Tips for searching the food database?

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SquirrelBrain
SquirrelBrain Posts: 58 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Anyone have tips and tricks for searching the Myfitnesspal food database?

Is there something I can put in to more easily find the USDA entries?

For example I'm looking to add sirloin steak (something I don't often eat) and even if I search USDA sirloin there are wildly different entries.

I often just err on the side of caution and pick one of the higher ones but that might mean less potato along with it! so I was curious if I'm missing out on some better way to search.

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  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,605 Member
    edited May 2021
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    https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/?query=

    You will get answers from various databases. The SR LEGACY group would be the wording of the entries that you would then look for on MFP.

    It still won't make it easy for steak because of the many parameters involved including grade of steak and amount of fat and marbling and whether the visible fat is eaten or not.

    Potatoes being satiating for most people, I would probably not skip on... fixings... well... that's when we may have to start talking! :lol:
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,427 Member
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    A lot of meats I buy have nutritional labeling on the underside of the styrofoam tray. If I’m dividing the package I try to remember to put “4oz=190” or something like that. Same with leftover lasagna, chili, etc. I now mark the appx calorie count on the freezer bag.
  • SquirrelBrain
    SquirrelBrain Posts: 58 Member
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    Right?! I would hate to cheat myself out of the precious potato!

    Thank you - I will definitely bookmark that site. Once I copy and pasted an entry from the SR Legacy list into the MyFitnessPal search it came right up. I need to go and check the meat packaging though since as you mention there are so many options depending on choice or select etc.
  • teamhugcpt
    teamhugcpt Posts: 24 Member
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    Hah, I have the same problem with the same food! Sirloin is a little complicated because there are different sub-types of sirloin, and some are more marbled than others, so the calories vary a lot. If yours had any qualifiers (like "top sirloin" or "sirloin tips"), that can help you figure out what range is best.

    But in general, when I'm having trouble matching a food that isn't required to have a nutrition label (most loose whole foods like produce, meats, etc.), I look for a listing from Wegmans supermarket's store brand. A lot of their whole foods come in packages with nutrition labels, and they have a big selection (often with conventional, organic, and/or grass-fed versions), so I can usually find a close match.

    Any other store that offers packaged versions of fresh foods could also be a good source.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,070 Member
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    PAV8888 wrote: »
    https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/?query=

    You will get answers from various databases. The SR LEGACY group would be the wording of the entries that you would then look for on MFP.

    It still won't make it easy for steak because of the many parameters involved including grade of steak and amount of fat and marbling and whether the visible fat is eaten or not.

    Potatoes being satiating for most people, I would probably not skip on... fixings... well... that's when we may have to start talking! :lol:

    To add to this, with some more subjective advice:

    After you've looked up that USDA syntax and found the related MFP database entries for a while, you'll begin to get a feel for the syntax, and be able to guess at the name, usually find the right entry pretty quickly. For example, if I'm having a new veggie, I'll search something like "VeggieName raw" and look at the green-checked entries only. The real USDA ones are pretty easy to recognize. Where there are multiple descriptive words, they usually run from general to more specific ("Beans - pinto, cooked, boiled, with salt" . . . names only a bureaucrat would love).

    Usually, the USDA entry that was loaded into MFP when MFP was new will have the default serving size in cups, even in cases where cups is a really dumb way to measure that thing. (For example, the initial-loaded USDA hard-boiled egg entry is "Egg, whole, cooked, hard-boiled" and the default serving size is "1.0 cup, chopped": Dumb.) Hit the drop-down on serving size, and there will be servings by weight (usually both grams/ounces), measure ("medium, 2-1/2" diameter" is one for apples), and fluid (ml, fluid oz). That's another clue that it's a USDA entry, the different measurement *types* all in one database record.

    In these entries, usually at least one serving size choice will give you a ridiculous huge calorie count (it's broken), but other serving sizes are fine. 🤷‍♀️

    If an entry has "USDA" in the description, that entry was created by an MFP user. It may or may not be an accurate reflection of the USDA data (higher odds, probably, that it's right). The actual USDA entries loaded into MFP to start the database, those don't have "USDA" in the food name.

    Searching is a sort of mystical art, but after we do it for a while, we kinda get initiated into the secrets, I guess. 🤣

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