Nutrition database + calculator
Aug 3, 2021 14:39:41 GMT -8
soilsenasuil, betty, and 4 more like this
Post by LilyandDaisy on Aug 3, 2021 14:39:41 GMT -8
This is something I’ve been working on for the past few weeks. It was originally just a tool for my own use but I thought others might find it useful. It’s a database of gerbil food ingredients with their nutritional composition, and a calculator which shows you the calculated nutritional composition of any combination of ingredients.
Database: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oH8nWDI8asHVOnPnzEaPUsTOGUfXx6eQZkJeImXGoG4/edit?usp=sharing
Notes: docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSYzSYBdQfH5J2cxewkuLscP9ED8KE74GLTclFoOzGzLvCCXY9FXsEW0tYjv9atnLB9zeAEIwD98E8L/pub
The link is read only. To use the database yourself, click File, then Make a Copy and this will give your own editable copy. You’ll need to be logged into a Google account to do this but this doesn’t give out any of your information.
How to use the database and calculator
The Ingredients tab is the database of foods. It shows the amount of each nutrient per 100g of food. I tried to make the ingredients comprehensive, but you can add your own ingredients to the bottom of the list, up to a total of 393. After that, new ingredients won't work with the mixer, but I doubt you could find that many ingredients anyway!
In a few cases where a particular value for an ingredient was not available, I took one from a very similar ingredient. These values are indicated in blue. For example, I couldn't find the calories for white chicory so I entered the calories for red chicory, assuming that they're probably quite similar. You can look in the sources to find out where the blue value came from. For the most part, unavailable values are left blank though. When you are creating a mix in the Mixer, you should take into account that the Mixer assumes any blank values to be zero, which will affect your total values. For example, most values for the commercial mixes are unavailable, which means the Mixer will assume a mix composed on 50% commercial mix and 50% whole ingredients to be deficient in many nutrients, when it probably isn't. You might want to fill in more assumed or estimated values than I have, to rectify this, but for the sake of clarity I have only assumed values where I was very sure they were reasonably accurate.
The Mixer tab is where you can create your own food mix and see the calculated nutritional composition.
To use the Mixer, first look in the Ingredients tab for the food you want to use, then find the number assigned to it.
Then input this number into the first column in the Mixer. The name of the food will appear automatically in the next box. Put the quantity in grams in the quantity column. Then do the same for your other ingredients. You can have up to 50 ingredients in the Mixer. Make sure the quantity box for any blank spaces (i.e spaces not filled by ingredients) is zero, because otherwise it will skew the calculations.
This row shows you the calculated nutritional composition per 100g of your mix.
These rows are for you to fill out with your target ranges of each nutrient. You can fill out as many or as few as you want, and the conditional formatting will kick in automatically. Green means your target is satisfied, red means it isn’t. In the example below, I have said I want fat to be between 6 and 8g per 100g. I only have 5.1g fat, so while the maximum of 8g is satisfied, the minimum of 6g is not. You can set different target ranges for adult gerbils and growing gerbils. I didn't add a row for breeding gerbils because it would have meant lots more work setting the conditional formatting, but you can alter one of the existing rows for that purpose if needed. In the example, I have said I want 12g protein per 100g for adult gerbils, and 16g for growing gerbils. I have 12.9g, so my adult target is satisfied, but my growing target is not.
The Mixer is prefilled with some suggested target ranges but I highly suggest reading the notes for more information as they aren’t clear cut or set in stone and you might want to change them. It also includes information about some parameters which the Mixer won’t show you, like the calcium:phosphorus ratio.
Using the Ingredients Comparer
This tab allows you to compare up to 5 ingredients. It works in the same way as the Mixer, just put the ingredient number in the first column and the nutritional information will be loaded into the table.
This database is not a safe or recommended food list. I left out any obviously unsuitable foods, like chillis, but I haven't checked every single food on this list for safety. There are several foods in there that I wouldn't feed myself for one reason or another. You should check each food yourself before feeding anything in the database. I also can't guarantee the accuracy of every value in the database or everything in the notes. I might have made a mistake, or the sources might have been wrong, so use it at your own risk, and always do your own research.
