New Member--Database Practically Useless!

powrwrap

My first post.

I have found using the database to enter foods I've eaten to be virtually useless. The numbers are wildly inconsistent. Don't believe me? Just try looking up Scrambled Eggs. The basic egg including yolk, no milk, no cheese, nothing else. I'm seeing 69 calories, 70 calories, 75 calories, 100 calories, 169 calories. I believe the consensus is 75 calories.

I ran into the same inconsistencies with many, many other foods. I end up Googling the USDA to get the official government info. This causes unnecessary further time spent tracking my foods. (BTW, 1 large egg = 70 calories)

Besides the inconsistencies there's just too darn many listings in the database!

I'm thinking I'll have to create my own list of foods using USDA stats. I do have a food scale and use it frequently.

What do other members do to get accurate calorie and nutrition counts?

KANGOOJUMPS

yeah, yeah, we all know, your perfect.

powrwrap

yeah, yeah, we all know, your perfect.

So how many calories in shot of Jack Daniels?

Have you exceeded your daily calorie limit?

KinuelA

I am happy with the database coz i entered food item i ate & I compared to what's on the packaging & it matched perfectly.

bymyslf892

You should just read the nutrition labels on your food and enter it in that way. The database isn't perfect, but people eat a lot of different things and enter them in. If you have the app you can also scan barcodes. Which is accurate. Where there is a will there's a way.

kgoodman0108

I agree, I've ran into the same problem. I try to look at at least 2 or 3 database entries and if they vary, I'll do a quick search on Google. Others need to be careful when logging food!

williamharnett

I agree with you. I often check the calorie count on other websites and add them via the "quick add" link. I still enjoy the site though and find it very helpful by keeping me on track.

powrwrap

I do use the scanner feature a lot but sometimes the original food packaging with the scannable data isn't available. Like you buy a brick of cheese, throw away the packaging and put it in a zip-lock bag.

xxghost

For scrambled eggs, look of the brand of the eggs you're using. Use specific brands, and if you have the app, the barcode scanner.

If you cannot do that, you have to use your best judgement. Look up the food you're planning on eating. If the first 10 entries say 100 calories, and the 11th says 200, just go with 100. If they really are all over the place, take the average, or go with the highest-calorie option. I like to be better safe than sorry, so I always go with the larger option.

Maddalen101

Eggs depend on several aspects: size of the egg, how much butter is used in the scrambling the two major ones.
Have a sense of what exactly you are eating, and the database is quite good.
You just have to get better at using it.

mandi_spicer

I am happy with the database coz i entered food item i ate & I compared to what's on the packaging & it matched perfectly.

This ^

If I use a generic food item and the info seems off to me I do google it just to be sure but for the most part it's been pretty awesome! You can always add stuff to the database on mfp too.

MightyDomo

There could be variances for many reasons, stick to your packaging and if you find one that hasn't been verified then fix it and then what's the problem?

I double check everything even if it looks right because I want to be certain I am logging correctly and I don't mind it.

CallMeCupcakeDammit

You should just read the nutrition labels on your food and enter it in that way. The database isn't perfect, but people eat a lot of different things and enter them in. If you have the app you can also scan barcodes. Which is accurate. Where there is a will there's a way.

The scanner isn't always accurate. My bottle of Fuze iced tea came up as a chicken wrap.

Also, people use different ingredients to make things (like your scrambled eggs, for example), so if you're not looking up a whole or pre-packaged food, you should just enter the ingredients separately, or create a recipe or meal so you have it for the next time.

Rum_Runner

Ahhhhh - first world problems. :grumble:

Use the barcode scanner and scan in the foods you eat. Then it will be in your database and you'll have the correct data.

If it doesn't have a barcode then use the median range entry or take the extra 2min to search it on USDA enter it and then you'll have it for the future!

powrwrap

I've noticed that there is a message "nutritional information confirmed" and the number of members that have confirmed it so I use that information when making entries.

AJL_Daddy

Very harsh!

UpEarly

Search for "eggs, raw, whole". That will be your accurate system (rather than user-entered) entry. Then you can customize with whatever you add to your eggs when you scramble them.

Personally, I've been on here almost two years and the DB has worked fine for me.

ShellyBell999

You can add your own values.

emileesgram

at best this site is just an estimation most of the time whether it be food or exercise. Once you learn which entry you want to use save it to my foods to use over again.

powrwrap

Use the barcode scanner and scan in the foods you eat. Then it will be in your database and you'll have the correct data.

Hold on, there is a way to scan food items into your personal database, not the general database? Oh, please enlighten...

sticki

Yes I find it to be the same - huge variations in calorie counts but after a while you will see a pattern in what you eat, initially yes you have to put in some time to log your calories but you will build up your own favorite or most used items and just pull from that. I just wish that the food listing was more logical....I put in "peanuts" the other day and had to scroll down through lots of items with peanuts in them before i found just plain ole "peanuts"....sure the that should top the list??

Rum_Runner

You should just read the nutrition labels on your food and enter it in that way. The database isn't perfect, but people eat a lot of different things and enter them in. If you have the app you can also scan barcodes. Which is accurate. Where there is a will there's a way.

The scanner isn't always accurate. My bottle of Fuze iced tea came up as a chicken wrap.

