Any way to track Caffeine intake?

murphyspride08
murphyspride08 Posts: 1 Member
in Getting Started

I’ve been looking around in the app and have not found a way to track my caffeine consumption. Am I missing it or is it just not there? Thanks!

Answers

  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 19,287 Member

    It's not something the app offers, likely because it's not information labels contain, so there isn't really anywhere to source the base data from.

  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,236 Member

    You could include the information in the notes section or you could create a tracking category for it in the section where you record your weight and any other measurements you track (not exactly the kind of thing it's intended for, but it would work). You wouldn't be using food database entries, so you'd have to have some other source for how much caffeine is in your drinks/food.

    You could rename one of your meals "caffeine" and enter all your caffeine-containing food and drink there — it wouldn't actually track caffeine mgs, but it would give you a consistent place to see what you were doing.

  • andrewmorgan3156
    andrewmorgan3156 Posts: 1 Member

    I send a lot of my data across MyFitnessPal, Apple Health and Garmin Connect (I’m a data nerd and each tool does different things well so I sort of cover the field.)

    I noticed that I couldn’t get caffeine measures too and I ended up using an app called My Water on my phone (just the free version). It lets me record water and coffee intake and pushes that over to Apple Health.
    I get a good idea of how much water and coffee (caffeine) I’ve had each day but frustratingly - it doesn’t then push the water data to MyFitnessPal. I’m thinking about trying to build a little app myself that can help me push this data around in the different apps I like to use. AI is pretty good at helping build these kinds of things.

  • mbarylsk
    mbarylsk Posts: 2 Member

    Caffeine is in every drink label that I've seen. MyFitnessPal should definitely include it as an item to track AND sync with HealthConnect.

    Can a moderator please comment on including caffeine?

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 38,465 Community Helper

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48817354#Comment_48817354

    Moderators here are just volunteers, not MFP employees. Moderators have no special power or insight about the software's features.

    If you want to suggest that feature be added, post that here, where the staff do read the posts, and sometimes respond:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/categories/feature-suggestions-and-ideas

    In my understanding, the US food labeling regulations require caffeine to be listed as an ingredient in a food if it's an explicit additive, but not if the caffeine is inherent in some other ingredient. For example, if coffee is an ingredient in some food/drink, the ingredient list would say "coffee", not "caffeine". The ingredient list doesn't include specific amounts of any ingredient, though the ingredients are listed in descending order. Only the nutrition label contains amounts, and only for certain nutrients/constituents.

    The quantity of caffeine is not required to be listed on food labels at all, but is required on dietary supplements when added as an explicit ingredient. Some manufacturers may choose to list the amount of caffiene on food labels for consumer convenience, but that's done at the manufacturer's discretion, not required by regulation.

    That's a simplified description, but illustrates that some of the above posters are correct: It's not required on US food labels.

    There's a somewhat more detailed overview here, from an organization that helps manufacturers comply with labeling requirements:

    https://www.registrarcorp.com/blog/food-beverage/food-beverage-regulations/caffeine-products-guide-to-fda-regulations

    There are other similar sources that will explain the situation, too.

Categories