Most calorie trackers stop at kcal and three macros. CalBurndown also tracks 24 micronutrients — 14 vitamins and 10 minerals — so you can see whether a calorie deficit is quietly starving you of iron, magnesium, or vitamin D. Here's how it works, and where the honesty lines are.
What's tracked
We track the full FDA Nutrition Facts panel set, scored against adult Daily Values (21 CFR 101.9):
| Group | Nutrients |
|---|---|
| Vitamins | A, C, D, E, K, B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, folate, B5, biotin, choline |
| Minerals | calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, potassium, sodium, phosphorus, iodine, selenium, copper, manganese, chromium, molybdenum |
Everything is shown as a % of target — by default the FDA Daily Value, or your own number if you set custom targets.
The most accurate path: scan a label
When you photograph a Nutrition Facts panel, the AI reads the printed numbers directly. These are stored as exact values (not estimates), and they're what powers the most reliable part of the %DV picture.
To capture a label without logging a meal, tap + → Capture nutrition facts ("Snap a nutrition label — captures calories, macros & vitamins"). That opens the camera straight to the photo path.
On the review screen, captured micros appear under a heading that reads "Nutrients from the label" when they came from a panel, versus "Estimated nutrients" when the AI inferred them.
Estimates for unlabeled food
Most of what you eat has no label — restaurant plates, home cooking, fruit. For those, the AI estimates micronutrients from typical food composition, preferring USDA data wherever your item matches a known food. If there's a confident USDA/Open Food Facts match, those values override the raw AI guess.
Estimates are always marked as estimates. On the review screen you'll see:
Estimated by AI from typical values for these foods — not exact. Scan a nutrition label for precise numbers.
Even zero-calorie drinks get credited — brewed tea carries manganese, coffee carries potassium and magnesium — so your mineral totals aren't artificially low just because you drink them black.
The daily %DV panel
On the Dashboard, below the burndown chart, a Micronutrients panel shows each nutrient you logged today with its amount and % of target. Only nutrients with data appear — the list builds as you log. When the day's totals include estimates, the panel notes:
Includes AI estimates from typical food values — scan labels for exact numbers.
For a fuller breakdown over time, open the Stats screen.
The 7-day "you may be low" nudge
Tracking one day tells you little. CalBurndown averages your logged micros over the last 7 days and flags nutrients that average below 50% of target. Once you've logged on at least 4 of those days, a card appears on the Dashboard:
🩺 You may be running low
It lists up to four of your lowest nutrients with their average %. Sodium is excluded (it's a ceiling, not a floor). The card is explicit about its limits:
Based on logged food (often AI estimates), averaged over days you logged. General guidance, not medical advice — see Stats for detail.
Supplements and multivitamins
Photograph a multivitamin or supplement bottle's Supplement Facts panel and CalBurndown logs it as a single item — calories from the label (usually 0) and every listed vitamin and mineral read exactly, not estimated. Centrum, gummy vitamins, greens powders, protein powders all work. Those micros roll straight into your daily %DV and the 7-day average.
Backfilling past meals
Started logging before micros existed, or before you scanned much? Go to Settings → Backfill micronutrients ("Add vitamins to past meals — from the food database, or AI-estimated") and tap Run. It fills in missing micros three ways, in order of confidence: exact USDA matches for weighable items, USDA values scaled to an estimated portion, and pure AI estimates where there's no match. It never overwrites micros you already have.