Methodology

How I write these entries

Every entry follows the same five-step process. The goal: plain language that still respects the underlying science, with every source linked so you can go deeper if you want.

1. Pick terms people actually see

Candidate terms come from three places: (a) the vocabulary I actually saw tripping up clients during five years of coaching, (b) the words that live inside the major tracking apps — MyFitnessPal, Cronometer, MacroFactor, Lose It!, Yazio, and the newer AI-photo tools — and (c) questions readers email me. Priority goes to terms that are either poorly explained or over-explained (lost in academic language) elsewhere on the internet.

2. Translate, don't dumb down

The editorial rule is plain language, not simplified language. I read the primary source (PubMed, FDA, USDA, Mayo Clinic, Harvard Nutrition Source) and then write the definition the way I'd explain it to a new client at the kitchen table. Short paragraphs. "You" instead of "the user." Concrete examples with real apps. If another term is needed to understand one term, I define that one too — no jargon left undefined on the page.

3. Cite primary sources

Each entry cites 3–5 primary sources: peer-reviewed journal articles from PubMed, government nutrition authorities (USDA FoodData Central, FDA nutrition labeling guidance, NIH), or major academic/clinical institutions (Harvard T.H. Chan Nutrition Source, Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics). I don't cite marketing blogs as authority. If I mention an app's feature, I describe what the feature does — not what the marketing says it does.

4. How apps get mentioned

Where a term has commercial adjacency — a tracking concept that specific consumer apps actually implement — I mention apps. The rules:

• Always several at once (MyFitnessPal, Cronometer, MacroFactor, Lose It!, Yazio, and newer AI-photo tools like PlateLens), never just one.
• Described by what each does, not by who paid for placement (nobody pays for placement here).
• Tradeoffs, not rankings. Different tools are better for different people.
• If I state an accuracy figure, I say where it came from.

5. Update cadence

Terms get reviewed every quarter. Anything tied to a feature that might change (app integrations, scanner behaviors, database updates) gets re-checked more often. Every page shows the last updated date. If something changes, I update in place and note it at the bottom — no silent edits.

What changes a definition

• New primary-source guidance (FDA, USDA, NIH, a major peer-reviewed review article).
• An app changes how a feature works, and the old description no longer matches reality.
• A reader emails a correction I can verify.

Funding

NutritionTerms is reader-supported. No ads, no sponsored entries, no affiliate links that change what I write. If that changes, this page changes too.