Nutrition info while on the go

Agricultural Research, March, 2003 by Rosalie Marion Bliss

Picture, for example, a female health enthusiast cruising a grocery store's seafood counter. She wants to make sure she gets her recommended dietary allowance of protein. She whips out her personal digital assistant, or PDA, and up comes a searchable version of USDA's flagship nutrient database of more than 6,000 food items.

Our health enthusiast wants to see how much protein she'll get out of that tuna steak she's been eyeing. So she pulls out her stylus, skips the "Browse by Food Groups" option, and uses the search feature to go straight to "tuna." Hmmm, a 3-ounce portion of cooked tuna steak has 25 grams of protein. With that choice, our 135-pound enthusiast will get half her recommended daily intake of dietary protein in one sitting. Not bad.

The new, portable version of USDA's National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference is now available for download free of charge onto hand-held PDAs running the Palm operating system (Palm OS) by going to www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/ foodcomp. The download takes about 30 seconds and requires about 2 megabytes of available memory on PDAs.

ARS and HealtheTech, Inc., of Golden, Colorado, worked together to provide the service through a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA). ARS has entered into more than 1,000 CRADAs since federal technology transfer legislation was enacted in 1986. That legislation helps the federal government's research findings reach and benefit U.S. consumers and industry.

The PDA application was developed by scientists at ARS' Nutrient Data Laboratory--part of the Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, located in Beltsville, Maryland--and HealtheTech, which develops and markets medical devices and software that measure and monitor important health variables.

The unique product blends a custom-made searchable software application with the nutrient database. "Consumers, health professionals, and educators seeking user-friendly nutrient data will no longer be limited to using the USDA's premier nutrient database only while online," says Phyllis E. Johnson, director of ARS' Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center.

Assembled by food groupings, the database allows users to search by food name or browse a given category by scrolling through foods listed alphabetically. Has the dietitian suggested you eat more high-calcium foods? Try scrolling through the "Dairy and Egg" food group and point to options that look appealing. Within seconds, the nutrient report with a calcium quantity in milligrams appears to hone your healthy choice. Did your doctor say you're not getting enough potassium? Try the "Fruits and Fruit Juices" group as well as the "Vegetables and Vegetable Products" group.

Another friendly option of the program is the "Portion Modifier." If the portion size listed isn't what you plan on eating, you can adjust it up or down.

The modified portion's nutrient content pops up to help you make a final decision.

The system provides information on about 30 nutrients for each food listed. This user-friendly searchable software application will soon be available for download onto personal computers, as well.

This research is part of Human Nutrition, an ARS National Program (#107) described on the World Wide Web at www.nps.ars.usda.gov.

Rena Cutrufelli and Vincent de Jesus are with the USDA-ARS Nutrient Data Laboratory, 10300 Baltimore Ave., Bldg. 005, Beltsville, MD 20705-2350; phone (301) 504-0693 [Cutrufelli], (301) 504-0691 [de Jesus], fax (301) 504-0692, e-mail rcutrufelli@ rbhnrc.usda.gov, vdejesus@rbhnrc.usda. gov.