Chronometer

[andyswarbs]

Can I recommend that people use chronometer website to verify the nutritional profile of what they cook? That way, we can impartially determine whether something is in fact healthy, or not.

[benwl]

I don't see that this is impartial - they will be making lots of assumptions as to what is healthy or not - useful, certainly, impartial no.

[andyswarbs in reply to benwl]

Cronometer make no assumptions except the US daily recommended guidelines. These you can override with personal preferences. They also make no judgements. All judgements are yours and others on this forum or elsewhere.

[andyswarbs]

The usda database is incredibly comprehensive. As someone who cooks a lot of Indian food I have never found it lacking.

The website has absolutely nothing to do with weight loss or gain as a judgement. It uses industry standard equations to calculate things like BMI. Yes you can use it to help you gain or lose weight, but that is a personal choice.

It's nothing like fitbit etc, in my opinion.

Preventing or controlling diabetes is a whole other subject, as are other chronic diseases. Cronometer is a tool which may help you understand what is going inside your body better. If you pay attention to that then with an appropriate understanding of the illness the website may help you. But first you need to understand your illness.

[andyswarbs]

Fine. It's not for everyone. Blood tests are another important tool. I just had mine done and tweaked my diet accordingly, but used cronometer to help get it right.

[benwl in reply to andyswarbs]

Could you give an example of how this works?

For example, did your blood tests show you were deficient in vitamin X, you searched on chronom for foods high in X, you eat those for a month, then get repeat tests done to confirm no longer difficient?

[andyswarbs in reply to benwl]

benwl. Once you have entered the foods you eat and in the quantities you eat them, then cronometer automatically shows the nutritional analysis. It makes the quantities easy by having standard measurements relevant to the type of food. So black pepper can come in a "pinch", whereas pulses come in specified weights, dried or cooked or in cupfuls etc etc.

As you enter foods cronometer automatically displays how your much more of each vitamin, protein, calorie etc etc is taken in by your body. You can even tell cronometer your BMI and daily exercise regime. It will then provide more tailored information about such things as if you are getting enough calories.

My blood test came back with a deficiency of iron. So I looked up foods that had a higher iron content and added those to meals. Also I have become more particular about adding lemon or orange juice with my meals to aid absorption of the iron.

Although I haven't had a potassium test I am going to try to boost that, once I know my iron levels are good. (And no that does not mean eating more bananas which whilst a lovely food are not the best for potassium.)

[benwl in reply to andyswarbs]

Thanks, that's very helpful

[andyswarbs]

That's a brilliant list. I'll check them later when I'm at a computer.

As to registration, that's your choice for any website or app, just like this one. Keeping your personal data private is so important these days.

[BadHare]

I've just had soup made with puy lentils, leek, onion, kale, brocolli & sprouts, then added nutritional yeast & liquid aminos. I'm quite happy that these are all healthy ingredients without needing to look them up. I've no idea what the website does as opposed to looking up individual item's nutrition, though I appreciate it could be something that's useful for people who aren't familiar with their food's nutritional values or what their intake should be.

[andyswarbs]

I have checked them through. The nutritional database works from raw ingredients, such as oats, lentils. It knows nothing about completed recipes, regardless of culture. So for instance if you enter in Big Mac, you will get nothing.

However if you enter in the individual ingredients, in quantities you like for a particular recipe then you can save the complete list as a recipe for future use.

So it has details on mango, for instance and a choice of Mango fresh, cooked, nectar, dried (sweetened or unsweetened) and so forth. Interestingly it has Burger King Mango juice on the list. Presumably because it is just mango juice, possibly with refined sugars and also possibly because Burger king have done the nutritional analysis.

Hope that helps.

[andyswarbs]

Indeed. And this is the US database, which may not hold the same data as the UK RDA, which is where I live.

I was surprised to find out that at least some cows have B12 supplements added to their diet! I guess that is likely to be more true for cows that are not grass-fed, since B12 comes bacteria in the ground.

I think many people may be short of Vitamin D, and that may shortage contribute to their illnesses.