When I enter someone's Keto-friendly recipe, why are the macros different?

Jazz

I have entered several recipes from various sources and the macro data is always different. Am I doing something wrong or is there another problem?

Hilary

If you are getting your recipe data from a source other than Cronometer, it may be that they are using different nutrition data. See our recent blog post https://cronometer.com/blog/6-tips-getting-nutrition-data/ to make sure you are making good choices when choosing food entries from our database!

When creating a recipe it is also very important to ensure that all of your ingredients are measured in grams. If an ingredient does not have a gram amount serving size listed, your recipe will probably end up being a bit off, as the software will then have to estimate based on mL or a different measure. To check that you do not have an ingredient without a gram amount go to your edit recipe screen and scroll to your ingredients list. If you find an ingredient with "Unknown" listed weight, try replacing that ingredient with a listing that contains a gram amount.

I would guess that if the recipe's original owner was coming up with 5 net carbs and you found 20 it is likely that they are not including sugar alcohols in the net Carbs Calculation, so if you are looking to match the original information from your recipe, I would not include sugar alcohols in net Carbs, but it ultimately is up to you whether you wish to include Sugar alcohols in your net Carb Calculation.

Susan_RD_101

@Jazz

Can you clarify what you mean? Are the macros different from what the recipe site is saying?

Remember that macros are relative to calories. If you don't match closely with the recipe developer's calorie calculation for the recipe, your macros will be off. This can happen if each of you is using different software to calculate the nutrition information of a recipe.

Hope this helps!

Jazz

Hey, Susan.
Yes, the macros are different. It seems to be most of the recipes using erythritol. The calorie count is off and typically the carbohydrates. Protein and fat are usually closer to the original. I enter the recipe exactly as it appears on the original, too.
Maybe it is that the recipe author is using a different software....but shouldn't a calorie be a calorie or at least fairly close?
Thank you so much for responding.
Jazz

Hilary

Hi @Jazz ,
The data in your diary might look different than in someone else's diary based on you Macronutrient target settings.

Check that your settings are set to your personal preference for net carbs vs. Total Carbs, and for "Include Sugar Alcohols in Net Carbs".
If another user has different settings selected it could very well show up differently in your diary. This doesn't mean that the data is different, it just means that you are tracking different things and using the data for different purposes!

If this doesn't seem to be the issue, please let me know and we can see if there is a problem with the software!

If you are getting your recipe data from a source other than Cronometer, it may be that they are using different nutrition data. See our recent blog post https://cronometer.com/blog/6-tips-getting-nutrition-data/ to make sure you are making good choices when choosing food entries from our database!

Jazz

Thank you. I will try these options and let you know the result. I appreciate your time (and help!!).

AmyKetos

I entered a recipe, and double checked my entries. Everything was pretty close to the original recipe creator's numbers except net carbs. The recipe said 5.86, Cronometer came up with 28! Unfortunately, the recipe doesn't show up by item, so it is impossible to tell where all the carbs are coming from in Crono's calculation. Frustrating. (This recipe also had Swerve/erythritol.) Ingredients:
1 large egg
2 tablespoons salted butter
2 tablespoons almond flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ½ tablespoons erythritol
2 teaspoons coconut flour
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon baking powder

Aaron

@AmyKetos as shown above, do you have your net-carb setting set to include or exclude sugar alcohols?

Jazz

Include. Should I change that?

Aaron

@Jazz It's up to you -- not everyone agrees that net-carbs should or should not include sugar alcohols, erythritol, and some other things. So we made it an option. That may explain the difference you're seeing with the recipe site.

AmyKetos

I have it marked to exclude sugar alcohols. And I believe the difference, if I remember right, is only 5 carbs, so there is something else screwed up since crono is coming up with 22 more net carbs.

AmyKetos

Well, I just went to the recipe using my phone, and it is correct now. I didn't change anything, it was just correct. I have no idea how that happened, but I'm happy! Thanks for replying to the issue.