Using the Food Database

This section explains how to use the Diabetes Pilot food database. The food database provides reference information on thousands of foods. You can add your own foods to the database and customize it to meet your needs.

Accessing the Food Database

Finding Foods

Adding New Foods and Groups

Marking Foods as Favorites

Organizing the Database

Accessing the Food Database

The food database is available when you're entering a food record.  From the main screen, tap the "Food" buton to start a new food record.   Then, tap the "DB" button at the bottom of the food record screen to display the database.   Or, tap the "Fav" button to access the favorites list.

About the Food Database

The food database contains two types of foods:

 

Finding Foods

You can locate foods in the food database in several different ways:

Browse through your foods by category.

To browse through the foods by category, tap on the items to navigate through the database.  Food groups are indicated by bold text and an ">" arrow indicator at the side of the item.  Foods are indicated by regular text.

To open a group and see its contents, tap on the group's name.  To edit the name of the group, tap the "edit" button.

To back up and go out of the group, tap the "Back" button near the top of the screen.

To select a food, click on the food's name.  This adds the food to the meal record that you're working on.   To edit the foods name or nutrition data, or to just view the nutrition data, tap on the "edit" button next to the food.

Search for foods by name.

To search for foods by name, type in the "Search" box near the top of the screen. Enter a few letters of the food you are looking for in the "Search" box, then tap the "Search" button in the on-screen keyboard. The food database will be searched for what you enter. Any food or group containing your search letters will be displayed in the search box. You will usually have better results with the search feature if you enter just a few letters of a food name - this way, the food will appear in the results even if it is named a bit differently than you'd expect. This is a good way to find a food if you can't find it by browsing.

To select a food, click on it in the search result list.

Scan a Barcode

Tap the "Scan" button and scan the barcode on a packaged food item using the camera in your device.   If the food is found, it will be added to your meal record.

 

Adding New Foods and Groups

To add a new food or group to the food database, browse through the database to locate the place where you'd like to put the new item.  Start by browsing to the location where you would like the new item added (see Finding Foods above). Select the group in which you would like to add the new item.

To add a new item, tap the "+" button near the top of the screen. Then,

To add a new group, choose "New Group" from the menu that appears, enter a name for the new group, and tap the save button.

To add a new food, choose "New Food" from the menu that appears, fill out the food information screen that appears, and tap the save button.

Marking Foods as Favorites

When a food is marked as a favorite, it will appear in the Favorites List.  This allows you to create a short list of foods that you use frequently so that they can be found quickly.   The favorites list can be displayed while entering a food record - from the main screen, start a food record by tapping on the "Food" button, then tap the "fav" button near the bottom of the screen.

To mark a food as a favorite:

  1. Find the food in the database (see Finding Foods above).
  2. Edit the food (by tapping on its "i" button)
  3. Switch on the  "show in favorites list" switch, then tap the "save" button.

To remove a food from the favorites list, do the steps above, but turn off the "show in favorites list" switch.

Note: You can add built-in foods to your favorites list.   Online foods cannot be added to the favorites list because they are subject to change from time to time.  The favorites switch will not appear for these foods.

Organizing and Customizing the Food Database

Several functions are available to help you organize and customize the food database.

To delete a food from the database:

  1. Find the food in the database (see Finding Foods above).
  2. Edit the food (by tapping on its "i" button)
  3. Tap on the trashcan button near the bottom of the screen.

To edit the name or data associated with a food or group:

  1. Find the food in the database (see Finding Foods above).
  2. Edit the food (by tapping on its "i" button)
  3. Make the changes that you desire to the food or group data.
  4. Tap the OK button.