Nutrient details appear on a Food Journal entry based on how you logged the food and on your practitioner's settings. This article helps you find why an entry shows no nutrients and shows you how to add them. Search the Food Database for automatic nutrient data, click “Use data” on free form entries, and enter nutrients for custom foods.
Before You Begin
- Your practitioner controls whether you see nutrient details. When your practitioner hides nutrient details, no entry shows nutrients, no matter how you logged it. See the last section below.
- The entry logging steps are the same on the web and in the mobile app. The barcode scanner is available in the mobile app only.
Does Your Practitioner Have Nutrient Details Enabled?
Your practitioner controls whether nutrient data appears in your journal's food entries. When your practitioner hides nutrient details, you don't see nutrient data in your journal, and nutrition information is also hidden in any nutrition plan they share with you.
Your practitioner always sees nutrient data in your Food Journal wherever it is available and supported. Whether you see it depends on the Journal food entry settings your practitioner has set for you.
Contact your practitioner to confirm whether nutrient details are turned on for your journal.
If you're a practitioner: To show nutrient details again, uncheck Hide nutritional details in the client's Journal Settings for Food entries. This one setting also controls the nutrition information in shared nutrition plans.
Learn more in Managing Journal Settings for Individual Clients →
Did You Search for Foods Using the Food Database?
Search for foods in the Food Database to include nutrient data automatically.
When you start typing the name of your food in the text box at the top of the pop-up, matching suggestions appear in a picklist below. Suggestions include foods from the database and foods and recipes you've saved.
Selecting a food from the database includes nutrient data automatically.
Did You Scan a Barcode?
The barcode scanner recognizes products sold in Canada and the United States, and it's available in the mobile app only. If the scanner doesn't find a product, log the food as a free form entry or add it as a custom food. If the barcode scanner isn’t available in your Food Journal, your practitioner may be on the Sprout plan, or they may have disabled barcode scanning in the mobile app.
Learn more in Adding Custom Foods in the Client Portal →
Did You Log a Free Form Entry?
When you log a Free form entry, Practice Better detects the ingredients in your description as you type. Photo entries with a description work the same way as free form entries.
Saved Free form entries show the Free form entry label beneath the food name.
To include nutrient data:
- Click the Use data button when nutrient details appear.
- Save the entry.
If you skip Use data or click Ignore, the entry saves without nutrient data. This applies to photo entries too: if you never accept the Use data suggestion, the entry has no nutrient data.
To add nutrient data later:
- Click the More Options menu (3 dots) next to your free form entry and select Update.
- When you change the description of a free form entry, a new Use data option appears so you can refresh the nutrients.
- Click Use data when prompted.
- Save your entry.
📍 Note: The Use data suggestion appears only when your practitioner has nutrient details turned on for your journal.
Did You Add a Custom Food?
If you created a custom food, enter its nutrient data manually. Without nutrient details in the custom food record, no data displays for that entry.
Editing a custom food later doesn't update entries you already logged. To show the new nutrient details, log a new entry. Learn more in Adding Custom Foods in the Client Portal →
Did You Log a Saved Recipe or Shared Recipe?
Recipe entries take their nutrients from the recipe, and you can't edit the nutrients in the entry. Recipe nutrients are calculated automatically from the recipe's ingredients. Editing a custom recipe later doesn't update entries you already logged, so log a new entry to use the updated version.
Learn more in Creating and Managing Recipes in the Client Portal →
📍 Note: Nutrient data from Shared Recipes displays only when your practitioner has nutrient details turned on for your journal.
Do the Nutrients Look Wrong?
If an entry shows nutrient data that doesn't match the product, report it from the food's pop-up. Learn more in Reporting Food Nutrient Discrepancies →
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why don't I see a Use data button?
A: The Use data suggestion appears only when your practitioner has nutrient details turned on for your journal. Contact your practitioner to confirm the setting.
Q: I edited a custom food or recipe. Why didn't my past entries change?
A: Editing a custom food or recipe doesn't update entries you already logged. Log a new entry to use the updated nutrient details.
Q: Can I edit the nutrients on a recipe entry?
A: No. A recipe entry takes its nutrients from the recipe. To change them, adjust the recipe's ingredients or quantities and log a new entry.