Newish and confused :/

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moiragalliver
moiragalliver Posts: 3
in Introduce Yourself
Hi all. Been on here a couple of weeks now. Wondering how accurate the nutritional information is of the foods on the database. Always thought I ate a pretty balanced diet but according to the info on here I am seriously lacking in vitamins, calcium, protein, sodium, iron cholesterol and potassium!!!!!

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  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
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    Is there a question?

    Maybe open your diary so people can review it?
  • elyelyse
    elyelyse Posts: 1,454 Member
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    I definitely compare items in the database to package labels, or double check with a few online sources (most of us eat a lot of the same foods often, so you eventually get to know what looks right without having to confirm). As for potassium...I think it's not required on the food labeling, which is why most things in the database say 0. It's not really zero, it just wasn't on the package label.
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
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    the food database is entered by users like you and me. well, not like me, i'm lazy. people that enter it can enter stuff as accuratly as they want.

    try and concentrate on mostly tracking calories
  • timbrom
    timbrom Posts: 303 Member
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    Most of the entries are created by the users. Mostly pretty good, but there are some that are.... yeah, not so much. Also, the micronutrients (vitamins, etc) and even macronutrients (carbs, protein, fat) are optional, so some lazy-*kitten* folks don't bother entering them. Terrible things should happen to those people, but I digress...

    Two things to keep in mind. If you enter food using the website (not the mobile apps) entries without a * in front of them are entered by MFP staff, have complete information and will be accurate. If you can find the entries without a * in front, use that one. If you can't find one without the *, then just check it against any product labeling if you have it, or at least check to make sure that the entry makes sense.

    Then there's the one entry I found for a food product that was, in actuality, mostly a carb that magically had no carbs, 50 grams of protein and 60 total calories...
  • raisealittlehell
    raisealittlehell Posts: 341 Member
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    Best thing to do is enter in your own nutritional information if you have it. Unfortunately I have seen things be grossly inaccurate here when it comes to portion size/calories/ other nutritional content. If you have to take something from the database, I always look at a couple of entries of the same thing, and to err on the side of caution pick the one that is slightly higher on the caloric intake scale.

    If you are using the mobile app it has a bar-code scanner that makes it super quick and easy to add in the things you are eating. The site also has a recipe builder, so you can add in your own ingredients to foods that you make, that also makes it easier when you want to add things that you have regularly.
  • elyelyse
    elyelyse Posts: 1,454 Member
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    Is there a question?

    Maybe open your diary so people can review it?
    This was the question...
    Wondering how accurate the nutritional information is of the foods on the database
  • amdarosa619
    amdarosa619 Posts: 98 Member
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    Is there a question?

    Maybe open your diary so people can review it?

    "how accurate the nutritional information is of the foods on the database."

    That's her question
  • elyelyse
    elyelyse Posts: 1,454 Member
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    .
    If you are using the mobile app it has a bar-code scanner that makes it super quick and easy to add in the things you are eating..
    The bar code is linked to a database entry added by a user, just like the other entries, and i have found them to be no more or less correct.
  • Brianna716
    Brianna716 Posts: 303 Member
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    It depends. Always check when possible. For example I went to enter my Chobani greek yogurt- 120 calories for whatever flavor it was, the calorie count matched so I picked it. I noticed later in the day it had 0g of protein! Yeah, that's not right... I went back to the container and found one in the database that matched the actual nutrition info.
  • moiragalliver
    moiragalliver Posts: 3
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    Wow! Thank you for all the quick and helpful replies :)
    I did join just to lose a few pounds then noticed the reports with all the other info on. Will stop taking too much notice from now on and just stick to calories and weight or as suggested look for the info supplied that doesn't have a * added to it.
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
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    The macro ones - calories, carbs, fat, protein - are by and large pretty reliable, but not always, so it's worth double checking if something looks amiss.

    Other items such as vitamins, cholesterol etc - the databas is very poorly populated on these as they aren't required on many food labels. So it would be a bad idea to use the d'base to monitor this for you.
  • juliros
    juliros Posts: 3 Member
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    I use mostly the info on protein, carbs and fat. Always do a test of reasonableness on the database entries, but have found 80% to be pretty accurate.
  • hungryshay
    hungryshay Posts: 40 Member
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    If you enter food using the website (not the mobile apps) entries without a * in front of them are entered by MFP staff, have complete information and will be accurate.

    That's good to know. Thanks!
  • moiragalliver
    moiragalliver Posts: 3
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    I use mostly the info on protein, carbs and fat. Always do a test of reasonableness on the database entries, but have found 80% to be pretty accurate.


    Hi :) Am ignoring a lot of it now.
    I ate a tin of tuna chose an entry on database but put in by gram rather than amount shown as my tin was different size. Ended up showing I had consumed 22000 calories lol. Think I would have burst! Does not show how much poly and mono fats you should eat either just a total fat amount. I eat a lot of both so my fat intake is invariably too high. I refuse to stop eating nuts and seeds as they are so incredibly good for you as far as micro nutrients go. Trying to eat more protein but quite frankly making me feel a bit sick :(

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