CES 2026: Garmin’s new nutrition tracker competes with MyFitnessPal
Garmin’s native nutrition tracking is now live in the Connect app. We broke the news yesterday following our teardown of version 5.20, and now the feature has rolled out officially to Connect+ subscribers.
Garmin Connect adds full food logging tools
A new Nutrition section has appeared under Health Stats in the Garmin Connect app. Users can now log meals using barcode scanning, manual entry or a camera-based food recognition feature. The system is part of Garmin’s Connect+ subscription and integrates calories, protein, fat and carbohydrate tracking into the broader health dashboard.
Food entries draw from a global database that includes packaged items, restaurant foods and regional dishes. There’s also the option to create custom foods and full meals for quicker future logging. Recently used and favourite foods are accessible directly on compatible Garmin watches.
Goals, insights and performance links
Users can set daily calorie and macro targets, either using Garmin’s recommendations or by manually adjusting them. These suggestions are based on body measurements and activity data from tracked workouts. Garmin says the system supports a range of goals, from general wellness to performance optimisation.
The feature is also tied into Garmin’s Active Intelligence engine. This system analyses user behaviour and serves up AI-powered insights, like identifying if late-night eating is affecting sleep quality. These prompts appear inside the Connect app as part of a growing list of AI-generated feedback aimed at behaviour change.
Watch support and dashboard integration
Food logging doesn’t stop at the phone. Supported Garmin watches can display a daily summary of calories and macros, and offer quick access to favourite meals. Some watches also allow launching the Nutrition app via voice command, speeding up the logging process when away from the phone.
Nutrition data is now part of the main performance dashboard in Connect. This allows users to view their food intake alongside training metrics and recovery stats. You can drill into calorie and macro trends over days, weeks, months or even across the entire year.
Rollout notes and early impressions
This feature is available in version 5.20.0.20 of the Connect app and is not part of any beta. You’ll need an active Connect+ subscription to access it. Garmin is currently offering new users a 30-day free trial, and a 14-day second trial for those who already tested the service previously.
Feedback so far has been mixed. Some users have been able to log meals smoothly using barcodes and camera scans. Others report limitations such as unavailable regions, database inconsistencies, or food entries that lack simple serving sizes like grams. Several users also had to manually switch their region settings in order to find the right food entries, especially when travelling.
Garmin outlines its vision for holistic tracking
In its official press release, Garmin described the new nutrition feature as part of a larger plan to unify health, fitness and lifestyle data under one platform. Susan Lyman, Garmin’s VP of Consumer Sales and Marketing, said the feature is aimed at all users, regardless of where they are in their health journey.
She added that the goal is to simplify tracking across wellness categories by giving users a single place to view and manage their progress. It’s another sign that Garmin is pushing Connect+ beyond just a performance dashboard, building out a more complete set of lifestyle tools behind the subscription tier.
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