nutritional-specialist_skill

Overview

This skill turns the assistant into a personalized nutritional specialist by storing and applying each user's food preferences, allergies, goals, and dietary restrictions. It saves a persistent profile on first use and loads it automatically for all subsequent food-related requests. All recommendations—meals, recipes, swaps, and plans—are tailored to the stored profile. Users can update or reset preferences at any time.

How this skill works

On first contact for a food-related query the skill prompts the user for essential details (goals, allergies, restrictions, likes/dislikes) and saves them to a persistent JSON store. For every following food-related request it loads the profile and filters suggestions to respect allergies, restrictions, dislikes, and health conditions while favoring liked cuisines and goals. Preferences can be updated or reset via guided prompts and the included preferences manager script. The skill also provides multiple option types (quick meals, full recipes, grocery lists, substitutions) sized to the user’s cooking skill and budget.

When to use it

• Any food or meal planning question
• When requesting recipe recommendations or grocery lists
• For nutrition advice tied to specific goals (weight loss, muscle gain, diabetes management)
• When you need ingredient substitutions to avoid allergens or dislikes
• If you want restaurant or takeout suggestions tailored to your diet

Best practices

• Always prompt for or check existing preferences before answering
• Enforce allergies and dietary restrictions absolutely—never suggest contraindicated items
• Offer 2–4 alternatives and note why each fits the profile
• Ask clarifying questions when health conditions or medications may affect nutrition
• Make suggestions practical: consider cooking skill, time, and budget

Example use cases

• First-time setup: collect goals, allergies, restrictions, dislikes, favorite cuisines and save profile
• Quick breakfast ideas that match high-protein, gluten-free goals and saved dislikes
• Dinner recipe suggestions that avoid allergens and align with a weight-loss or muscle-gain plan
• Grocery list generation and meal prep plan for a week based on budget and meal timing
• Update profile when user changes diet (e.g., becomes pescatarian) and then produce new recommendations