Today's nutrition and fitness software is more sophisticated than ever. For this reason, it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with the kinds of capabilities you can expect from a nutrition and fitness software package. Once you've determined which features you must have and which features you can live without, you'll be better prepared to make the right decision regarding your selection of a nutrition and fitness software package.

Are you primarily interested in software for personal and family use? Or are you looking for software for professional use?
If your primary interest is in software for personal or family use, please visit the NutriBase Consumer Nutrition Software Web Site at www.dietsoftware.com. If you are a computer novice or prefer easy-to-use software, visit the NutriBase EZ Edition Web Site at www.nbez.info.

Are you allowed to install the software to more than one computer?
Most high-end nutrition software packages require you to purchase two copies if you want to run the software on two machines - say your work PC and your home computer. The NutriBase End User License allows you to install and use the software on more than one machine as long as you are the only user.

Does the software provide you with a research quality nutrient database compiled from a variety of reputable sources? Does it provide the data from the latest release of the USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference? Does it include the nutrient data from the Canadian Nutrient Files?
Research quality nutrient data provides the assurance of accurate, reliable nutrient information. The reliability of a software nutrition package cannot exceed the reliability of its data.

Is there an annual fee you must pay to continue getting technical support and updates after the first year?
The largest companies in Nutrition Software charge an annual fee for continued product support after the first year. Since this annual fee can range from $200 or more per year... it's best to find out about this up front, particularly if you're going to pay upwards of $695 or (far) more for the package initially.

How many food items are featured in the database?
The more food items you can find in your nutrient database, the more likely you are to find what you really eat. Also, the larger your database, the greater variety of food items you will find.

How many brand name foods are featured in the database?
Unless you prepare everything from scratch, what you really eat is brand name foods. And once again, more is better.

How many restaurant menu items you can access?
Most of us eat out several times a week. So if you're going to eat out, you might as well know what you're eating. And of course, the more restaurant data you have, the better (i.e., "healthier") choices you'll be able to make.

Has the nutrient data been published in a best-selling series of books?
The data should be authoritative enough to warrant publication in a series of books as well as in the software itself. NutriBase has had its nutrient database serve as the foundation for well over two million nutritional information books.

Can you generate flexible formatted reports that include charts and formats your data in a table with totals across the bottom of the report? Can you select which nutrients are included in the report? Can you determine whether to include a pie chart, a nutrition facts label, your logo, a picture of yourself, dividers, borders, shading, drop shadows, etc? Can you control column widths, line widths, the colors of the graphics, the color of the shading, etc?
NutriBase flexible formatted reports are - hands down - the most robust, most flexible, best-looking, and most comprehensive reports you can produce. No other competitor gives you the control you can have the reports you can generate with NutriBase (Clinical and higher editions).

Can you customize your Tool Bar to suit the way you want to work? Or is is fixed and rigid?
The NutriBase Tool Bar is fully customizable. Use large icons or small ones. Include captions if you like. Choose from Internet Explorer style or XP style. Include only the icons you want to include from a palette of major 27 functions.

How does the software measure up when compared to its major competitors?
One of the best ways to compare your software with its competitors is to compare, feature-by-feature, in a High-End Nutrition Software Comparison Chart.

Does the software provide a powerful and flexible Flexible Formatted Report generator?
A customizable report generator gives you the power you need to generate professional looking reports for any occasion.

Does the software let you create "Intake Module" CD's containing software that you can provide to your clients so they can install the software on their own PC's, record their own food intake for any number of days, and then click a button to email you their results so you can generate in in-depth analysis, complete with your recommendations?
This feature - which we call the NutriBase Intake Module - allows you to multiply your productivity several times over. Instead of doing a handful of intake reports per week, you can now complete and deliver hundreds of intake reports per week. This feature is popular with Health Clubs and is often used as an incentive to join.

Does the software present data for enteral and parenteral products (also know as "medical nutritionals")?
Information on the major products used by hospitals - especially if organized by purpose (hepatic, pulmonary, renal, critical care, gastro-intestinal, etc.) makes it easier for you to know which products are suitable for particular patients. It also helps you educate those you work for or serve.

