How reliable is the nutritional info on this site?
Lucille51
Posts: 56 Member
Hi, I have just logged in 32g of pistachios and it gives me 0 protein, surely this can't be right? Am I doing something wrong here? and 0 fat in flora light?
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Replies
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Generally its not bad. Its always worth a check though when logging something for the first time and if it isn't right, update it. There are a couple of errors you will commonly find:
1) Packaging and recipes get updated regularly and sometimes you will find the nutrition slightly out. Depends how religious about logging everything you are whether you will want to update it or whether you will just accept the odd five calories here and there (calories aren't an exact science anyway - it measures the energy given off by actually burning something i.e. in a flame!)
2) Sodium content is almost always out. The reason for this is simple. UK foods tend to label it in grams i.e 0.1g. US foods on the other hand label it in Milligrams (mg) and since MFP is a US based product, it expects its nutrition to follow the US standards (notice 'trans fats'? When was the last time you saw that on a UK label, I'd wager never!). As a result, people often record sodium incorrectly and too much sodium is a sure fire way to not have a loss on the scales (too much salt/sodium leads to fluid retention and while short lived, gives you a gain). Obviously the long term damage too much salt in your diet can cause is well known. So, if your label reads 0.1g of sodium, make sure MFP says 100mg (remember, 1g is 1000mg).
Other than that, most UK foods will have been added by a UK member so they are generally right (subject to the two common errors above).
HTH
Chris0 -
I look at the back of some packets too if its the first time I'm logging items such as pasta, cereal, yoghurts and they always seem right on here.
Talking of salt remember too little sodium can be equally as bad for you, you need to get a balance. I use a decent amount of sea salt on my meals when serving to enhance the taste, especially egg as it makes it seem like it has butter in it when it doesn't but I don't really eat tinned, processed or ready made food so that should be fine for me. I suppose if you eat the latter then you need to be careful.
http://www.wellnesswatchersmd.com/feature_articles/sodium_levels.php0 -
thanks thats really helpful, packaging is pretty good nowadays, and I will keep an eye on my salt intake. I'm not supposed to add salt due to blood pressure issues, so steer clear of processed foods too.0
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I always check the nutritional info before entering. Some people really enter a load of rubbish... I zero protein pork the other day! :huh:0
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A lot of people when they enter a new food will only enter the calories as that i s all they are counting themselves. I tend to scroll down the list to the mst realistic one with all the data added which lots of members have confirmed.
I used to sometimes eat muller rice, a pot is 190g but as the nutritional information is on the tub for 100g on Mfp that is what is entered as a portion! Who would eat half of one and then leave it? I now just scroll dwn till I get to a correct one.0 -
Sometimes you've got so many versions of the same thing it's quite hard to find the one that's actually accurate... and I guess when people can't find one they enter yet another one but often only adding what they're interested in e.g. calories only etc. :indifferent:0
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Generally it's absolutely positively appalling. It's mostly complete and utter nonsense, do not trust a single thing on it. Double check all entries, and even the one's you've checked before, absolutely anyone can change them at any time.0
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A lot of people when they enter a new food will only enter the calories as that i s all they are counting themselves. I tend to scroll down the list to the mst realistic one with all the data added which lots of members have confirmed.
I used to sometimes eat muller rice, a pot is 190g but as the nutritional information is on the tub for 100g on Mfp that is what is entered as a portion! Who would eat half of one and then leave it? I now just scroll dwn till I get to a correct one.
Per 100g is the best way to do many foods. You can quickly compare it to the packet to check it's right, then edit the portions and/or. portion size to get exactly what you want. The database is full of entries where people have miscaculated their conversion to portion size. If you use the per 100gmethod, users can choose any size with increments of 0.1g. People that put in pot, bowl or cup or whatever are just wasting everyone's time.0
