Difference between revisions of "Diet tracking"

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{{Tool Infobox
 
{{Tool Infobox
 
|Category=Observe
 
|Category=Observe
 +
|Related topics=Weight tracking
 
}}
 
}}
 +
'''Diet tracking tools''' help when engaging in the common practice of diet tracking, whether for weight-loss or in relation to health issues and chronic conditions that require particular diets. A variety of tools try to enable the tracking of food eaten, often attached to databases that enable additional data such as calories, macro/micronutrients and other things. Additionally, they can allow tracking micronutrients which are supplemented with [[Supplements]].
  
−
=== Features ===
+
==Types of data recorded by diet tracking tools==
−
First section of table deals with what should be deal breakers. Some apps do not allow exporting at all in any way and as such are almost useless to self quantification. Some apps include detailed to the minute timestamps. A few don't allow changing quantity?
+
What exactly is recorded by the tools can depend on the exact tool used, but recorded information includes:
  
−
Notes can be used in many ways such as writing down how tasty the food was or where it was bought or what brand of generic food was purchased.  
+
*calorie intake
 +
* macronutrients: carbs, proteins, fats
 +
*micronutrients: iron, calcium, vitamin D, etc.
 +
*brands and manufacturers
 +
*Degree of processing<ref>https://world.openfoodfacts.org/nova</ref>
 +
Potentially information that is not yet noticed in any app is price of food, what is available in fridge, enjoyment, circumstances, environment surrounding eating.
  
−
Apps require connection to internet for some or almost all of their features to work.
+
==Projects and results from these tools==
  
−
Apps can require continuous payment (such as MFP requiring 40$ per year), one time upfront cost,  free and one is even open source. The amount of features walled off from non paying users also varies. O = Open Source, F = Free and /y means per year.
+
*Greg Pomerantz [https://sethroberts.net/2012/11/07/journal-of-personal-science-how-much-salt-should-i-eat/ tracked the impact of sodium/salt in his diet on blood pressure and other metrics]
 +
*[[Quantified Diabetes]] did some rigorous tests on the impact of different diets on blood glucose
 +
*Winslow Strong used diet tracking in [[MyFitnessPal]] to [https://quantifiedself.com/show-and-tell/?project=155 observe how a low carbohydrate/paleo diet impacted his body]
  
−
Specific food can be found by scanning the barcode (and this usually requires online connectivity), search by name, and popular/recent.  
+
==Patients and communities that need these tools==
 +
Weight loss<ref>https://old.reddit.com/r/nutrition/</ref>is a very common goal. Additionally, there are communities affected by stomach and liver problems for which diet tracking is relevant<ref>https://old.reddit.com/r/ScientificNutrition/wiki/index</ref><ref>https://old.reddit.com/r/FoodNerds/top/</ref>.
  
−
Detail of nutrition tracked varies between apps as some track just macronutrients while others go into greater detail.  
+
==Diets==
 +
There are many different diets for which tracking food intake will be relevant, e.g.
 +
*Keto<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/keto/wiki/faq</ref><ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/ketoscience/wiki/index</ref>
 +
*Intermittent Fasting<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/fasting/wiki/fasting_in_a_nutshell/dangers_of_dry_fasting</ref>
 +
*Juicing<ref>https://old.reddit.com/r/Juicing/top/</ref>
 +
* Plant Based<ref>https://old.reddit.com/r/PlantBasedDiet/top/</ref>
  
−
Some apps do not allow entering custom foods. Some apps use user contributions to populate their database of foods while others use formal databases like USDA.
+
==Tips and guides to using diet tracking tools==
 +
Typically most tools are somewhat self-explanatory after installation. Beyond this, there are some tips and advice on how to consistently track diet: 
  
−
=== Table of Apps ===
+
* Buying a kitchen scale can be useful to accurately track the amounts eaten, in particular if you cook yourself or eat at restaurants that don't have standard food quantities. Fractions of a package too.
 +
*Frequently, people engaging in diet tracking find that the manual labor of recording their diets becomes too onerous and quit after a few months. [[User:DG|DG]] suggests regularly repeating meals as this a) speeds up the speed of logging data as it will be a 'recently used meal' (e.g. as available in the tool [[Bitesnap]]) and b) also can help find patterns in the data. Wildly inaccurate measurements are still better than nothing, especially for things like eliminating a food as a problem.
  
