Dietary Preferences

Dietary preferences on FourFork help personalize your cooking experience by filtering recipes to match your eating habits, dietary restrictions, allergies, and nutritional goals. Whether you follow a specific diet for health, ethical, or religious reasons, or simply have food allergies, properly setting your dietary preferences ensures you see recipes that work for you. This comprehensive guide covers everything you need to know about managing your dietary settings.

1. Understanding Dietary Preferences

Dietary preferences on FourFork include restrictions, allergies, diet types, and nutritional goals that shape what recipes you see and how they're presented.

1.1 Why Set Dietary Preferences

• Safety: Filter out recipes with allergens that could harm you
• Compliance: Find recipes that match your diet restrictions
• Discovery: Get personalized recipe recommendations
• Efficiency: Stop wasting time on incompatible recipes
• Meal Planning: Ensure planned meals fit your dietary needs
• Shopping: Automatically filter grocery suggestions
• Nutrition Tracking: Monitor intake based on your goals

1.2 How Dietary Preferences Affect Your Experience

1.3 Types of Dietary Settings

• Allergies: Foods that cause allergic reactions
• Intolerances: Foods that cause digestive issues
• Dietary Restrictions: Foods avoided by choice (vegan, kosher, etc.)
• Diet Types: Overall eating patterns (keto, paleo, etc.)
• Nutritional Goals: Target macros, calories, sodium, etc.
• Ingredient Dislikes: Foods you simply don't enjoy

2. Accessing Dietary Preference Settings

2.1 Finding Your Dietary Settings

1. Click your profile icon in top navigation
2. Select "Settings" from dropdown
3. Navigate to "Dietary Preferences" section
4. Or: Direct link from profile editing page

2.2 First-Time Setup Wizard

When you first join FourFork:

1. Welcome wizard prompts for dietary info
2. Step through each category
3. Select all that apply
4. Can skip and set up later
5. Can modify anytime

2.3 Quick-Set vs. Detailed Setup

• Quick-Set: Choose common diet types with one click
• Detailed Setup: Customize every aspect of your dietary needs
• Start with quick-set, refine with details later

3. Setting Up Allergies and Intolerances

3.1 Common Allergens Available

• Peanuts: Including peanut oil and butter
• Tree Nuts: Almonds, walnuts, cashews, etc.
• Dairy/Milk: All milk products
• Eggs: All egg products
• Soy: Soybeans and soy products
• Wheat: Wheat and wheat gluten
• Fish: All fish varieties
• Shellfish: Shrimp, crab, lobster, etc.
• Sesame: Sesame seeds and oil
• Sulfites: Common preservative

3.2 Adding Allergies

1. Go to Dietary Preferences > Allergies
2. Click "Add Allergen"
3. Search or browse allergen list
4. Select severity level (mild, moderate, severe)
5. Add notes if needed (specific reactions)
6. Save allergen
7. Repeat for additional allergens

3.3 Allergy Severity Levels

3.4 Food Intolerances

Common intolerances you can set:

• Lactose Intolerance: Difficulty digesting dairy
• Gluten Sensitivity: Non-celiac gluten issues
• FODMAPs: Certain carbohydrates causing digestive issues
• Histamine Intolerance: Issues with high-histamine foods
• Fructose Malabsorption: Difficulty digesting fructose

3.5 How Allergen Warnings Appear

• Red alert banner on recipe pages
• Specific allergen highlighted in ingredient list
• Warning badge on recipe cards in browse/search
• Optional: completely hide recipes with severe allergens

4. Selecting Diet Types

4.1 Plant-Based Diets

• Vegan: No animal products at all
• Vegetarian: No meat, fish, or poultry
• Pescatarian: No meat/poultry, but includes fish
• Flexitarian: Primarily plant-based, occasional meat
• Plant-Based: Focus on whole plant foods

4.2 Low-Carb and High-Protein Diets

• Keto/Ketogenic: Very low carb, high fat
• Low-Carb: Reduced carbohydrate intake
• Paleo: Whole foods, no grains/dairy/processed foods
• Carnivore: Animal products only
• High-Protein: Emphasis on protein-rich foods

4.3 Medical and Therapeutic Diets

• Gluten-Free: No wheat, barley, rye (for celiac)
• Diabetic-Friendly: Blood sugar management
• Low-FODMAP: For IBS management
• Heart-Healthy: Low sodium, healthy fats
• Renal (Kidney) Diet: Low sodium, potassium, phosphorus
• Anti-Inflammatory: Foods that reduce inflammation

4.4 Religious and Cultural Diets

• Kosher: Jewish dietary laws
• Halal: Islamic dietary guidelines
• Hindu Vegetarian: No meat, eggs, sometimes no onions/garlic

4.5 Lifestyle and Wellness Diets

• Mediterranean: Plant-based with healthy fats
• Whole30: Elimination diet, whole foods only
• Clean Eating: Minimal processed foods
• Raw Food: Uncooked, unprocessed foods
• Macrobiotic: Whole grains, vegetables, beans

4.6 Selecting Your Diet Type

1. Go to Dietary Preferences > Diet Type
2. Browse available diet categories
3. Select your primary diet
4. Optional: Add secondary diet types
5. Set strictness level (strict, moderate, flexible)
6. Save changes

4.7 Multiple Diet Types

You can combine diet types:

5. Setting Nutritional Goals

5.1 Calorie Goals

1. Go to Dietary Preferences > Nutrition Goals
2. Enter daily calorie target
3. Choose goal type (maintain, lose, gain weight)
4. Set per-meal calorie ranges if desired
5. Recipes show if they fit your calorie budget

5.2 Macronutrient Goals

Set targets for:

• Protein: Grams per day or percentage
• Carbohydrates: Total carbs or net carbs
• Fat: Total fat intake
• Fiber: Daily fiber goal
• Sugar: Maximum sugar intake

5.3 Micronutrient Tracking

Monitor specific vitamins and minerals:

• Sodium (especially for low-sodium diets)
• Potassium
• Calcium
• Iron
• Vitamin D, B12, etc.

5.4 Preset Goal Templates

5.5 How Nutrition Goals Affect Recipes

• Recipe cards show if they meet your goals
• Green badge: fits goals perfectly
• Yellow badge: close to goals
• Red badge: significantly outside goals
• Detailed breakdown shows specific nutrients

6. Managing Ingredient Preferences

6.1 Disliked Ingredients

Mark ingredients you don't enjoy:

1. Go to Dietary Preferences > Dislikes
2. Search for ingredient
3. Click "Add to Dislikes"
4. Set preference level (strongly dislike, mild dislike)
5. Recipes with these ingredients ranked lower

6.2 Favorite Ingredients

Highlight ingredients you love:

• Mark ingredients as favorites
• Get more recipes featuring these ingredients
• Recommendations prioritize your favorites
• Shopping suggestions include favorites

6.3 Ingredient Substitution Preferences

• Set preferred substitutions for restricted ingredients
• Example: "Always suggest almond milk instead of dairy milk"
• FourFork automatically offers these substitutions
• Shopping cart uses your preferred alternatives

6.4 Pantry Staples

Mark ingredients you always keep on hand:

• Recipes using your staples ranked higher
• Avoid recipes requiring hard-to-find items
• Shopping lists skip items you already have

7. Filter Strictness and Flexibility

7.1 Strictness Levels

Control how strictly filters are applied:

7.2 "Close Enough" Mode

• Show recipes that can be easily adapted
• Example: Vegan user sees vegetarian recipes with suggested swaps
• Recipes with one problematic ingredient highlighted
• Substitution suggestions provided

7.3 Temporary Flexibility

Occasionally browse outside your restrictions:

