Food tracking glossary

The words you meet in food tracking apps and on nutrition labels, defined in a sentence or two. Where a guide goes deeper, the definition links to it.

Reviewed by Josh Robertson, RD, registered dietitian

A · B · C · D · E · F · H · I · K · L · M · N · P · R · S · T · V

A

Adaptive target: A calorie or macro target that an app adjusts over time from your logged intake and weight trend, rather than fixing it at sign-up.
Added sugars: Sugars added to foods during processing or preparation, as opposed to those naturally present in fruit or milk. US guidance is to keep them below 10% of daily calories. Read more
AMDR: Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range: the share of calories from carbohydrate (45–65%), fat (20–35%) and protein (10–35%) set for adults in the US Dietary Reference Intakes. Read more
Apple Health: The iPhone app and system that stores health data and shares it between apps with your permission.

B

Barcode scanning: Logging a packaged food by pointing the phone camera at its barcode, which pulls the product's label data into the diary.
Basal metabolic rate (BMR): The energy your body uses at rest to keep you alive. It is usually the largest part of daily energy expenditure. Read more

C

Calorie (kcal): The unit of food energy used on labels and in trackers; technically a kilocalorie. 1 kcal equals 4.184 kilojoules.
Calorie density: The number of calories in a given weight of food. Water and fiber lower it; fat raises it.
Carb choice: A serving of about 15 g of carbohydrate, used in some diabetes education as a simpler alternative to counting grams. Read more
Crowd-sourced database: A food database that users can add entries to. It grows large quickly but often contains duplicates with different values. Read more

D

Daily Value (% DV): On US labels, the share of a reference daily amount that one serving provides, based on a 2,000-calorie diet. 5% or less is low; 20% or more is high. Read more
Deficit: Eating fewer calories than you use. A sustained deficit leads to weight loss.

E

Energy balance: The relationship between the energy you eat and the energy you use. Weight changes when they are out of balance over time. Read more
Export: Downloading your diary history from an app, usually as a CSV or JSON file, so you can keep it or move it elsewhere. Read more

F

Fiber: Carbohydrate the body largely does not digest. A common guide is about 14 g per 1,000 calories. Read more
Food diary: A record of what you eat and drink. In an app, usually organised by meal, with totals for the day.
Free plan: The version of an app you can use without paying. It may be permanent or a time-limited trial.

H

Health Connect: Android's system for sharing health and fitness data, such as steps and weight, between apps with your permission.
Hunger scale: A simple 1-to-10 rating of hunger and fullness before and after eating, used to notice eating patterns without counting. Read more

I

Intermittent fasting: Eating patterns that limit food to certain hours, such as a 16:8 schedule with an eight-hour eating window.

K

Kilojoule (kJ): The metric unit of energy shown on European labels alongside kcal. Divide kJ by 4.184 to get calories.

L

Lab-analysed data: Nutrient values measured from food samples in a laboratory, usually more complete than label data.

M

Macronutrients (macros): Protein, carbohydrate and fat: the nutrients that supply energy. Alcohol also supplies energy but is not a nutrient. Read more
Maintenance calories: The intake at which your weight stays stable over weeks.
Meal planner: A feature for planning meals ahead, often producing a shopping list.
Micronutrients: Vitamins and minerals, needed in small amounts. Read more

N

NEAT: Non-exercise activity thermogenesis: energy used in everyday movement such as walking, standing and fidgeting. Read more
Net carbs: Total carbohydrate minus fiber, and often minus sugar alcohols. Commonly tracked on low-carb diets.

P

Photo logging: Logging a meal by photographing it; the app identifies the foods and estimates portions for you to confirm.
Portion: The amount you actually eat, which may differ from the serving size on a label. Read more
Privacy label: The summary of data collection on an app's store listing: App Privacy on the App Store, Data safety on Google Play. Read more

R

Recipe builder: A feature for entering a home recipe once, so a portion can be logged in one step afterwards. Read more

S

Saved meal: A combination of foods stored as one entry, such as your usual breakfast.
Serving size: The amount of food that a label's nutrient values refer to. Read more
Surplus: Eating more calories than you use, which leads to weight gain; used deliberately when building muscle. Read more

T

TDEE: Total daily energy expenditure: basal metabolism plus the energy used to digest food plus all activity. Read more
Thermic effect of food: The energy used to digest and process food, roughly a tenth of daily expenditure and higher for protein.

V

Verified database: A food database whose entries are checked by the app's team before they appear, which reduces duplicates and errors. Read more
Voice logging: Logging food by saying what you ate; the app matches the description to database entries.