Counting calories for weight management? There’s definitely an app for that, and many more functions beyond just calorie counts. Food tracking apps like MyFitnessPal are versatile tools that can monitor your intake of sodium, protein, sugar, and a wide range of nutrients. Choosing the Best Food Tracker depends on your individual goals. Here’s a guide to help you navigate the options and select the perfect app for you.
1. Calorie Needs: Beyond Basic App Estimates
Many food tracking apps automatically assign you a calorie budget based on generic formulas considering factors like age, gender, weight, and activity level. While convenient, these are often rough estimates.
For a more reliable starting point, use the Body Weight Planner from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) at niddk.nih.gov/bwp. Developed by NIH weight researcher Kevin Hall, it provides a more personalized calorie estimate.
However, the most accurate way to determine your ideal calorie intake is through self-experimentation. Track your food intake and observe how your weight responds over time. This iterative process helps you fine-tune your calorie goals for sustainable results with the best food tracker.
2. Exercise Logging: Avoid Double Counting
Some food trackers adjust your daily calorie allowance based on logged workouts or synced activity data from devices like Apple Watches or Fitbits. Be cautious of potential inaccuracies in activity tracker readings.
More importantly, if your initial calorie budget already accounts for your typical daily activity level (as recommended in point #1), avoid double-counting exercise calories. Accurately logging exercise is important, but overestimating calorie burn can hinder your progress when using a best food tracker for weight management.
3. Accurate Portion Sizes: Measure Your Meals
Food tracking apps and food labels provide standard serving sizes, but your actual portions may differ. To ensure accurate logging with your best food tracker, invest in measuring cups, spoons, or a kitchen scale.
Precisely measure servings of foods like cereal, pasta, ice cream, peanut butter, chips, and nuts. A kitchen scale is also invaluable for accurate baking measurements. Remember to include cooking extras like oils and butter for vegetables and grains in your food log for a truly comprehensive picture.
4. Prioritize “Checked” Data for Reliability
Screenshot of the Chronometer app interface showcasing its nutrient tracking capabilities.
When choosing the best food tracker, data accuracy is paramount. Apps like MyFitnessPal and Lose It! use a “checked” symbol to indicate verified food items. This means the nutritional information has been reviewed by the app’s team for accuracy and completeness.
“Completeness” signifies that the entry includes data for standard nutrients found on a Nutrition Facts label, such as saturated fat, protein, sodium, fiber, and calcium. For tracking micronutrients like folate, vitamin B-12, or magnesium, Cronometer is a stronger option.
If you log unchecked or incomplete entries, you may miss vital nutrient data, making it harder to assess your overall dietary intake and make informed choices with your best food tracker.
5. Added Sugar: Still a Challenge to Track
Many food trackers only track “sugar” (total sugar), neglecting the distinction between total sugars and added sugars, even though “added sugar” is now mandatory on Nutrition Facts labels.
Some apps may also suggest daily sugar limits, often referring to total sugar. Ignore these generalized recommendations. Health guidelines focus on limiting added sugars, not naturally occurring sugars in fruits, vegetables, and dairy. For precise tracking of added sugars, you’ll need to carefully examine food labels and manually adjust entries in most best food tracker apps.
6. Restaurant Meals: Log Realistically
For chain restaurants, you can usually find menu items in your food tracker’s database or on the restaurant’s website to create a custom entry.
For non-chain restaurants, avoid using nutrition data for similar packaged foods as restaurant portions are typically larger. Instead, search for comparable dishes from chain restaurants when logging your meal in your best food tracker. This approach provides a more realistic estimate of calories and nutrients in restaurant meals.
7. Long-Term Perspective: Focus on Averages
Whether you’re tracking calories for weight, sodium for blood pressure, or other nutrients, daily fluctuations are less significant than long-term trends. When using a best food tracker, focus on weekly or monthly averages rather than daily figures.
Some apps offer free weekly averages, but longer-term tracking and trend analysis often require a paid subscription. Analyzing averages over time provides a more meaningful understanding of your dietary patterns and progress towards your health goals using the best food tracker.
8. Be Critical: Question App Advice
Some food trackers calculate “net carbs” (not standard on labels), assign proprietary nutrition scores, or offer generic diet advice. Exercise caution when apps go beyond data tracking and provide nutritional recommendations.
For instance, some apps flag high “fat” intake, but total fat is less critical than saturated fat. When using a best food tracker, prioritize evidence-based dietary guidelines and be wary of simplistic or potentially misleading app-generated advice. Focus on reliable data and your own understanding of healthy eating.
9. Streamline Tracking: Utilize Time-Saving Features
Consistent food tracking can be time-consuming, so leverage these efficiency tools offered by the best food tracker apps:
Barcode Scanning
Screenshot of Cronometer app’s barcode scanning feature, simplifying food entry.
Most apps allow you to scan product barcodes (UPC codes) for quick and accurate food identification and logging. While incredibly convenient, this feature is often reserved for paid versions in many best food tracker apps.