This is also still a work in progress. At some point I'm hoping to expand the section in the notes on Antinutrients, and also add more insects and flowers to the database.
Database: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oH8nWDI8asHVOnPnzEaPUsTOGUfXx6eQZkJeImXGoG4/edit?usp=sharing
Notes: docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSYzSYBdQfH5J2cxewkuLscP9ED8KE74GLTclFoOzGzLvCCXY9FXsEW0tYjv9atnLB9zeAEIwD98E8L/pub
The link is read only. To use the database yourself, click File, then Make a Copy and this will give your own editable copy. You’ll need to be logged into a Google account to do this but this doesn’t give out any of your information.
How to use the database and calculator
The Ingredients tab is the database of foods. It shows the amount of each nutrient per 100g of food. I tried to make the ingredients comprehensive, but you can add your own ingredients to the bottom of the list, up to a total of 393. After that, new ingredients won't work with the mixer, but I doubt you could find that many ingredients anyway!
In a few cases where a particular value for an ingredient was not available, I took one from a very similar ingredient. These values are indicated in blue. For example, I couldn't find the calories for white chicory so I entered the calories for red chicory, assuming that they're probably quite similar. You can look in the sources to find out where the blue value came from. For the most part, unavailable values are left blank though. When you are creating a mix in the Mixer, you should take into account that the Mixer assumes any blank values to be zero, which will affect your total values. For example, most values for the commercial mixes are unavailable, which means the Mixer will assume a mix composed on 50% commercial mix and 50% whole ingredients to be deficient in many nutrients, when it probably isn't. You might want to fill in more assumed or estimated values than I have, to rectify this, but for the sake of clarity I have only assumed values where I was very sure they were reasonably accurate.
The Mixer tab is where you can create your own food mix and see the calculated nutritional composition.
To use the Mixer, first look in the Ingredients tab for the food you want to use, then find the number assigned to it.
Then input this number into the first column in the Mixer. The name of the food will appear automatically in the next box. Put the quantity in grams in the quantity column. Then do the same for your other ingredients. You can have up to 50 ingredients in the Mixer. Make sure the quantity box for any blank spaces (i.e spaces not filled by ingredients) is zero, because otherwise it will skew the calculations.
This row shows you the calculated nutritional composition per 100g of your mix.
These rows are for you to fill out with your target ranges of each nutrient. You can fill out as many or as few as you want, and the conditional formatting will kick in automatically. Green means your target is satisfied, red means it isn’t. In the example below, I have said I want fat to be between 6 and 8g per 100g. I only have 5.1g fat, so while the maximum of 8g is satisfied, the minimum of 6g is not. You can set different target ranges for adult gerbils and growing gerbils. I didn't add a row for breeding gerbils because it would have meant lots more work setting the conditional formatting, but you can alter one of the existing rows for that purpose if needed. In the example, I have said I want 12g protein per 100g for adult gerbils, and 16g for growing gerbils. I have 12.9g, so my adult target is satisfied, but my growing target is not.
The Mixer is prefilled with some suggested target ranges but I highly suggest reading the notes for more information as they aren’t clear cut or set in stone and you might want to change them. It also includes information about some parameters which the Mixer won’t show you, like the calcium:phosphorus ratio.
Using the Ingredients Comparer
This tab allows you to compare up to 5 ingredients. It works in the same way as the Mixer, just put the ingredient number in the first column and the nutritional information will be loaded into the table.
This database is not a safe or recommended food list. I left out any obviously unsuitable foods, like chillis, but I haven't checked every single food on this list for safety. There are several foods in there that I wouldn't feed myself for one reason or another. You should check each food yourself before feeding anything in the database. I also can't guarantee the accuracy of every value in the database or everything in the notes. I might have made a mistake, or the sources might have been wrong, so use it at your own risk, and always do your own research.
This is also still a work in progress. At some point I'm hoping to expand the section in the notes on Antinutrients, and also add more insects and flowers to the database.