Last updated: September 9, 2026
FoodTally gives general nutrition guidance for healthy adults. It is not medical advice and it does not diagnose or treat any condition. Talk to a clinician or registered dietitian before changing how you eat if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, under 18, have a medical condition, or take medication that affects appetite or blood sugar.
This page mirrors the "Where these numbers come from" screen inside the app (Profile, then Daily Goals). Each recommendation FoodTally makes is listed with the guideline or study it is based on.
The onboarding quiz estimates the calories your body uses at rest from your weight, height, age, and sex using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, the most accurate of the common predictive equations in validation studies.
Resting energy is scaled by a physical activity level factor to estimate total daily energy. The factors follow the physical activity level ranges used by the Institute of Medicine and the FAO/WHO/UNU expert consultation.
When you choose to lose or gain weight, the daily target moves by about 500 calories for each pound per week you selected. That is the long-standing 3,500-calories-per-pound rule of thumb. Real weight change slows over time as the body adapts, which is why FoodTally caps pace and recommends re-running the quiz as your weight changes.
FoodTally will not set a target under 1,200 calories, the low end of the reduced-calorie diets (1,200 to 1,500 for women, 1,500 to 1,800 for men) recommended for weight loss in the joint AHA/ACC/TOS guideline.
The quiz sets protein by body weight rather than as a percentage. 1.6 g/kg is the intake above which extra protein stopped adding lean mass in a 2018 meta-analysis; sports nutrition guidance for active adults spans 1.4 to 2.0 g/kg. The Recommended Dietary Allowance for sedentary adults is lower, 0.8 g/kg.
The Daily Goals editor shows each macro as a share of your calories. The Institute of Medicine's acceptable ranges for adults are 45 to 65% carbohydrate, 20 to 35% fat, and 10 to 35% protein. FoodTally's default split sits inside those ranges; a quiz plan with a high protein target can put carbs below 45%, and you can adjust any number in Daily Goals.
The Institute of Medicine's adequate intake for fiber is 14 g per 1,000 calories, about 25 g a day for adult women and 38 g for adult men. The Dietary Guidelines report most Americans get well under that, so FoodTally treats fiber as a target to reach.
The Dietary Guidelines recommend keeping added sugars under 10% of calories, which is 50 g on a 2,000-calorie day and is also the FDA's Daily Value on the Nutrition Facts label. The American Heart Association suggests a stricter 25 g for women and 36 g for men.
The Dietary Guidelines and the FDA advise adults to stay under 2,300 mg of sodium a day, about one teaspoon of salt.
Barcode scans, branded search, and foods marked "verified" use nutrition data from USDA FoodData Central and Open Food Facts, scaled to the serving you log.
When you speak a meal or photograph a plate, AI models estimate the foods and portions. Those numbers are approximations, not measurements. Review and adjust them before logging, and prefer a verified match when one is offered.
Spotted an outdated guideline? Email contact@tryfoodtally.com.