Can you instantly produce a highly customized, Initial Assessment Reports for your clients?
An Initial Assessment Report is nearly infinitely customizable. You can edit a "template file" that looks just like your final report will look except for one difference: you insert placeholders ("macros") where your client's information goes. This capability makes it possible for you to produce customized initial assessment reports for every client you see.

Does the software feature intelligently designed screens that provide an intuitive interface to the software's capabilities?
All the features in the world cannot overcome a poorly organized user interface.

Does the software let you view the nutrient data for more than one food item at a time?
This is a feature you'll really miss if you don't have it. As incredible as it may sound, most nutrition software packages can't allow you to view live nutrient data for more than one food item at a time. Suppose you want to locate a yogurt that is low in low saturated fat. With some programs (even those costing $600), you'd have to locate all the yogurts, then view the nutrient data for each yogurt one at a time. You could write down the saturated fat values for each yogurt on a sheet of paper as you go and after you finish viewing all the yogurts (this could easily exceed 100 entries), you could check your list and then return to the yogurt entry (if you can remember which one it was) and recommend it to your client. This is archaic, cumbersome, time-consuming and for most professionals, unacceptable. With the ability to view directly into the nutrient database with a display presented in a tabular format of columns and rows, you can easily scan the saturated fat column to locate an appropriate food item in just seconds. Better yet, if you have a Ranking Function, you can simply select the yogurt food category, then rank all the yogurts from low-to-high based on their values for saturated fat.

Will the software let you view the live nutrient data in a tabular spreadsheet format?
By seeing your data formatted in columns and rows, you can see and compare a number of similar entries all at once. Single-clicking on an entry should highlight that entry so you can follow it easily as you scroll horizontally through the data. A simple method (such as double-clicking on the food item) should generate a single-screen summary for that food item so the you can see all the nutrient data for the selected item.

Can you see all the nutrients for any food item in a single screen?
This lets you get all the data for a single food item in as concise a manner as possible. (This is a nice feature as long as it isn't the only way you can view live nutrient data). A very convenient way to view data for a single food item is to double-click the food item while you are viewing it in the tabular, spreadsheet view.

Can you resequence columns by dragging and dropping their column headers?
For instance, you should be able to move the Protein column next to the Carbohydrate column if you wish. Rearranging columns lets you view the data the way you want to view it - instead of how the software says you have to view it.

Can you resize columns by dragging the right edge of their column headers? And will the software remember these settings for you?
The ability to resize column widths lets you optimize the number of columns of nutrient data you can display per screen. This let's you view more data at once. And if the software remembers these settings for you, you won't have to reset them every time you view the same or similar information.

Does the software provide a Nutrient Density View that lets you view the nutrients for a group of foods at any specified calorie level?
This ability lets you view nutrient data (in a spreadsheet format) for say, 100 calories of every fresh fruit in the database. It lets you compare, say, a watermelon with a peach and lets you see instantly which is a richer or poorer source for any nutrient. The NutriBase Nutrient Density View lets you compare foods "apples to apples."

Can you view the nutrient data in a split-screen view?
This ability lets you view nutrient data (in a spreadsheet format) from two very different areas of the data. You could, for instance, look at data for Calories and Protein on one side of the screen and Vitamin E on the other side.

Can you rank (sort) foods on its value for any nutrient?
This function should give you the ability to instantly rank all foods in a particular product category from high-to-low or low-to-high based on its values for any nutrient. This gives you the ability to locate the foods that are high in a nutrient you are looking for or low in a nutrient you are trying to avoid (Fat, Sodium, or Cholesterol, for instance).

Can you rank (sort) foods by their values for % of Calories from Protein, % of Calories from Carbohydrates, or % of Calories from Fat?
This lets you compare food items in an "apples to apples" manner. If you rank foods on their actual fat content, a large portion of one food may misleadingly be placed ahead of a small portion of another food item that is pure fat (like a pat of butter).

Can you adjust the serving size of the food item as you record an intake? And while you're at it, can you click on the meal or snack tab to place the food item into it's proper meal or snack tab?
This ability saves you time by letting you handle the food item once rather than three times (once to select it, once to set the serving size, and once to tell the software which meal or snack it was for).

