It is easy to remember the first meal and harder to recall the order of later tries. A food journal helps you check when a food was offered, how much was eaten and what you noticed.
Use a food name you will recognize
“Carrot” is more informative than “lunch”. For a meal with several ingredients, keep enough detail to identify it later. In Pola, type the name or choose a suggestion, then enter the time of the meal.
Note the amount relative to the portion
Pola offers four choices: tasted, a little, half or all. These are approximate descriptions of the portion offered, not measurements. Two entries marked “all” may refer to different amounts.
One meal is the food, how much was eaten, one reaction and the time.
Use the note field for a detail that the choices do not capture.
Separate preferences from symptoms
Liking a food, refusing it and developing a rash are different observations. The form lets you choose one reaction and add detail in a note.
Describe what you saw and when rather than labelling a food as an allergen. A journal does not diagnose an allergy or intolerance. Discuss concerning symptoms with a medical professional without waiting to collect more entries.
Keep meals alongside the day
Enable the free Meals module in More › Features. Meals appear alongside milk, sleep, nappies and other records, so you can find the day you want to discuss.
A report in Pola Plus can include meals and recorded reactions from the selected period.
Meals and recorded reactions in the sample report.
A “new food” marker refers to its first appearance in the recorded history. The journal cannot account for an earlier try that was never logged.