1. Toggle "Pause Dietary Filters" at top of recipe feed
2. Browse all recipes regardless of preferences
3. Restrictions still highlighted with warnings
4. Re-enable filters anytime
5. Useful for cooking for others or special occasions

7.4 Per-Search Adjustments

• When searching, temporarily adjust filters
• Example: Vegan searches "best chocolate chip cookies" including non-vegan
• Checkbox: "Include non-vegan results for this search"
• Doesn't change your overall settings

8. Family and Household Dietary Settings

8.1 Managing Multiple Dietary Needs

If you cook for others with different dietary needs:

• Add family member profiles (future feature)
• Set dietary restrictions for each person
• When meal planning, see which recipes work for whom
• Filter recipes that satisfy everyone

8.2 "Safe for Everyone" Filter

• Combine all household dietary restrictions
• Find recipes everyone can eat
• Especially useful for family dinners
• Shows overlap between dietary needs

8.3 Split-Recipe Suggestions

• Recipes that can be partially adapted
• Example: Make base recipe vegan, add meat on side
• Instructions for customizing per person
• One meal, multiple dietary accommodations

9. Updating and Managing Preferences

9.1 Editing Existing Preferences

1. Go to Settings > Dietary Preferences
2. Find the preference to modify
3. Click edit icon
4. Update settings
5. Save changes
6. Takes effect immediately

9.2 Removing Dietary Restrictions

• Click remove/trash icon next to restriction
• Confirm removal
• Recipes previously filtered now appear
• Can be re-added anytime

9.3 Temporary vs. Permanent Changes

9.4 Importing/Exporting Preferences

• Export your dietary settings
• Import preferences from other platforms (future)
• Share settings with family members
• Backup your configuration

9.5 Resetting to Default

1. Settings > Dietary Preferences
2. Click "Reset All Preferences"
3. Confirm you want to clear everything
4. All dietary settings removed
5. Start fresh with new setup

10. Best Practices and Tips

10.1 Setting Up for the First Time

• Start with Essentials: Add allergies and major restrictions first
• Add Gradually: Don't overwhelm yourself with every preference at once
• Test the Filters: Browse recipes to see if filtering works well
• Adjust as Needed: Refine based on what you see
• Be Specific: The more detail, the better the recommendations

10.2 Keeping Preferences Up to Date

• Review preferences when diet changes
• Update nutritional goals quarterly
• Add new allergies immediately if discovered
• Remove restrictions if diet becomes less strict
• Adjust based on health provider recommendations

10.3 Balancing Strictness and Variety

• Too strict = fewer recipe options
• Too loose = seeing incompatible recipes
• Find your personal balance
• Use "moderate" strictness for most needs
• Reserve "strict" for serious allergies only

10.4 For Medical Dietary Needs

10.5 Experimenting and Discovering

• Occasionally browse with filters off
• Discover recipes you can adapt
• Learn about new dietary-friendly ingredients
• Follow chefs who share your dietary preferences
• Use "close enough" mode to expand options

10.6 Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Setting too many restrictions at once
• Using "strict" when "moderate" would suffice
• Forgetting to update when diet changes
• Not distinguishing between allergies and preferences
• Ignoring warnings because filters "should" work
• Not reviewing actual ingredients despite filters

10.7 Getting Better Recommendations

• Complete all dietary preference sections
• Add favorite ingredients to help algorithm
• Rate and review recipes to refine suggestions
• Follow chefs with similar dietary needs
• Save recipes that match your preferences
• The more you use FourFork, the better it learns

Properly configured dietary preferences make FourFork a powerful personalized cooking tool that works with your unique needs and goals. Take time to set up your preferences thoughtfully, and don't hesitate to adjust them as your dietary needs evolve. Whether you're managing allergies, following a specific diet, or working toward nutritional goals, FourFork's dietary settings help you discover safe, delicious recipes that fit your lifestyle. For more on personalizing your experience, see our guides on Editing Your Profile and Privacy Settings.