−
{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: 0px;"
+
== Table of common diet tracking tools==
−
!name
+
 
−
!<small>quantity timestamp  export</small>
+
This table is adapted from the [[Quantified Self]] forums<ref>https://forum.quantifiedself.com/t/recommended-food-tracking-apps/252/38</ref> and might in places be outdated. Empty cells are unknown information. Yellow check-marks indicate some basic functionality of this type. The different columns indicate:
−
!<small>notes</small>
+
 
−
!<small>offline</small>
+
* '''Quantity''': Allows changing food quantities
−
!<small>Price &</small>
+
* '''Timestamp''': Gives a detailed timestamp on when food was eaten
−
<small>paywall</small>
+
* '''Export''': Allows exporting data in the form of a file
−
!<small>search fave/recent barcode</small>
+
* '''Notes''': Entries have a free-text field to give additional information (e.g. where it was eaten, whether tasty or not…)
−
!<small>detailnutrition serv.choiceselect customfood</small>
+
* '''Offline''': Does the app (mostly) work when not being online?
−
!<small>water</small>
+
* '''Price''': How much does the app or a subscription to it cost?
 +
* '''Search''': Can one search by food name?
 +
* '''Favorite/Recent''': In the menu to add food, is there the list of foods ordered by most likely?
 +
* '''Barcode''': Can food be searched by scanning the barcode on it?
 +
* '''Micronutrients''': Does the app include details on micronutrients?
 +
* '''User-added food''': Does the app include user contributions to expand their food database?
 +
* '''Custom food''': Can you add your own food that's missing from the database?
 +
* '''Water''': Does it allow tracking water intake
 +
 
 +
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible"
 +
|+
 +
A table of common diet-tracking tools.
 +
!Tool
 +
!Quantity
 +
!Timestamps
 +
!Data export
 +
!Notes
 +
!Offline
 +
!Price
 +
!Search
 +
!Favorite/Recent
 +
!Barcode
 +
!Micronutrients
 +
! User-added food
 +
!Custom food
 +
!Water tracking
 
|-
 
|-
−
|SparklePeople
+
|[[Bitesnap]]
−
| y n p
+
|{{Ya}}
−
|n
+
|{{Ya}}
−
|  
+
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|free
 +
|{{MaybeCheck}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{MaybeCheck}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[MyNetDiary]]
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|Paid
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|$50 / year
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{MaybeCheck}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[Waistline]]
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Na}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|open source
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{MaybeCheck}}
 +
|{{Na}}
 +
|{{MaybeCheck}}
 +
|{{MaybeCheck}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{MaybeCheck}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[Cronometer]]
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|Paid
 +
|Paid
 +
|Paid
 +
|{{Na}}
 
|
 
|
−
| y y y
+
|{{Ya}}
−
| y n y
+
|{{Ya}}
−
| y
+
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{MaybeCheck}}
 
|-
 
|-
−
|looseit
+
|[[MyFitnessPal]]
−
| y n y
+
|{{Ya}}
−
|n
+
|{{Ya}}
−
|y
+
|Paid
 +
|{{MaybeCheck}}
 +
|{{MaybeCheck}}
 +
|$40 / year
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|-
 +
|[[LooseIt]]
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Na}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Na}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 
|
 
|
−
| y y y
+
|{{Ya}}
−
| w n ?
+
|{{Ya}}
−
| p
+
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{MaybeCheck}}
 +
|{{Na}}
 +
|{{MaybeCheck}}
 +
|{{MaybeCheck}}
 
|-
 
|-
−
|fooducate
+
|[[SparklePeople]]
−
| y n p
+
|{{Ya}}
−
|n
+
|{{Na}}
−
|  
+
|Paid
 +
|{{Na}}
 
|
 
|
−
| y y y
+
|
−
| y n y
+
|{{Ya}}
−
| n
+
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Na}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 
|-
 
|-
−
|cronometer
+
|Fooducate
−
| y p  p
+
|{{Ya}}
−
|p
+
|{{Na}}
−
| n
+
|Paid
 +
|{{Na}}
 
|
 
|
−
| y y y
+
|
−
| y y y
+
|{{Ya}}
−
| n
+
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Na}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Na}}
 
|-
 
|-
−
|fatsecret
+
|FatSecret
−
| y n ?
+
|{{Ya}}
−
|n
+
|{{Na}}
−
|  
+
|{{MaybeCheck}}
 +
|{{Na}}
 +
|
 
|
 
|
−
| y y w
+
|{{Ya}}
−
| y y n
+
|{{Ya}}
−
| w
+
|{{MaybeCheck}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Na}}
 +
|{{MaybeCheck}}
 
|-
 
|-
−
|myfitnesspal
+
|EatThisMuch
−
| y p w
+
|{{Ya}}
−
|w
+
|{{Na}}
−
|w
+
|{{MaybeCheck}}
−
|40/y
+
|{{MaybeCheck}}
−
| y y y
+
|
−
| y y y
+
|
−
| y
+
|{{MaybeCheck}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{MaybeCheck}}
 +
|{{MaybeCheck}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Na}}
 
