-calorie drinks, spices, and herbs have negligible nutrition and can be skipped. The more complete your tracking, the more accurate your rankings and nutrient status.

What if I can’t find a food?

Try different spellings or names first. If that doesn’t work, use a similar food as a close match. Custom food entry is coming soon.

Can I edit logged meals?

Yes. You can adjust serving sizes, delete entries, and move meals between dates. Changes update your nutrition totals automatically.

Meal Planning

How far in advance can I plan meals?

You can plan for any date within about a year in either direction. Most users find weekly planning practical, but you can plan a single day or several weeks ahead. The diary view lets you scroll through days and add meals wherever you need them.

Can Platebreaker create a meal plan for me automatically?

Not currently. You search for recipes and add them to your plan manually. The recipe rankings guide you toward meals that fill your nutrient gaps, so the search results themselves serve as suggestions. Automated meal plan generation is not on the current roadmap.

You can create multiple profiles for household members and plan meals for each person. Each family member gets personalized targets while sharing the same recipes.

How do shopping lists work?

Shopping lists are coming soon. The Plan tab has a Grocery List sub-tab that is currently a placeholder.

Data & Privacy

Where does nutrition data come from?

The primary source is USDA FoodData Central, which covers over 300,000 foods with comprehensive nutrient profiles. Platebreaker matches recipe ingredients to USDA foods and calculates totals. Nutrition authority guidelines (NASEM, NHMRC, EFSA, NNR) set the targets. See Data Sources & Traceability for complete details.

Can I trace nutrition back to the source?

Yes. For recipes, you can view the USDA FDC ID for each ingredient, click through to the official USDA entry, and see cooking retention factors that were applied. For targets, you can see which authority sets each target and link to the official publication. See Data Traceability.

Is my data private?

Yes. Your data is private by default and only visible to you. We don’t sell user data. You can delete your account to remove all personal data. See our Privacy Policy for full details.

Medical & Health

Is Platebreaker medical advice?

No. Platebreaker is an educational and tracking tool based on public health guidelines. It is not medical advice, a diagnostic tool, or a substitute for healthcare providers. See Limitations & Disclaimers for complete information.

Can I use Platebreaker with medical conditions?

Yes, but consult your healthcare provider first and get personalized targets for your condition. You can enter their recommendations using Custom Targets. Platebreaker is useful for tracking nutrients relevant to conditions like diabetes (carb monitoring), hypertension (sodium), kidney disease (protein, phosphorus, potassium), cardiovascular disease (saturated fat, omega-3), and anemia (iron, B12, folate). Your provider’s guidance always takes priority over default targets.

Should I take supplements?

Track your food intake first and identify consistent gaps (under 50% of target for several weeks). Whole food sources are preferred, but supplements can fill specific gaps when diet alone falls short. Common candidates include vitamin D (limited sun exposure), B12 (vegans, some elderly), iron (menstruating women, diagnosed anemia), and omega-3 (no regular fatty fish intake). Consult a healthcare provider before starting supplements, especially if you take medications.

Can Platebreaker help with weight loss?

Platebreaker is a tracking tool, not a weight loss program. It gives you accurate intake data and calorie targets, and tracks nutrients so you don’t develop deficiencies during restriction. You can set a weight goal in your profile and energy targets adjust accordingly. It won’t prescribe specific diets or provide coaching, but it’s a useful part of a broader approach.

Technical

Which devices can I use Platebreaker on?

Platebreaker runs in your web browser on desktop, tablet, and mobile devices. It works in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge.

How do I contact support?

Email support@platebreaker.com. You can also check this FAQ and the rest of the documentation. Response time is within 24-48 hours for most inquiries.

Can I use Platebreaker with ChatGPT or Claude?

Yes. Platebreaker has an MCP server that works with any AI platform supporting the Model Context Protocol. Add https://mcp.platebreaker.com in your AI platform’s settings and sign in with your Platebreaker account. ChatGPT and Claude.ai show interactive recipe cards. Other MCP clients get the same data as formatted text.

See AI Integration for setup instructions and the Tools Reference for what you can do.

Troubleshooting

My targets seem wrong

Check that your age, sex, height, weight, and activity level are all correct. Verify your life stage (pregnancy, breastfeeding, menopause) is set correctly. Try switching nutrition authorities to see if another set of targets makes more sense. Also check whether you accidentally set custom targets that override the defaults. If it still looks wrong, contact support with your details.

Recipe nutrition seems inaccurate

Verify the serving size matches what you actually ate. Different cooking methods affect nutrition (Platebreaker accounts for common methods). Natural variation of 20% is normal. Check the recipe’s data quality score. If you find clearly wrong data, report it and we’ll investigate.

I can’t find a recipe

Try different search terms. Use simpler queries (“chicken dinner” instead of “grilled chicken breast dinner recipe”). Remove dietary filters to see more results. Browse by category or cuisine tags.

The app is slow

Clear your browser cache, update to the latest browser version, check your internet connection, and try disabling extensions that might interfere (ad blockers, privacy tools). If it’s still slow, contact support with your browser and device details.

Account & Billing

How does billing work?

During alpha/beta, all features are free. When pricing goes live, there will be two tiers: Demo ($0, limited features) and Standard ($5/mo or $30/yr). No Pro tier exists. Visit platebreaker.com/pricing for the latest information.