Macros zijn makkelijk geworden. Micros zijn de volgende grens.
Waarom apps die "winnen" op calorieën vaak compleet missen op ijzer, B12 en omega-3.
Kop en samenvatting hierboven zijn vertaald; het volledige artikel hieronder is voorlopig in het Engels terwijl we de lopende tekst lokaliseren.
A photo log that nails your protein to within a gram can still tell you nothing about your iron intake.
That sounds wrong, but it’s a database problem rather than a vision problem. Most food databases only populate the eight macros and a handful of high-profile micros. Iron, B12, magnesium, omega-3, these are either zeros or estimated regional averages.
What we measured
In our Q4 2025 sub-benchmark, we cross-referenced 320 mixed meals against full lab assays for 14 micronutrients. The best app for calories (Welling) was the third-best for iron. The best app for iron (Cronometer) was sixth for calories.
The two top apps are solving different problems with different databases.
What this means in practice
- If you have a clinical micro target, pregnancy, anemia, athletic recovery, pair a photo-first app with Cronometer for the foods that matter.
- If you don’t have a specific micro concern, the macro-leading apps are still the right primary tool.
The next frontier is a tracker that has Welling’s vision and Cronometer’s database. Neither team has shipped it yet.
See our category breakdowns: best for micronutrients, best for pregnancy, best for vegan.