FatSecret is a free food tracker with a large food database. If you already use it, VertigoMe can read your meals so you do not have to log food twice. That matters most for sodium, which many people with Meniere's disease keep an eye on.
VertigoMe does not talk to FatSecret directly. FatSecret sends what you ate to your phone's health app (Apple Health on iPhone, Health Connect on Android), and VertigoMe reads it from there.
The steps are different on iPhone and Android. Find your phone below.
On iPhone
Step 1: Make sure FatSecret is sending food to Apple Health
- Open the FatSecret app on your iPhone.
- Tap More at the bottom right.
- Open FatSecret's settings (the gear icon).
- Tap Apple Health.
- Turn the Apple Health switch on.
- Apple Health pops up with a list of switches. Tap Turn All Categories On, then Allow.
Step 2: Connect VertigoMe to Apple Health
- Open VertigoMe.
- Tap the gear icon in the top-left of the screen. A drawer slides in from the left.
- Tap Connections.
- Find the Apple Health card at the top and tap Connect. If it already says Connected, skip ahead.
- A short VertigoMe note explains what will be read. Tap Continue.
- Apple's permission sheet slides up. Tap Turn On All, then Allow.
Step 3: Tell VertigoMe to read food from Apple Health
- Open the drawer again (the gear icon) and tap Data and Notifications.
- Scroll to the Nutrition section and find the Nutrition row.
- Make sure its switch is on.
- Under the word Nutrition there is a small source badge. It says Phone at first. Tap it.
- A Choose source list opens. Tap Apple Health.
Step 4: Give it a moment
On iPhone, VertigoMe copies the food you log today from Apple Health. It does this when you open VertigoMe and in the background during the day. Meals from before today are not copied over. To be sure the whole day is in, open VertigoMe once after your last meal.
To check it is working:
- Open VertigoMe and tap the Monitor tab.
- Scroll to the Diet card. You should see today's totals and the number of meals and items.
- On the Home tab, the Sodium today card should include the salt from your meals.
On Android
Step 1: Make sure Health Connect is on your phone
On newer Android phones Health Connect is built in. On older ones you may need to install it.
- Open the Play Store.
- Search for Health Connect.
- Tap Install if you see it. If you see Open, you already have it.
If the Health Connect card is missing from VertigoMe's Connections screen, Health Connect is not installed or not available on your phone yet.
Step 2: Make sure FatSecret is sending food to Health Connect
- Open the FatSecret app.
- Tap More at the bottom right.
- Open FatSecret's settings (the gear icon).
- Look for Health Connect and tap it.
- Tap Connect and follow the popup to allow FatSecret to share meals.
If you do not see Health Connect, update FatSecret in the Play Store and try again.
Step 3: Connect VertigoMe to Health Connect
- Open VertigoMe.
- Tap the gear icon in the top-left of the screen. A drawer slides in from the left.
- Tap Connections.
- Find the Health Connect card at the top and tap Connect. If it already says Connected, skip ahead.
- A short VertigoMe note explains what will be read. Tap Continue.
- The Health Connect permission screen appears. Tap Allow all, then Allow.
Make sure Nutrition is among the allowed items.
Step 4: Tell VertigoMe to read food from Health Connect
- Open the drawer again (the gear icon) and tap Data and Notifications.
- Scroll to the Nutrition section and find the Nutrition row.
- Make sure its switch is on.
- Under the word Nutrition there is a small source badge. It says Phone at first. Tap it.
- A Choose source list opens. Tap Health Connect.
Step 5: Give it a moment
The first time, VertigoMe looks back over the last 14 days of meals in Health Connect. After that it picks up new meals when you open the app and in the background.
To check it is working:
- Open VertigoMe and tap the Monitor tab.
- Scroll to the Diet card. You should see today's totals and the number of meals and items.
- On the Home tab, the Sodium today card should include the salt from your meals.
What VertigoMe does with your food data
- Sodium. Salt from your food app counts towards the Sodium today card on Home, next to anything you log in VertigoMe yourself. The card compares your day with a fixed target of 1,500 mg, the level often suggested for Meniere's disease.
- Caffeine, sugar and calories. These show on the Diet card in the Monitor tab, with the number of meals and items logged today.
- Food flags. When your food app shares the name of each food, VertigoMe works out flags such as tyramine, alcohol, gluten, histamine, aspartame, MSG, nitrates and sulfites. Apps that only share daily totals still give sodium, caffeine and the other numbers, but the flags need a food name.
- Patterns. Over time, VertigoMe compares days around your spins with your other days, so a food factor that keeps turning up before spins can show in your Insights.
The food flag levels and the sodium progress bar are part of Food Risk Analysis, which is a Premium feature. The totals themselves are free.
Troubleshooting
"The Diet card is empty"
- Make sure you logged something in your food app today.
- Check the Nutrition row in Data and Notifications: the switch must be on and the source badge must say Apple Health (iPhone) or Health Connect (Android). If it says Phone, VertigoMe only counts food you log inside VertigoMe.
- On iPhone, open the Settings app, tap Apps, Health, Data Access & Devices, VertigoMe, and check that the nutrition items are on.
- On Android, open Health Connect, tap App permissions, VertigoMe, and check that Nutrition is allowed.
"FatSecret does not list Health Connect on Android"
- Update FatSecret in the Play Store.
- If it still does not appear, FatSecret may not support Health Connect on your phone yet. You can log meals straight into VertigoMe instead: tap the Diet card on the Monitor tab and use the barcode scanner or the food search.
Still stuck?
Write to us at [email protected] and tell us:
- Whether you are on iPhone or Android
- Which part of the FatSecret setup you are stuck on
- A screenshot if you can
