Micronutrients are not being tracked!

moroimihai11296
moroimihai11296 Posts: 5 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi everyone,

So far I'm very please with the MFP app and it has helped me a lot since I started using it. There's only one major issue I have. Some micronutrients are not being tracked! I'm talking about especially Potassium, Calcium and Iron. I'm everyday way below the limit. And I'm positive those are not the real values, because for example today I ate an avocado, 5 tomatoes, cucumber, 2 bananas and brocoli and I'm still way below the recommended 3500 mg, even though all those foods have potassium. Also calcium, iron and Sodium are always below reference, which I think are not tracked also. Any ideas/solution or help please?

Replies

  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,614 Member
    edited January 18
    It is because the database is largely added by users, using the information on food labels, which generally do not have that information, so those fields are left blank.

    MFP is not at all good for tracking your micronutrients unless you are vetting every single food entry you use to ensure that it contains the required information, and that the information is correct.
  • moroimihai11296
    moroimihai11296 Posts: 5 Member
    So how can I track micronutrients then?
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,614 Member
    Apps like Chronometer are much better with micronutrients, or you can use MFP, but as I say, you have to make your own entries and enter the micronutrient data yourself, which means finding it, and I am honestly not sure how you would do that beyond whole food products which you can find the data for on the USDA database.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 35,125 Member
    For most whole foods, there are better entries in the database that do have micros listed. Some of those came from the USDA food database at the time MFP started up. After you figure out how to find those, they're a good choice.

    Sometimes in the phone/tablet app they show up as "Best Matches" at the top of the search list when you search the whole database. Often, the default serving size is in cups, but if you click the drop-down on serving size, there's lots of options, including different types of sizes, like both volume and weight measures, sometimes counts, etc. I'm looking at "blackberries" right now, where the default is 1 cup, but the drop down has an entry per berry, in grams, in weight-type ounces, fluid ounces, pints and quarts, liters, . . . . Potassium, calcium, iron and sodium are listed, too. Sometimes, I can find those entries because I know many of them have names only a bureaucrat could love. Examples: "Beans - Pinto, cooked, boiled, with salt", "Chicken, broilers or fryers, leg, meat only, raw".

    Once you find solid entries, they'll stay in your recent/frequent foods and come up first when you go to log foods, as long as you keep eating them semi-frequently.

    Another thing I've done, mostly for micros that aren't in the database at all, magnesium or zinc, say, is take a couple of typical days of my eating routine, look stuff up in a more comprehensive source like USDA FoodData Central, which is here:

    https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/

    If my typical days add up to reasonable amounts of the nutrient, I figure I'm OK on average, and go on with life. If I'm not, I might tweak my routine eating habits a little to improve, or in a few cases use a supplement.

    Remember: Pretty close on average is generally fine for nutritional needs. Humans are adaptive omnivores, and our ancestors lived long enough to reproduce for many generations before people even knew what nutrients were, or we wouldn't be here today. ;):D Nutrition is important, but precision or daily perfection aren't essential.
  • moroimihai11296
    moroimihai11296 Posts: 5 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    For most whole foods, there are better entries in the database that do have micros listed. Some of those came from the USDA food database at the time MFP started up. After you figure out how to find those, they're a good choice.

    Sometimes in the phone/tablet app they show up as "Best Matches" at the top of the search list when you search the whole database. Often, the default serving size is in cups, but if you click the drop-down on serving size, there's lots of options, including different types of sizes, like both volume and weight measures, sometimes counts, etc. I'm looking at "blackberries" right now, where the default is 1 cup, but the drop down has an entry per berry, in grams, in weight-type ounces, fluid ounces, pints and quarts, liters, . . . . Potassium, calcium, iron and sodium are listed, too. Sometimes, I can find those entries because I know many of them have names only a bureaucrat could love. Examples: "Beans - Pinto, cooked, boiled, with salt", "Chicken, broilers or fryers, leg, meat only, raw".

    Once you find solid entries, they'll stay in your recent/frequent foods and come up first when you go to log foods, as long as you keep eating them semi-frequently.

    Another thing I've done, mostly for micros that aren't in the database at all, magnesium or zinc, say, is take a couple of typical days of my eating routine, look stuff up in a more comprehensive source like USDA FoodData Central, which is here:

    https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/

    If my typical days add up to reasonable amounts of the nutrient, I figure I'm OK on average, and go on with life. If I'm not, I might tweak my routine eating habits a little to improve, or in a few cases use a supplement.

    Remember: Pretty close on average is generally fine for nutritional needs. Humans are adaptive omnivores, and our ancestors lived long enough to reproduce for many generations before people even knew what nutrients were, or we wouldn't be here today. ;):D Nutrition is important, but precision or daily perfection aren't essential.



    Thank you very much, I'll try to find the best matches and look on the USDA to get an idea :smile:

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