Most nutrition software packages let you add food items to the database.

In NutriBase, we let you add food items by entering their nutrient information from the nutrition facts label. All foods added go into a tabbed notebook for quick access.

NutriBase also lets you make any database food item a PFI (Personal Food Item). Suppose there is a food item in the database that you eat every day and that you include in most of your recipes and meals. You recommend this food to all your clients. You don't want to have to look this item up every time you need it, so you make it a Personal Food Item (PFI).

To do this, just look up the food item one time. Click on the food item to select it, then click the PFI Button at the bottom of the screen to make it a Personal Food Item (PFI). NutriBase will automatically add it to the tabbed notebook of your PFI Manger. It will be automatically alphabetized.

If you want to edit the data, you can. Just open the PFI Manager and double-click on the item you wish to edit. You can enter data by entering the Percent Daily Values - NutriBase will calculate the actual values for you. (This is useful for entering supplements to the database.)

You can reach any PFI by clicking the PFI Manager Icon. All PFI's are stored in a tabbed notebook. You can have up to 36 tabs in your notebook folder and you can have up to 26 folders if you like. (You can set up folders for different types of PFIs - low fat, high protein, hypertension, etc.)

You can add tabs, rename tabs, or delete your tabs. You can drag and drop your PFIs from tab to tab. All PFI's automatically alphabetize themselves within each tab. You can store your PFIs in multiple tabs if you have difficulty remember exactly where you saved them. For instance, you could store your PFI for Spaghetti in the Pasta tab and the Entree tab if desired.

To add any PFI in your list to a recipe, just click on the PFI and then click the Recipe Button at the bottom of the screen.

To add any PFI in your list to a meal, just click on the PFI and then click the Meal Button at the bottom of the screen.

To view all your PFIs in a spreadsheet view, click the View Button.

To rank all your PfIs from high-to-low or low-to-high, click the box in the column header for the nutrient of interest.

By having an easily accessible list of the foods you use most often, you can create recipes, meals, or meal plans by going to your PFI Manager instead of having to do a food name search each time you need to look up a common food item.