Back up alternatives to MFP, re nutrition values.

TaraSpottyCat
TaraSpottyCat Posts: 42 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi. For health reasons, I have to really concentrate on nutritional values, such as potassium, calcium, sodium and protein, but the values are so out of whack, I've lost trust in this regard.

For instance, today I logged 150g of cottage cheese, plus 150g Fage greek yogurt, and 15g whey protein isolate powder. No calcium values have appeared for any of these.

I like the app, and I'm paying for 'premium' but the same happens over and over with potassium from a few vegetables and iron values too.

Any suggestions for a back up app for nutrients that is more trustworthy please? I'm in the UK.

Thanks

Replies

  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,807 Member
    Many micronutrients are not mentioned on food labels, that's why you've found the information missing (combined with the fact that the database is user sourced and some users don't track micronutrients).

    I've never used anything other than MFP, but I think I remember reading about Cronometer as a good app for whole foods.
  • TaraSpottyCat
    TaraSpottyCat Posts: 42 Member
    Lietchi wrote: »
    Many micronutrients are not mentioned on food labels, that's why you've found the information missing (combined with the fact that the database is user sourced and some users don't track micronutrients).

    I've never used anything other than MFP, but I think I remember reading about Cronometer as a good app for whole foods.

    Thanks! I couldn't believe there was no calcium registered on all the calcium rich items I ate
    I just downloaded 'Lose it' and found the interface non-user friendly and messy, so I uninstalled it. I'll give Cronometer a go, but if it doesn't have a library of branded products, I'll struggle.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,412 Member
    edited August 2020
    I've been on this site for over a decade. A lot of the foods I eat are whole foods, and the rest of them are in regular rotation in my nutrition. I have looked, believe me. This site is the easiest for entering your own foods, and it's even easier to just edit ones from the existing database that might be missing one or two things.

    When I first started (well, even now) I just take the minute or two it takes per meal to make sure the ones I use are correct or I edit them so they are. I like to use grams, calcium, iron, potassium etc. and I just edit if the ones in there don't have it listed correctly. It only takes 15 seconds or so per food. Once that's done I can use it, AND it will then appear in my MY FOODS and in my Recent list on the FOOD page lookup.

    It's worth it to me to do it one time and then I've got it for easy logging forever after (until the manufacturers change it LOL) - I rarely have any new foods that need to be done. It's a little burdensome in the beginning, so I do have to decide how much of a perfectionist I want to be.

    It's the easiest and most complete database there is. Editing is easy. Or you can just enter a whole new food, here's the How To:
    https://support.myfitnesspal.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032271992-How-do-I-log-a-food-that-is-not-in-the-database
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,839 Member
    edited August 2020
    What's listed in the MFP food database is generally limited to what is being required by governments on food labels. Calcium is only required to be listed as a percentage of RDA (recommended dietary allowance). If an item is input by a member, not all numbers may be entered or correct. If you are looking for amounts rather than percentages for elements like calcium, go to the USDA's Food Data Central https://fdc.nal.usda.gov. You will need to keep track of this info by hand as the MFP database only has percentages for calcium and you can't enter amounts.

    Oh, I just noticed you said you are in the UK. Many countries rely on the USDA for these figures so the database will work for you, too, especially if you ignore brands and limit your search results to "SR Legacy" entries which are for the food irrespective of brand. In fact, it's somewhat circular because many manufacturers use USDA results to come up with their own figures.
  • huntleigh3229
    huntleigh3229 Posts: 34 Member
    Apart from protein, what you've listed is not included in UK food labelling so you aren't going to be able to track it.

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