How Ration Lab works

1. Set up your practice

Add your name, credential, practice name, contact line, logo and colours. These appear on every plan you approve.

2. Enter your client's details

You enter the details you would use to write a plan by hand:

• age, sex, height, weight and activity level
• pregnancy or breastfeeding
• an energy change for a weight goal, if you want one
• food allergies, intolerances and foods to avoid
• diet pattern (vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian or omnivore), and halal or kosher needs
• cuisines they enjoy, their budget and their cooking skill
• how many days to plan, which meals and snacks, and whether to give one recipe or two options for each meal

You identify the client with your own client code. A first name or initials is optional and is only printed on the PDF. You confirm that your client has agreed to their information being used to prepare the plan.

3. Ration Lab drafts the plan

It works out your client's energy needs and nutrient targets from the NHMRC Nutrient Reference Values. Then it chooses recipes your client can eat and that suit their tastes, budget and skill.

Next it sets the amount of every ingredient so each day meets the energy target, the macronutrient ranges and the vitamin and mineral targets together. Amounts are rounded to kitchen measures and every day is checked again.

Every day must meet the NHMRC Recommended Dietary Intake or Adequate Intake for protein, fibre and each vitamin and mineral it checks, and stay under the upper limits. With two options per meal, every choice of options must meet them. Foods come first. If foods alone cannot meet a requirement, it adds a daily supplement, such as an iodine tablet or an algal oil capsule, and lists it on the plan and the shopping list.

The same details always give the same plan. A draft is usually ready in under a minute.

4. You review it

The draft PDF has a day-by-day table, recipe cards, a shopping list and a nutrient summary written for you. The summary shows each nutrient for each day, and lists anything that is close to or below its target so you can decide what to do.

In the rare case that no plan can meet a requirement, even with supplements, the draft names each shortfall, how much is missing and a plain suggestion. You must tick each shortfall to show you have seen it before you can approve the plan. A plan that goes over an upper limit cannot be approved.

If something is not right for your client, change their details or meal choices and make a new draft.

5. You approve and share it

When you are happy with the plan, tick that you have reviewed it and approve it. The final PDF shows your name and the date you approved it. You share it with your client and stay their point of contact.

About AI

Food choices, amounts and nutrient checks come from Ration Lab's own planner, not from AI. Ration Lab may use an AI model from OpenAI to write recipe names and a one-line description for each recipe. The AI only receives the foods, amounts, meal type and diet tags. It never receives your client's name, contact details or client code. The plan notes tell you when AI wording was used.