Searching the Database (cross posting b/c it's helpful here)

There are a lot of conflicting database entries so I thought I'd help out those who are struggling with this.

Firstly, for meats, fruits, vegetables, oils, flours, etc, you should be looking in the database for entries without an asterisks (*). This denotes that the entry was not added by a user and is based on the USDA database.

However, finding these can sometimes be a bit tricky as the wording is sometimes unusual. So, here's a formula that you can generally use to generate non-user entered entries.

1. Type of fruit/vegetable/animal- if it's a fruit/vegetable, it's usually pluralized. If it's a meat, it's not.

2. Space, hyphen, space (For example, Asparagus - raw)

3. Followed by the method used to cook it or raw if it's uncooked (for vegetables) or the part/cut of the meat (for meats)

Examples/tips
-When searching for chicken breast, use Chicken - breast, cooked
-For Nuts, use the word nuts prior to the type of nut, ie: Nuts - Macadamia nuts, raw.
-For flour, put the type of grain first, ie: Wheat flour - White will turn up all the kinds of white flour, including blead, unbleached, etc.

Finally, if you're having trouble finding the right wording to use, search http://nutritiondata.self.com/ They use the exact same phrases 99% of the time but there are no user entered foods to crowd the search.

I hope this helps.

Replies

  • BikerGirlElaine
    BikerGirlElaine Posts: 1,631 Member
    :heart: :heart: :drinker: :heart: :heart:
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    :heart:
  • prairiemom
    prairiemom Posts: 391 Member
    :flowerforyou:
  • sodakat
    sodakat Posts: 1,126 Member
    BUMP. Thank you so much. I've noticed if I search using the APP on my phone I get better results than when I use the website database. I have not figured out why.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    BUMP. Thank you so much. I've noticed if I search using the APP on my phone I get better results than when I use the website database. I have not figured out why.

    Huh.

    I hate using the app because it doesn't have the "confirmations" or the asterisks/no asterisks to help determine which entries are correct.

    I do like the barcode scanner when I have something with a barcode though. Although it's not 100%.
  • VBnotbitter
    VBnotbitter Posts: 820 Member
    :heart:
  • ezloshead
    ezloshead Posts: 167 Member
    Thank you. I wish there was a way to favorite a topic or sticky it on our blog.
  • m00tmike
    m00tmike Posts: 248 Member
    THANK YOU! Ugh. I just realized I've been logging wrong for a few weeks. So frustrating.
  • Kotuliak
    Kotuliak Posts: 259 Member
    :drinker:
  • ywalchle
    ywalchle Posts: 101 Member
    jumping on to keep this in memory!
  • skittlesnhoney
    skittlesnhoney Posts: 651 Member
    Thanks! :flowerforyou: