Most Accurate Website to Look Up Nutrition Information

(Failed) #1

I created a spreadsheet with all my most commonly used ingredients. I’ve added formulas that adjust the macros based on the quantity entered. .

Then I copy each of the ingredient’s row in a recipe to a new sheet so I just have to adjust the quantity. Then does the calcs for the whole recipe, then for each portion entered.

However, many of the macros for the ingredients vary, depending on the website you use. The one I use most is Fat Secret, but even within a category, their macros vary.

What sources do you trust to have the most accurate info?

Here’s a screenshot of the Numbers spreadsheet in case you’re curious. And if anyone’s interested in a copy (use at your own risk, it’s a work in progress), let me know. It’s in Numbers for the iPad, but it would probably open in other spreadsheet programs.

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Also, I wonder if it could be somehow converted to an interactive form and posted on ketogenicforums.com so we could build it together. It may not be something anyone except a spreadsheet nerd like me would want. There are probably apps out there, but I like having only the info I want and that I can copy to another sheet to create custom recipes that I can tweak.

(Parker the crazy crone lady) #2

Oh man. Having a perfect spreadsheet that tracks the way lots here do, would make communicating so much easier.

(Kristen Ann) #3

I don’t know about accuracy but I like https://nutritiondata.self.com/ because there’s a lot of options to choose from for cuts of meat, etc. One thing to consider is that different brands might have some (slight?) differences in the macronutrients.

(Failed) #4

Here’s an example of a discrepancy an values between sites,

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(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #5

I’m pretty sure that all these online nutritional data sources use one or another of the various government databases, such as USDA. The USDA in turn uses data supplied by food producers to a very significant degree. They don’t do much of their own testing! At least the USDA admits as much on the data sheets for each product. In your example, Dee, my guess would be Fat Secret and Self are either using different databases, or different products from the same database. If you look up cream cheese on the USDA this is what you get. 52,134 results Quite overwhelming!

#6

I would use the nutritional data written on the actual product. Here, different brands have different nutritional values and US products can vary greatly from ours.

(Bob M) #7

I also think the US should list 100gram servings, the way they do it in parts of Europe. I sometimes eat fresh salsa, and they all measure by 2 tablespoons. Who eats just two tablespoons of salsa? And sometimes the calories will be zero, even though carbs might be one gram. They round down too much and make the servings too small.

#8

Yup, 100g prevents the majority of sneaky companies out to trick us.

(Failed) #9

@PaulL @OldDoug @PetaMarie @Daisy

Is there any possibility of an interactive spreadsheet here? Or perhaps there’s someplace I could host it for others to see, use, and update, whether or not they have a spreadsheet program?

(Doug) #10

Dee, congratulations for being so interested and into this stuff. :slightly_smiling_face: While I’m not sure, I’m guessing that within the Discourse software, there is not the functionality that would allow an interactive thing, that would allow multiple people to edit it.

There are things like Google Documents: https://www.google.com/docs/about/

While I’ve never set one up, I’ve used them with groups of other people where we all have input and can edit and make changes.

:smile::smile: Bob, so true, and this really made me laugh.

Heck, some of us spill more than that…

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Yes, alcohol was involved. :wink:

(Joey) #11

@DeeCS … A keto spreadsheet nerd :+1: … I’m in love :heart_eyes:

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #12

@DeeCS Not much, apparently:

(Bob M) #13

Yeah, this is a ludicrous amount. Salsa does have carbs, so we can’t eat a ton of it, but I’ve been able to eat quite a bit of fresh salsa in particular, with no rise in blood sugar level according to my CGM. But it would be nice to have a guess as to the carb count, and some of these list zero carbs for two tablespoons, so you really have no idea what the carb count is. And you can’t compare. I resort to looking at the ingredients, trying to find them without sugar and the like.

Another thing is comparing carbs on chocolate. They will often use different serving sizes, so unless you want to calculate things in your head, the comparisons are tough. I often buy 85%+ chocolate, but sometimes I might buy 77% or even lower, and then the comparisons are often useless.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #14

Whenever the label on a product uses a small serving amount (like tablespoon or teaspoon) I always look it up on the USDA food database to see what the actual carb count is per 100 grams and use that for calculating macros and portions. Even when the USDA uses numbers provided by the producer, they usually calculate the carbs ‘by difference’. I presume that means they add up the fat, protein and water and whatever is left is carbs.

(Failed) #15

Thank you for the heads up. I’m going to use the USDA website as much as possible and correct the data on my spreadsheet.

Here’s a link in case anyone would like to look at their database.
https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/

(Bob M) #16

I did not know their database was so big. Looked at a random “fresh salsa”, and it’s got about (less than) 4 grams carbs per 100 grams salsa. Now, what is 100 grams salsa in volume? Looking at a different one, 2 tbsp = 30 grams, so 100 grams is about 7 tbsp, which is close to half a cup (about 8 Tbps) of salsa. So, you could use a cup of salsa and get less than 8 grams of carbs. No wonder I don’t get any blood sugar rise from a reasonable amount of salsa.

(Failed) #17

My kitchen scale only measures full grams, no fractions. Any recommendations for one that does measure fractions of a g?

(Bob M) #18

I don’t think they are that accurate, or at least the ones I have aren’t. Mine can easily fluctuate at least several if not 5 grams or more. By this, I mean you can put stuff on there, weigh it, press it up and down (don’t add anything), and get a different value.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #19

An excellent scale is the ‘Barista’. Measures accurately to 0.1 gram and can be calibrated using a 2Kg weight. It is designed for the coffee service trade. Google it. I’m at work otherwise I’d post the link.

(Failed) #20

Is Barista the brand name? If so, I’m not having any luck finding it. I’m finding a ton of scales for a barista to use, so hopefully, one of them will work for me.

One I’m considering weighs to .5 g. Is that sufficient, do you think?
Another, more expensive one, goes to 0.1 g.