|-
 
|-
−
|eathismuch
+
|Glucose Buddy
−
| y n ?
+
|{{MaybeCheck}}
−
|?
+
|{{Ya}}
−
|  
+
|{{Na}}
 +
|{{Na}}
 
|
 
|
−
| w y w
+
|
−
| w y y
+
|{{MaybeCheck}}
−
| n
+
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Na}}
 +
|{{Na}}
 
|-
 
|-
−
|mynetdairy
+
|My Diet Diary
−
| y n ?
+
|{{Ya}}
−
|n
+
|{{Na}}
−
|y
+
|{{MaybeCheck}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{MaybeCheck}}
 
|
 
|
−
| y y y
+
|{{MaybeCheck}}
−
| y y y
+
|{{Ya}}
−
| w
+
|{{Na}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 
|-
 
|-
−
|bitesnap
+
|MyPlate
−
| y y y
+
|{{Ya}}
−
|y
+
|{{Na}}
−
|y
+
|{{MaybeCheck}}
−
|F
+
|{{Na}}
−
| w y y
+
|{{MaybeCheck}}
−
| y y n
 
−
| w
 
−
|-
 
−
|glucosebuddy
 
−
| ? y n
 
−
|n
 
−
|  
 
 
|
 
|
−
| w y y
+
|{{Ya}}
−
| y y n
+
|{{Ya}}
−
| n
+
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{MaybeCheck}}
 +
|{{Na}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{MaybeCheck}}
 
|-
 
|-
−
|my diet diary
+
|Smart Plate
−
| y n ?
+
|{{Na}}
−
|n
+
|{{Na}}
−
|w
+
|{{MaybeCheck}}
 +
|{{Na}}
 
|
 
|
−
| w y n
 
−
| y y y
 
−
| y
 
−
|-
 
−
|MyPlate
 
−
| y n ?
 
−
|n
 
−
|w
 
 
|
 
|
−
| y y y
+
|{{Ya}}
−
| w n y
+
|{{Ya}}
−
| ?
+
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Na}}
 +
|{{Na}}
 +
|{{MaybeCheck}}
 +
|{{MaybeCheck}}
 
|-
 
|-
−
|smartplate
+
|OpenFoodFacts
−
| n n ?
+
|{{Na}}
−
|n
+
|{{Na}}
−
|  
+
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Na}}
 
|
 
|
−
| y y y
+
|open source
−
| n n ?
+
|{{Ya}}
−
| ?
+
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Na}}
 
|-
 
|-
−
| openfoodfacts
+
|YAZIO
−
| n n y
+
|{{Ya}}
−
|n
+
|{{Na}}
−
|  
+
|{{Na}}
−
|O
+
|{{Na}}
−
| y y y
+
|{{Na}}
−
| y y y
+
|free
−
| n most detailed database
+
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Waistline
+
|hranoprovod-cli
−
|y n y
+
|{{Ya}}
−
|
+
|{{Na}}
−
|
+
|{{Ya}}
−
|O
+
|{{Ya}}
−
|
+
|{{Ya}}
−
|
+
|open source
−
|
+
|{{Na}}
 +
|{{Na}}
 +
|{{Na}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 +
|{{Ya}}
 
|}
 
|}
  
−
=== Apps that do not export their data ===  
+
=== Databases ===
 +
https://www.foodrepo.org/ Community-driven for barcoded food products.
 +
 
 +
https://world.openfoodfacts.org/ Open source collaborative originally from France. Derived scores for amount of processing and nutritional quality.
 +
 
 +
https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/ US government.
 +
 
 +
===References===
 +
<references />
  
−
=== Sources ===
+
{{Tool Queries}}
−
This table is from may 2019.
 
  
−
https://forum.quantifiedself.com/t/recommended-food-tracking-apps/252/38
+
[[Category:Tools]]

Revision as of 03:54, 3 November 2022

Tool Infobox Question-icon.png
Related topics Weight tracking
Linked pages on this wiki 		Projects (0),

People (0)

Diet tracking tools help when engaging in the common practice of diet tracking, whether for weight-loss or in relation to health issues and chronic conditions that require particular diets. A variety of tools try to enable the tracking of food eaten, often attached to databases that enable additional data such as calories, macro/micronutrients and other things. Additionally, they can allow tracking micronutrients which are supplemented with Supplements.

Types of data recorded by diet tracking tools

What exactly is recorded by the tools can depend on the exact tool used, but recorded information includes:

  • calorie intake
  • macronutrients: carbs, proteins, fats
  • micronutrients: iron, calcium, vitamin D, etc.
  • brands and manufacturers
  • Degree of processing[1]

Potentially information that is not yet noticed in any app is price of food, what is available in fridge, enjoyment, circumstances, environment surrounding eating.

