Seven of them
Sodium, potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc and phosphorus. Sodium is the one shown as a limit to stay under rather than a target to reach.
Micronutrient tracking
See more than calories and macros.
Loopa uses the food already in your diary to show supported vitamins and minerals, so there is no second nutrition log to maintain.
Included in Loopa Basic 5 fresh estimates a day on Loopa Basic.
Why it matters
Calories describe how much. Not what.
Two days can land on the same calorie and macro totals and contain very different food. Calories and macros do not describe the complete nutrient profile of what you ate, and that is the gap this screen fills.
You log foodHowever you normally log it
Loopa reads the recordsNutrient data from the food database
Gaps are filledUp to 5 fresh estimates a day on Loopa Basic
You see the day15 nutrients against their targets
What is tracked
15 nutrients, from the food already in your diary
Each one is shown against a published reference figure for your age and sex, with the day’s running total underneath.
Eight of them
A, C, D, E, K, B6, B12 and folate.
Three label nutrients
Saturated fat, added sugars and cholesterol, against their FDA Daily Values. They are on the Nutrition Facts panel rather than in the micronutrient list, so Loopa shows them without counting them among the 15.
The part most trackers skip
A missing number is not a zero
Food records are uneven. Some carry a full nutrient panel and some carry calories and three macros. What an app does with that gap decides whether the screen is worth looking at.
The record had the number
Read straight from the food database entry, or scaled from its published values for the portion you logged.
Loopa worked it out
When a food has no nutrient data, Loopa can estimate it and says that is what it did. Loopa Basic gets 5 fresh estimates a day, and a day that has been estimated before reopens instantly without using another one.
And counted as missing
Not silently read as zero. Your completeness figure divides by the nutrients that have data, so a patchy record cannot quietly make a day look empty.
A blank means Loopa does not know. It never means you ate none.
Where the numbers come from
Three kinds of number on one screen
The screen tells them apart, and so should any page describing it.
From a product recordThe food record carried the nutrient figure, and Loopa scaled it to the portion you logged.
EstimatedThe record had no figure, so Loopa estimated it and marked it as an estimate. 5 fresh days a day on Loopa Basic.
Published guidanceThe target beside each nutrient. Dietary Reference Intakes from the National Academies, banded by age and sex, with FDA Daily Values for the three label nutrients.
Targets
What the target beside a nutrient is
A published reference figure for a population, not a prescription for you.
Where one is set
The intake judged sufficient for nearly all healthy people in a group, from the Dietary Reference Intake tables published by the National Academies.
Where no RDA exists
Used where the evidence does not support an RDA. Potassium and vitamin K are the two on this screen.
Scored the other way
2,300 mg, the Chronic Disease Risk Reduction intake from the 2019 National Academies review. Under is the good direction, and the bar fills accordingly.
For the three label nutrients
Saturated fat, added sugars and cholesterol, on the FDA basis of a 2,000-calorie day.
Targets are banded by age and sex only. They are general guidance and Loopa does not adjust them for a medical condition, a pregnancy or a medication. Anything that needs that belongs with a clinician or a dietitian.
Where it shows up
One screen, and the rest of the day around it
Micronutrients are not a separate app inside Loopa. They sit beside the food that produced them.
Open the nutrients screen and today is already filled in from what you logged. Change a serving on the food screen and the nutrient totals move with it. There is no second diary, no supplement-style entry form, and nothing to reconcile.
Loopa Basic shows a rolling 30 days of this, as it does for everything else you log. Nothing is deleted when the window rolls: it is applied when Loopa reads your data, so subscribing later brings the whole record back.
Keep reading
What to look at next
Food logging The five ways food gets into the diary these numbers come from.
Supplement tracking A matched product label can add its nutrients to the same day. Premium.
Medications and interaction alerts Where food, drink and a medication label meet. Free.
Health sources The register behind every health claim Loopa makes.
FAQ
Questions about micronutrient tracking
What people ask before they install a vitamin tracker.
How many micronutrients does Loopa track?
15 carry a Dietary Reference Intake target: seven minerals, which are sodium, potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc and phosphorus, and eight vitamins, which are A, C, D, E, K, B6, B12 and folate. The nutrients screen also shows saturated fat, added sugars and cholesterol against their FDA Daily Values. Those three are label nutrients rather than micronutrients, which is why the count is 15 and not eighteen.
Do I have to log anything extra?
No. Micronutrients are derived from the food already in your diary. There is no second log to keep and nothing extra to enter.
Is micronutrient tracking free?
The screen is free on the phone and in a browser. What Loopa Basic caps is how many days can have FRESH estimates worked out: 5 a day. A day whose foods have been estimated before opens instantly and costs nothing, for ever.
What happens when a food has no data for a nutrient?
It stays blank and is counted as missing, not as zero. Your completeness figure divides by the nutrients that actually have data, so a food record with gaps in it cannot make your day look worse than it was, or better.
Where do the targets come from?
The Dietary Reference Intakes published by the National Academies: the Recommended Dietary Allowance where one is set, otherwise the Adequate Intake, banded by age and sex. Saturated fat, added sugars and cholesterol use the FDA Daily Value for a 2,000-calorie day. They are general reference figures, not a recommendation for you personally.
Why is sodium shown as a limit?
Because it is one. Sodium is displayed against 2,300 mg, the Chronic Disease Risk Reduction intake from the 2019 National Academies review, and the bar fills the other way: staying under is the good direction. It is the one nutrient on the screen scored that way.
Does Loopa tell me to take a supplement?
No. Loopa shows what your logged food contained against a published reference figure. It does not diagnose a deficiency, recommend a supplement or a dose, or interpret a number as a problem. If something on the screen worries you, that is a conversation with a clinician.
The food you log tonight fills this in
15 vitamins and minerals, derived from your food diary, on Loopa Basic. There is nothing extra to enter.