Food Data Base

grob49
grob49 Posts: 125 Member
in Food and Nutrition
OK the whole reason I joined this site is my diet wasn't working for me and I wanted an easy way to log my food intake. I like to fill out my meals and snacks for the whole day. That way I have an idea what my calorie and macros are. What really makes me mad is trying to find food in the database with the right information. Nothing really matches the right portion or calories. First I have to do a Google search to see what is the correct portion and calories and macros. Nothing ever seems to match. Now I know I can make my own or correct one I find but that isn't the reason I joined.

Replies

  • CooCooPuff
    CooCooPuff Posts: 4,374 Member
    The food system is extremely flawed. I'm still surprised premium was rolled out despite the site's issues.

    Sadly, this is probably the best food database.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
    Many entries in the database are user entered and can be wrong.

    The good news is once you find correct entries for the common foods you eat all the time, they are listed in your recent foods list and you can just pick them out from there.
  • grob49
    grob49 Posts: 125 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    Many entries in the database are user entered and can be wrong.

    The good news is once you find correct entries for the common foods you eat all the time, they are listed in your recent foods list and you can just pick them out from there.

    That's what I have done. Also set up some meals but it still is a big hassle when you do something new
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,084 Member
    Part of the issue is this is an international database. Excluding non English speaking countries, in the various English speaking countries many of that same pre-packaged foods are available, but there nutritional values can vary a great amount. Also, over time, companies change the formulation of their products which also changes calorie amounts. Then there are variations on even raw foods based on where they grow, when they grow, and the like. Finally, there are people who enter the information either incorrectly or based on things like net carbs which messes things up there as well. Usually I can find what I want, but I have been doing this for substantially longer than you.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,937 Member
    I have looked, believe me - this is as good as it gets for databases. Okay, I haven't looked recently, there may be a better one. I've got it down now on this site, though.

    Once you enter it yourself, it is also in MY FOODS. Easy to find.

    Most of us stick with a few favorite foods anyway. I have everything entered correctly for me now, so it's pretty easy. Takes me about five minutes a day.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,811 Member
    I have tried other sites like this to track my calories over the years .... this is the best one I've found! I have had very little difficulty finding the foods I eat in the database. In fact, I've been pleasantly surprised that they are there! Other sites don't seem to have Canadian and Australian food and I was having to enter every single thing every time I ate it.
  • markrgeary1
    markrgeary1 Posts: 853 Member
    Tend to use the 100 gram USDA entries when possible. Makes the math pretty easy to manipulate into servings.
  • My_Inner_Hero
    My_Inner_Hero Posts: 4 Member
    The one thing I like about Lose It, it lets you edit a food on the fly. MFP isn't what it use to be, someways better others not really. Just my 2 cents.
  • Karb_Kween
    Karb_Kween Posts: 2,681 Member
    Idk why people *kitten* about the database. Very few times do I find an inaccuracy and its the best one out there as far as "recorded" foods go
  • lwr731
    lwr731 Posts: 33 Member
    I recently left another site that I have used intermittently for several years. It is true that one food may have several entries with different values, but I can usually find the one most accurate for me. My typical breakfast serving of yogurt, for example, is 1/2 cup. Once I have logged that it shows up every time I enter my breakfast meals. I also like that the nutritional analysis is on the same page as my log. It helps me to adjust my intake and make better choices, and it is more convenient that having to go to another page to see it. No, not perfect, but the best I have found.
  • LiftingLisa
    LiftingLisa Posts: 12,345 Member
    Have you tried scanning the barcodes of the foods you eat so that it will pull in the correct portions and nutritional information? Just a suggestion.
  • ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken
    ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken Posts: 1,530 Member
    Yep. Pretty much. I have to correct almost every thing before I add it to my day. Maybe create your own entries with all the correct information. Yes, it's a pain to do but eventually you will have a list of almost everything you eat on a regular basis and you won't have to do it so much anymore. I don't know where some of the people making the entries I see got their information, but a lot of it is so far off it's insane. There was an entry where a single slice of a particular bread had over 4,000 mg of sodium. SMH....
  • Queenmunchy
    Queenmunchy Posts: 3,380 Member
    Just typing in "USDA" before my searches probably eliminates 90% of the bad entries, particularly when I was first starting out. Everything else I either had to search through or add myself, but they're all in my recent foods now.
  • ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken
    ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken Posts: 1,530 Member
    Queenmunchy wrote: »
    Just typing in "USDA" before my searches probably eliminates 90% of the bad entries, particularly when I was first starting out. Everything else I either had to search through or add myself, but they're all in my recent foods now.

    THIS. I was happy when I finally discovered that for myself. These entries usually are correct and complete.
  • purplesevens
    purplesevens Posts: 367 Member
    thanks! I'll try that too! As flawed as it may be, I know that I couldn't tolerate 2 days of logging on Sparkppl. Talk about not being able to find matches...more than half of it wasn't even close to being the same food. At least on here, even though I find incorrect entries, some scrolling or scanning I can usually find it, not so on the other one. It was ridiculous.

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