Projects and results from these tools

Patients and communities that need these tools

Weight loss[2]is a very common goal. Additionally, there are communities affected by stomach and liver problems for which diet tracking is relevant[3][4].

Diets

There are many different diets for which tracking food intake will be relevant, e.g.

Tips and guides to using diet tracking tools

Typically most tools are somewhat self-explanatory after installation. Beyond this, there are some tips and advice on how to consistently track diet:

  • Buying a kitchen scale can be useful to accurately track the amounts eaten, in particular if you cook yourself or eat at restaurants that don't have standard food quantities. Fractions of a package too.
  • Frequently, people engaging in diet tracking find that the manual labor of recording their diets becomes too onerous and quit after a few months. DG suggests regularly repeating meals as this a) speeds up the speed of logging data as it will be a 'recently used meal' (e.g. as available in the tool Bitesnap) and b) also can help find patterns in the data. Wildly inaccurate measurements are still better than nothing, especially for things like eliminating a food as a problem.

Table of common diet tracking tools

This table is adapted from the Quantified Self forums[10] and might in places be outdated. Empty cells are unknown information. Yellow check-marks indicate some basic functionality of this type. The different columns indicate:

  • Quantity: Allows changing food quantities
  • Timestamp: Gives a detailed timestamp on when food was eaten
  • Export: Allows exporting data in the form of a file
  • Notes: Entries have a free-text field to give additional information (e.g. where it was eaten, whether tasty or not…)
  • Offline: Does the app (mostly) work when not being online?
  • Price: How much does the app or a subscription to it cost?
  • Search: Can one search by food name?
  • Favorite/Recent: In the menu to add food, is there the list of foods ordered by most likely?
  • Barcode: Can food be searched by scanning the barcode on it?
  • Micronutrients: Does the app include details on micronutrients?
  • User-added food: Does the app include user contributions to expand their food database?
  • Custom food: Can you add your own food that's missing from the database?
  • Water: Does it allow tracking water intake
A table of common diet-tracking tools.
Tool Quantity Timestamps Data export Notes Offline Price Search Favorite/Recent Barcode Micronutrients User-added food Custom food Water tracking
Bitesnap ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ free ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
MyNetDiary ✔ ✔ Paid ✔ ✔ $50 / year ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Waistline ✔ ❌ ✔ ✔ ✔ open source ✔ ✔ ❌ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Cronometer ✔ Paid Paid Paid ❌ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
MyFitnessPal ✔ ✔ Paid ✔ ✔ $40 / year ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
LooseIt ✔ ❌ ✔ ❌ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ❌ ✔ ✔
SparklePeople ✔ ❌ Paid ❌ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ❌ ✔ ✔
Fooducate ✔ ❌ Paid ❌ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ❌ ✔ ❌
FatSecret ✔ ❌ ✔ ❌ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ❌ ✔
EatThisMuch ✔ ❌ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ❌
Glucose Buddy ✔ ✔ ❌ ❌ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ❌ ❌
My Diet Diary ✔ ❌ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ❌ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
MyPlate ✔ ❌ ✔ ❌ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ❌ ✔ ✔
Smart Plate ❌ ❌ ✔ ❌ ✔ ✔ ✔ ❌ ❌ ✔ ✔
OpenFoodFacts ❌ ❌ ✔ ❌ open source ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ❌
YAZIO ✔ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ free ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
hranoprovod-cli ✔ ❌ ✔ ✔ ✔ open source ❌ ❌ ❌ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

Databases

https://www.foodrepo.org/ Community-driven for barcoded food products.

https://world.openfoodfacts.org/ Open source collaborative originally from France. Derived scores for amount of processing and nutritional quality.

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

References

  1. ↑ https://world.openfoodfacts.org/nova
  2. ↑ https://old.reddit.com/r/nutrition/
  3. ↑ https://old.reddit.com/r/ScientificNutrition/wiki/index
  4. ↑ https://old.reddit.com/r/FoodNerds/top/
  5. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/keto/wiki/faq
  6. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/ketoscience/wiki/index
  7. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/fasting/wiki/fasting_in_a_nutshell/dangers_of_dry_fasting
  8. ↑ https://old.reddit.com/r/Juicing/top/
  9. ↑ https://old.reddit.com/r/PlantBasedDiet/top/
  10. ↑ https://forum.quantifiedself.com/t/recommended-food-tracking-apps/252/38

Linked content on this wiki

(The content in the table below is automatically created. See Template:Tool Queries for details. If newly linked pages do not appear here, click on "More" and "Refresh".)

Projects that use this tool  
Self researchers who used this tool  
We talked about this tool in the following meetings  
2021-11-11 Self-Research Chat, 2022-06-23 Self-Research Chat
Retrieved from "https://wiki.openhumans.org/index.php?title=Diet_tracking&oldid=4726"