Methodology

How we write this database

Every entry follows the same pipeline. We publish it so readers can audit our work.

1. Term selection

We cover terms that a serious calorie-tracking user, a product manager building food-logging features, a personal trainer, or a skeptical new user is likely to encounter in the wild — inside consumer apps, in nutrition-science press, or in product documentation. Priority goes to terms that are either (a) misdefined in mainstream coverage, (b) used inconsistently across the consumer tracking stack, or (c) load-bearing for someone making dietary decisions. We maintain a public request inbox (terms@nutritiondex.com).

2. Primary-source citation

Each entry cites 3–5 primary sources, drawn from: peer-reviewed literature (PubMed), government nutrition authorities (USDA FoodData Central, FDA, NIH, NAM Dietary Reference Intakes), and major academic or medical institutions (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics position papers). Consumer blogs, app marketing pages, and secondary content aggregators are never cited as authority.

3. Drift flagging

Where a term's consumer-app usage has drifted from the underlying physiology or the research-community definition, we say so plainly and describe the drift. This is the single most useful thing the database does and it's the thing mainstream nutrition coverage most consistently skips.

4. Commercial disclosure

Commercial products are mentioned only where editorially relevant — for example, a concept like "passive calorie estimation" can't be explained without referencing the category of apps that implement it. Rules:

• Always alongside at least two alternatives. Never "the only option."
• Always with a plain-language note on the commercial relationship (if any) between NutritionDex and the product.
• No affiliate links. No paid placement. No sponsored entries.
• Accuracy claims about any product must cite a published validation study — not a vendor marketing page.

5. Editor review before publication

Every entry is reviewed by the editor-in-chief before publication. Where a term spans into territory where a clinician's input matters — e.g., insulin resistance, metabolic adaptation in the clinical sense, GLP-1-adjacent metabolism — we consult an external specialist and note that consultation on the entry.

6. Update cadence

Entries are reviewed on a rolling quarterly cadence for definitional accuracy against the current literature. Terms with active research momentum are reviewed more often. The "Updated" date on each page reflects the most recent review, not the most recent cosmetic edit.

What changes a definition

• New peer-reviewed consensus (position paper, systematic review, meta-analysis) that materially changes the definition.
• Regulatory or authoritative updates from FDA, USDA, WHO, or a major medical association.
• Reader-submitted corrections that we can verify against a primary source.

Corrections appear in place, with a dated corrigendum line at the bottom of the entry. We do not silently edit published pages.

Funding

NutritionDex is funded by reader donations and, in the future, by a paid tier for product teams (API-style access to the structured term data). We do not accept advertising, sponsored content, or paid placement.