The first time you log "my protein shake," the AI guesses. The tenth time, it shouldn't have to. The nutrition library is where CalBurndown remembers what your foods actually contain — and reuses those numbers instead of re-guessing.
Opening the library
From Settings → Nutrition library ("Saved foods & drinks — calories, macros & vitamins, reused on re-logs"). The screen has two parts:
- Your library — facts remembered from your own logs, reused (scaled) on re-logs
- Our database — the shared food database (Open Food Facts + USDA), values per 100 g
Your library vs. the database
Your library is personal. It lists the foods and drinks you've saved, grouped into Foods and Drinks, each with its calories, macros, and any vitamins on file. You can delete any entry with the × button.
Our database only appears once you start searching. Type into "Search foods & drinks…" and the bottom section, "Our database" ("Open Food Facts & USDA · values per 100 g"), shows matches from the combined food databases — the same ~1.4M-row source the meal parser uses.
Save to my library
Found the right item in a database search? Tap + Save to my library on its card. It copies that entry's nutrition into your personal library, so future logs of the same name use it directly. The button confirms with ✓ Saved to your library.
Save facts only (capture without logging)
Two ways to store nutrition facts without logging a meal:
- From the add menu — tap
+→ Capture nutrition facts. Snap a Nutrition Facts panel; the app reads calories, macros, and vitamins. - From a meal review — after parsing, instead of logging, tap Save facts only — don't log this now.
Both save the parsed item (anything with calories or micronutrients) to your library without adding a meal to today's total. Use this when you want to bank a label you'll eat later, or build up your library from packages in your pantry.
How re-logs get smarter
This is the payoff. When you log a food or drink whose name matches a library entry, your saved values win over the AI estimate. The app:
- Matches the logged name to your most specific saved entry
- Scales the saved calories, macros, and micros to the portion you logged (saved 8 oz at 110 kcal → logged 12 oz becomes ~165 kcal)
- Adds a note to the result so you know it used your numbers
Scaling is clamped to a sane range so a bad unit conversion can't 100× your calories. Drinks route through the same logic — a saved drink applies whether you log it inside a meal or on its own.
| You do | The app does |
|---|---|
| Search database, tap Save to my library | Copies that entry into Your library |
+ → Capture nutrition facts |
Reads a label, saves facts, logs nothing |
| Review a meal, tap Save facts only | Banks the item, logs nothing |
| Log a name that matches a saved item | Uses your saved values, scaled to portion |