Recipe Importer
Many apps can import online recipes by simply pasting the URL, automatically extracting ingredients for easy logging. While a time-saver, always double-check imported data for accuracy.
Custom Foods and Meals
Create and save frequently consumed meals or food combinations (like salads or sandwiches) as “custom” entries. This enables one-tap logging for recurring items, enhancing the efficiency of your best food tracker.
Larger Screens
Explore iPad or desktop versions (websites) of your chosen app. Larger screens often offer easier navigation, faster searching and typing, and potentially more features than phone apps. Seamless syncing across devices allows you to switch between phone and computer tracking effortlessly with your best food tracker.
10. Free Trials: Test Before Committing
App features, especially barcode scanning, recipe import, and long-term averaging, vary significantly. Some apps offer these in their free versions, while others require paid subscriptions.
Before committing to a paid subscription (ranging from $40 to $80 annually), test several apps to determine which features are essential for you. Start by exploring reviews of popular apps like Lose It!, MyFitnessPal, and Cronometer to find the best food tracker that aligns with your needs and budget.
Lose It!
Data Verification: Not all data is “checked.” Only select items have a checkmark, indicating “nutritional information reviewed for accuracy and completeness” by Lose It!.
Data Completeness: Checked items are complete for calories, fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbs, fiber, sugar, and protein. Completeness varies for unchecked items, ranging from comprehensive to calorie-only data.
Screenshot of the Lose It! app, highlighting its user-friendly serving size adjustment feature.
Pros
- Search results can be filtered to show only verified data entries.
- Intuitive swipe-based serving size adjustment with real-time nutrition updates.
- “Serving Size Guide” provides visual aids (e.g., comparing portions to a deck of cards or baseball) for portion estimation of foods like pasta, rice, and nuts.
Cons
- Lacks tracking for vitamins, minerals, and added sugar.
- Barcode scanner, recipe import, and long-term nutrient averaging are paid features only.
- Calorie budget customization requires a paid subscription.
Bottom Line
Lose It! is a user-friendly and effective app, particularly suitable if your primary focus is calorie tracking and you’re seeking a straightforward best food tracker option.
MyFitnessPal
Data Verification: Similar to Lose It!, only items marked with a checkmark are verified. MyFitnessPal aims to ensure accuracy based on product packaging information.
Data Completeness: Checked items typically include calories and standard Nutrition Facts label nutrients (excluding added sugar and vitamin D). Completeness varies for unchecked items.
Screenshot of the MyFitnessPal app, emphasizing the “Only” button for filtering verified food items.
Pros
- Search results can be filtered to display only verified data entries.
- Food diary offers quick re-entry of recent meals with a single tap for efficient logging of repetitive meals.
- Customizable calorie budgets and nutrient goals, providing flexibility in setting personalized targets within this best food tracker contender.
Cons
- Long-term nutrient averaging (beyond one week) is unavailable.
- Barcode scanner is limited to paid subscribers.
- Limited micronutrient tracking (vitamins A, C, calcium, iron, potassium, and sodium only).
- “Projected weight loss” estimates based on daily calorie balance are unreliable and potentially misleading.
- Suggested total sugar limits are not relevant as health guidelines focus on added sugar, which is not tracked.
Bottom Line
MyFitnessPal offers some valuable free features not found in other apps. However, be mindful of its limitations, especially regarding nutrient tracking and reliance on potentially misleading weight loss projections, when considering it as the best food tracker for your needs.
Cronometer
Data Verification: All data is verified! Cronometer states that “Every user submitted food is reviewed by our curation team before being added to the database,” ensuring high data quality and making it a strong contender for the best food tracker title in terms of data reliability.
Data Completeness: Data completeness varies by item, indicated by data source tags.
- NCCDB or USDA tags signify lab-analyzed data with the most comprehensive nutrient profiles (NCCDB data from a research-grade food database).
- CRDB or Trustwell tags indicate data covering standard Nutrition Facts label nutrients and more.
Screenshot of the Cronometer app, highlighting data source tagging for transparency and data quality assurance.
Pros
- Search results are categorized for easy navigation: “common” (generic whole foods), “brands” (packaged foods), “restaurant” (chains), etc.
- Barcode scanner is available in the free version.
- Includes added sugar data for some foods, surpassing most other apps in this aspect.
- Transparent data completeness information: each item displays the number of nutrients listed and data source.
- Web version (cronometer.com) offers a “data confidence score” indicating the completeness of logged data for each nutrient.
Cons
- Ads in the free version can be distracting.
- Meal and snack organization in the food log requires a paid subscription.
- Recipe import is a paid feature.
- Long-term averaging (beyond one week) is limited to paid subscribers.
Bottom Line
Cronometer stands out as the most reliable free app for data accuracy and comprehensive nutrient tracking, especially for vitamins and minerals, making it a top choice for users prioritizing data quality in a best food tracker.