When you adjust your serving size, will the software let you select the units (cups, oz., grams, tbsp., etc) and the amount in decimal or fractional format ("1.67", 2 2/3," "3-3/4")?
With the software handling all the math for you (any way you want to enter it), you can keep your focus on what you are doing.

Can you perform a query (Boolean AND search) on the nutrient data?
This function lets you display all the foods in a product category that meets any criteria you specify. For instance, you could locate all hamburgers and cheeseburgers from Wendy's, Burger King, and another half dozen restaurants that contain, say, no more than 753 mg of sodium, at least 10 gms of protein, and then rank these items from low-to-high based on their % calories from fat. Any question you can conceive to ask about the data, you should be able to answer through the query function.

Can you download and use free Meal Plans from the software maker's web site?
This means you could download Meal Plans from the Internet and import them into your nutrition manager. NutriBase offers Meal Plan Collections for weight loss, diabetic, heart healthy, hypertension, vegetarian, Vegan, Zone, and other special needs. Each Meal Plan is offered at eight calorie levels so you can select the level you want to use. And new plans are in the works. They are free. They are developed by nutrition professionals.

Can you create a Meal Plan that shows what is to be eaten for three meals and three snacks a day for a month? Can you print this Meal Plan? Can you have the software affix a sequential date to each day of the Meal Plan? Can you tell the software to place page breaks between days? Can you specify a checklist format for each food so that your client can check the foods off as she eats them? Can you add a comment field after each meal so she can record any deviations from the Meal Plan?
This capability makes it very convenient for you to make dietary recommendations that are clear, concise, and trackable.

Can you create Meal Plans for diabetic, heart, renal, and pulmonary patients? Can you create Meal Plans for weight-loss, weight-gain, weight-maintenance, and body-building? Can you create Meal Plans for nursing homes, school lunch programs, and cafeterias?
These capabilities focus your software's capabilities onto real-world problems.

Can you edit an existing Meal Plan to create a new Meal Plan?
This capability makes it very easy to create new Meal Plans based on work you (or others) have done on other- perhaps similar - Meal Plans.

Can you record a Meal Plan as a client's intake?
This capability makes it easy to record four weeks of intake for a client. (A few key-clicks is easier, faster, and more accurate than investing hours to enter a client's intake for every food item for each and every meal and snack for every day of a month.) The client can return her edited Meal Plan Summary (that you printed out for her) and have you update her intake (in the software) by editing her deviations from your recommended intake.

Can you export a custom Meal Plan as a compact file that can be shared with other users via email or diskette?
This makes it very easy to create new Meal Plans and share them with your clients who are also using your software. It also makes it convenient for posting on your Web Site for download if you wish. (You could even create and sell professional Meal Plans from your Web Site.)

Can you download and import Meal Plans that have been created by other users? And when you import it, will it recreate all the recipes, recipes-within-recipes and personal food items for you and place them in your copy of the software?
This means you could download Meal Plans from the Internet and import them into your nutrition manager.

Are all recipes and Meal Plans that you can create compatible across all editions of your nutrition management software?
This means you can share information across all editions of the software. It means that you can create a Meal Plan or recipe in an inexpensive edition and reproduce it (in far greater depth) in a more capable edition of the software, or vice versa. It means that if you upgrade in the future, you don't have to leave your recipes and Meal Plans behind.

Can you save your reports, analyses, and documents as a Web Page (i.e., in HTML format)?
You should be able to save any report, analysis, or document you produce in HTML format for instant publication on the World Wide Web. In fact, this operation should be a simple matter of clicking a single button.

Can you save reports, analyses, and documents in RTF format (Rich Text Format) so that you can edit these files with your own word processor?
You should be able to save any report, analysis, or document you produce in Rich Text Format (RTF) so that you can use the word processor (like MS Word or WordPerfect) that you are most familiar with to edit your documents.

Can you produce a wide variety of useful reports for your clients?
The easier and faster it is to produce useful reports, the more real value you can deliver to your customer.

Can you backup all the information in your nutrition manager and restore it to another copy of the software on, say, your notebook PC?
This makes it convenient to use your software even when you're out of the office.

Does the program help you set reasonable dietary goals?
The program should ask enough questions to help you determine how many calories you need to achieve your weight and nutrition goals, whether you wish to gain, lose, or maintain your weight. It should let you calculate your goals based on your body fat content or body weight, as you prefer.

