MacroFactor is a detailed food tracker that many people use to fine-tune their eating. If you already use it, MigraineMe can read your meals and look for food triggers, like caffeine, tyramine, and missed meals. You do not have to log your food twice.
A small but important note: MigraineMe does not talk to MacroFactor directly. Instead, MacroFactor sends what you ate to your phone's main health app, and MigraineMe reads it from there. This keeps your information private, because you stay in control of what is shared.
The steps are different on iPhone and Android. Find your phone below.
On iPhone
Step 1: Make sure MacroFactor is sending food to Apple Health
- Open the MacroFactor app on your iPhone.
- Tap Me at the bottom right (the profile icon).
- Tap the gear icon in the top-left of the screen.
- Tap Integrations.
- Tap Apple Health.
- Turn on the switches for Energy, Carbohydrates, Protein, Fat, and any others you want shared.
- When Apple Health pops up, tap Turn All Categories On, then Allow.
If you have already done this in the past, the switches will already be on. That is fine. Move on.
Step 2: Connect MigraineMe to Apple Health and turn on Diet
- Open MigraineMe.
- Tap the gear icon in the top-left of the screen. A drawer slides in from the left.
- Tap Connections.
- Find Apple Health and tap Connect. If it already says Connected, skip to step 6.
- Apple Health will pop up asking for permission. Tap Turn On All, then Allow.
- Open the drawer again and tap Data and Notifications.
- Scroll to the Diet section and turn the Diet switch on.
Step 3: Give it a moment
On iPhone, MigraineMe copies the food you log today from Apple Health. It does this when you open MigraineMe and in the background during the day. Meals from before you connected are not copied over. To be sure the whole day is in, open MigraineMe once after your last meal.
To check it is working:
- Open MigraineMe.
- Tap the Monitor tab.
- Scroll to the Diet card.
- You should see today's food totals and the number of meals and items logged today.
On Android
A small heads-up: MacroFactor's Health Connect support on Android depends on your app version. If you cannot find it after the steps below, see the troubleshooting section.
Step 1: Install Health Connect (if you do not have it)
Health Connect is the bridge between MacroFactor and MigraineMe on Android. It is made by Google and is free.
- Open the Play Store.
- Search for Health Connect.
- Tap Install.
- Open it once after it installs, just to wake it up.
If your phone says "Health Connect is already installed", you are done with this step.
Step 2: Make sure MacroFactor is sending food to Health Connect
- Open the MacroFactor app.
- Tap Me at the bottom right.
- Tap the gear icon in the top-left of the screen.
- Tap Integrations.
- Look for Health Connect in the list and tap it.
- Tap Connect and follow the popup to allow MacroFactor to share meals.
If you do not see Health Connect in MacroFactor, update the app in the Play Store and try again.
Step 3: Connect MigraineMe to Health Connect
- Open MigraineMe.
- Tap the gear icon in the top-left of the screen. A drawer slides in from the left.
- Tap Connections.
- Find Health Connect and tap Connect.
- A Health Connect window will appear. Tap Allow all (or make sure Nutrition is on), then Allow.
- Open the drawer again and tap Data and Notifications.
- Scroll to the Diet section and check the Diet switch is on. It usually turns on by itself once the nutrition permission is given.
Step 4: Give it a moment
The first time, MigraineMe copies the last 14 days of meals from Health Connect. After that, new meals usually arrive within 15 to 30 minutes.
What MigraineMe does with your food data
MigraineMe looks at things in your meals that are known to trigger migraines for some people:
- Caffeine in coffee, tea, energy drinks, dark chocolate
- Tyramine in aged cheese, cured meats, fermented foods
- Histamine in red wine, aged cheese, smoked fish
- Magnesium and riboflavin from your daily totals
- Low-calorie days, which can mean a missed meal
Tyramine and histamine are worked out from the names of your foods. They only work when your food app shares the name of each food. Apps that share only nutrient totals still give caffeine, sugar, magnesium and the other numbers.
When one of these food triggers is in your trigger list and is crossed on a day, it shows in the Top contributors card on Home. Once you have logged at least 5 attacks, the weekly recalibration (Premium) can adjust these triggers for you.
Troubleshooting
"Diet card is empty"
- Make sure you have actually logged something in MacroFactor today.
- Force-close MigraineMe (swipe it away) and reopen.
- On iPhone, go to Settings → Apps → Health → Data Access & Devices → MigraineMe and check that Dietary items are turned on.
- On Android, open Health Connect and tap App permissions → MigraineMe to check the nutrition permissions are on.
"MacroFactor does not list Health Connect on Android"
- Update MacroFactor in the Play Store.
- If it still does not appear, you can log meals straight into MigraineMe using the barcode scanner or the search box.
"Only calories show up, not vitamins"
MacroFactor focuses on calories and the big three (carbs, protein, fat). Some of the smaller vitamins and minerals do not always come through. For best results on trigger detection, also turn on as many switches as MacroFactor offers under Integrations → Apple Health (or Health Connect).
Still stuck?
Write to us at help@migraineme.app and tell us:
- Whether you are on iPhone or Android
- The name of the MacroFactor screen you are stuck on
- A screenshot if you can
We usually reply within a day.