Also, people use different ingredients to make things (like your scrambled eggs, for example), so if you're not looking up a whole or pre-packaged food, you should just enter the ingredients separately, or create a recipe or meal so you have it for the next time.

Scan it again. That has happened to me too, but if I scan it again it will usually come up correct. I think it may misread on the fist attempt. But if the nutrition info is on the back of the item and the barcode doesn't work a manual search will still produce the right one - just match up the calories and macros!

puppy1002

Most foods from the USDA is already in the database. If you notice at the bottom it says " * = Nutritional information provided by another MyFitnessPal member"

So look for foods that don't have the * next to it.

ealinn

It can be confusing and very annoying. I've built a lot of recipes for things I make/eat often using USDA measures - then I know exactly how many calories I'm eating in the food I prepare and I can quickly access them under recipes or my foods/meals.

TheNewDodge

If there is no milk in your scrambled egg recipe, just enter "egg" and "medium, large, extra large or jumbo" depending on the size.

Rum_Runner

Use the barcode scanner and scan in the foods you eat. Then it will be in your database and you'll have the correct data.

Hold on, there is a way to scan food items into your personal database, not the general database? Oh, please enlighten...

If you use the app to log food there is a little Barcode looking thing in the top right. Click that and it will bring up your camera. Find the barcode on your food and scan it (as if you were at the grocery). It will auto populate your nutrition info.

CallMeCupcakeDammit

I've noticed that there is a message "nutritional information confirmed" and the number of members that have confirmed it so I use that information when making entries.

I wouldn't go by how many people confirmed something, either. I looked up a food that was confirmed by 13 people, and I knew there was no way the numbers were right (and according to the package they were not). If you find something that isn't correct, you can edit it in the database where you would confirm the information. Just say "no" and it will give you the option to edit.

rockerbabyy

there are plenty of USDA entries in the data base - there are also MFP added entries that are accurate, just look for the ones without an * at the beginning.
for meats and produce, it helps if you search (for example) "lettuce raw" or "ground beef raw"
for dairy and eggs, just search for the basic form. so instead of "scrambled eggs" (even if thats exactly what you had) search for "egg raw" also "milk 2%" instead of using brand names.

JesterMFP

My advice would be not to search for things with many variables (liek "scrambled egg") unless it's a specific brand. Search for each ingredient. For scrambled eggs the way I make it, I would add 2 eggs ("Eggs - Scrambled (whole egg)") to my diary, and then weigh the butter I use and add that. Adding someone else's recipe for scrambled eggs would not be very useful. The entries without an asterix have not been added by other users, and are generally pretty reliable. There is already a lot of USDA data in the database. It can be a bit tricky to learn how to use properly, but it's certainly not useless.

Ramberta

My first post.

I have found using the database to enter foods I've eaten to be virtually useless.

Then why use it at all if it's useless to you? Yes, there is some clutter with certain entries, and you picked one of the only problems I personally have come across (that being eggs). However, for the most part I love the food database. I especially like how I can create large meals using the "Recipes" function, and then just enter 1 serving of that meal and log it simply when I eat it on subsequent days.

It's true that sometimes, when finding something specific, I have noticed certain values to be off. Sometimes it's only off by a few calories, sometimes it's way off, or certain nutritional values have been left off. I always go through and correct entries that I believe are misleading when I am logging my own food. Yes, this takes more time, but when you consider that people from other countries are entering things, and that certain brands may package or quantify their foods differently when shipping to other places, it's hardly anyone's fault that the caloric amounts differ. Perhaps there ARE eggs that are 150 cals each across the ocean, and are very very large. Ever think of that?

Besides, even when you're measuring your food, you're not going to be exact down to the last calorie ingested. Do you take off ten calories for the soup that sticks to the bowl when you're done, or the crumbs left on your plate? Of course not. But as long as you are at between a 15 and 20% deficit from your TDEE you will still lose weight, and if you are maintaining then as long as you are within the window for maintaining you will be fine. Best of luck to you.

rileysowner

My first post.

I have found using the database to enter foods I've eaten to be virtually useless. The numbers are wildly inconsistent. Don't believe me? Just try looking up Scrambled Eggs. The basic egg including yolk, no milk, no cheese, nothing else. I'm seeing 69 calories, 70 calories, 75 calories, 100 calories, 169 calories. I believe the consensus is 75 calories.

I ran into the same inconsistencies with many, many other foods. I end up Googling the USDA to get the official government info. This causes unnecessary further time spent tracking my foods. (BTW, 1 large egg = 70 calories)

Besides the inconsistencies there's just too darn many listings in the database!

I'm thinking I'll have to create my own list of foods using USDA stats. I do have a food scale and use it frequently.

What do other members do to get accurate calorie and nutrition counts?

Why would you use something like scrambled eggs (since how people prepare them varies widely) instead of simply using the ingredients. Frankly I would like a lot of those entries removed, but then again if multiple members from a family are logging here, it is the only way to share recipe numbers between them without both having to enter the whole recipe. Other variations are because the nutritional information for products varies from country to country. Finally, if you are using this with a web-browser, just look for the stuff without a * beside it. The ones with an * are entered by other users while the ones without th e* are entered by MFP.

I have never had any real problems with the database and I have been here a long time. Maybe the issue is not the database but expecting something it was not designed for.