Can you have the software automatically select the appropriate RDA, DRI, or Canadian RNI for your client based on age and gender?
This provides a good starting point for customizing nutrient goals for each of your clients.

Can you track your nutrient intake as a percentage of your total calorie intake?
Your software should be able to set up and track any nutrient ratio you wish. For instance, you should be able to tell the program you want 15% of your calories from protein, and 55% of your calories from carbohydrates, and 30% of your calories from fat if you wish.

Does the software tell you the PCF (Protein-Carbohydrate-Fat) Ratio for every recipe, intake and meal plan?
It's arguable that the calorie level and the PCF ratio (the percentage of total calories from Protein, Carbohydrates, and Fat) tell you more about your recipe, intake, or meal plan that any other two factors. In fact, virtually any diet plan can be defined, quite accurately, by considering these two factors alone. If your software doesn't tell you the calorie level and PCF Ratio for every recipe, nutrient intake, and meal plan, it's clearly missing basic, critical information.

Can you search the database by food name or brands name?
Most programs let you search by food name. But what if you want to select from the offerings of, say, Lean Cuisine only? The ability to locate the first occurrence of this brand name or to display all the foods of a particular brand name (or group of brand names) is a handy time-saving feature.

Does the software let you select which nutrients you display to the screen?
This lets you spend your time looking at the nutrients in which you are currently interested. It let's you avoid having to scroll past nutrients in which you have no interest. (However, the software should record all the nutrients whenever you record intakes, create recipes or generate Meal Plans.)

Can you compose your intakes and recipes?
The ability to compose (that is, to perform a composition analysis on) a recipe lets you know where all the fat (or sodium, or any other nutrient) in that recipe comes from. It not only ranks (sorts) the ingredients from high-to-low or low-to-high based on the content of the selected nutrient, it also tells you what percentage of the entire recipe comes from each ingredient. You can compose an intake to determine which foods in a client's intake provide the most fiber (or protein, or anything else).

Does the software include an Fitness Manager that will calculate caloric expenditures for an unlimited number of exercises? And track those expenditures? And set daily calorie expenditure goals? And print out a report that shows how many calories you or your client will expend in performing a wide variety of common exercises for 30 minutes?
Exercise is an important facet of good health. (Indeed, many nutrition professionals refer to it as the "magic bullet.") No full-featured nutrition manager should ignore or under-support this crucial area.

Does the software track client information (medical conditions, allergies, doctor, etc.), measurements (blood pressure, biceps, resting heart rate, etc.), body chemistry (cholesterol, triglycerides, uric acid, etc.), body weight and body fat content, and a wide variety of other factors? Will add, delete, or edit new items you wish to track? Will it graph the body weight and fat information? Will it generate information reports and save them as Web pages or as RTF files?
A full-featured information tracker makes it easier to get important information about your clients and to provide first class reports for them as needed.

Can you subtract ingredients from a recipe?
You should be able to subtract, say, a tablespoon of mayonnaise from that Whopper sandwich if you wish. Then, you should be able to save that recipe as "Whopper w/o Mayo."

Can you perform deep nutrient analysis of a client's intake? If you're analyzing a client's intake, can you "cherry pick" or select a range of days to analyze? Can you select the meals and snacks to analyze? Can you analyze the client's total daily intake, her average daily intake, and her intake by meal and/or snack? Can you select to analyze every food item this client ate for every selected meal and/or snack? Can you specify which nutrients and/or nutrient factors you want to include in the analysis? Can you include as much or as little personal information for the client as you wish? And can you edit, format, print, or save the report in Text, Rich Text Format, or HTML format?
This is what deep analysis is about when it comes to analyzing a person's intake.

Can you save the results of your analyses in spreadsheet and/or database format as well as in a word processor format?
This makes it easy to share highly useable research data with colleagues around the world.

Can you analyze groups of clients? Can your select a group of dozens, or hundreds, or even thousands of clients and analyze their intakes both as a group and as individual clients? Can you save the resulting information in word processor format or in an ASCII delimited format suitable for use with external spreadsheets or databases?
These capabilities facilitate scientific research and clinical studies by tracking the nutrient intakes for thousands of clients. This approach combines deep analysis with research quality data to produce results that are respected and reliable. The spreadsheet format makes it easy to share your research data with colleagues.

Can you analyze a recipe in depth? Can you produce an analysis that includes the total values for the recipe for all selected nutrients and nutrient variables? Can you specify an analysis that includes a 160-nutrient analysis not only for the entire recipe, but for every ingredient used in the recipe? And can you decide to produce a report that just includes basic information and preparation instructions?
Flexibility in recipe analysis means you can produce a compact report that basically tells you what it is and how to make it. Or. You can produce an in-depth, 50-page report detailing every possible detail about the recipe and it's nutrient content. And as icing on the cake, your nutrition program should allow you to publish this recipe report as a Web Page with a single button-click.

Can you set user-definable alarms?
You should be able to set alarms that trigger when they try to select a food item that exceeds their desired maximum set-point for Fat, Saturated Fat, % Calories from Fat, Sodium or Cholesterol.

Can you display all foods of a particular brand name in a spreadsheet format?
This lets you see only the food items of a particular brand in which you have a special interest, say, Weight Watcher's or Lean Cuisine.

Can you view "on-the-fly" tallies for all nutrients recorded or added to a recipe?
This feature lets you see how many Calories, Fat grams, etc. you are recording or adding to a recipe. As you adjust serving sizes, these numbers should instantly update themselves for you.

Does the Nutrition Manager provide your intake in terms of % of Total Calories taken in?
The tallies should give you total quantities of the nutrients, but also tell you the percentage of total calories from all sources of calories (Protein, Carbohydrates, Fat, and Alcohol).

Can you copy one client's intake to another client?
This is important if those clients happen to live in a family. This ability saves you from having to record separate intakes for all the family members who ate the same things. (You can edit any differences later.)

Can you copy one client's intake into a day of a Meal Plan?
This makes it easy to record a client's "perfect day" as a day that will be recommended in a Meal Plan. (Copying this information saves you from having to re-keystroke it into a Meal Plan.)

Can the software sort and display all foods above or below any value specified for any nutrient?
This means you could, for instance, see all the breakfast cereals that have at least 2 grams of total dietary fiber, ranked from high-to-low.

Do you have the ability to add an unlimited number of personal food items (new food items) to the program? Can you organize them into a tabbed notebook? Can you add tabs? Delete tabs. Rename Tabs? Drag new food items from tab to tab?
This means you can add a new product to the database in between updates.

Can you edit an existing personal food item? Can you enter the Percent Daily Values (%DV) and have the software calculate the actual numbers for you?
This means you can edit an existing food item to create a new personal food item. This saves you from having to enter every new food item from scratch. The ability to enter actual values of %DV's saves you a lot of time when package labels include %DV's but omit their actual values.

Do you have the ability to track and graph your body weight and/or body fat over time?
Visual feedback is vital for helping you stay on track; your nutrition manager should provide this for you.

Does the software let you organize your recipes into a tabbed notebook? Can you add tabs? Delete tabs. Rename Tabs? Drag recipes from tab to tab?
This would include 2-D and 3-D charts and graphs and support for area, bar, line, pie, point, scatter, and spline charts.

Does the software provide a capable 2-D/3-D graphing module?
This would include 2-D and 3-D charts and graphs and support for area, bar, line, pie, point, scatter, and spline charts. Change colors. Rotate these objects in space, edit headings, titles, and values. Format heading, titles, and values. Control shading, coloring, scales, depth, etc.

Can you export the nutrient data from the software into a format suitable for use in stand-alone spreadsheets or databases? Can you select the food items to export as well as the specific nutrients that will be exported?
This makes it easy to narrow your research to the few foods that are germane to your study.

Does the company stand behind its product with Toll-Free technical support?
Let's face it, all software makers tell you their software is user-friendly and easy-to-use. Look for a company that backs up these claims by providing you with toll-free technical support.

Does the company publish a Nutrition Software Comparison Chart of their software's features compared to the products of their closest competitors?
Of course not! That is, unless your product is superior to the competition by a wide margin.

And finally, does the company make it easy for you to visit their competitor's Web Sites so you can compare them to their competitors?
If not, why not?