Free food and symptom tracker template (printable and spreadsheet)
A good food and symptom tracker has fewer columns than you'd think. Here is a template that works on paper or in a spreadsheet, and how to get something useful out of it.
· 5 min read · Educational, not medical advice
Whether you have Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis or IBS, the point of a food and symptom tracker is the same: to see, over a few weeks, which meals tend to be followed by symptoms and which sit fine. The best template is the one you will actually keep filling in, so this one is short.
The columns that matter
| Column | What to write | Why it helps |
|---|---|---|
| Date and time | When you ate | Lets you line symptoms up with meals |
| What you ate | The meal, including drinks | The thing you're testing |
| Portion | Small, normal or large | Quantity often matters as much as the food |
| How it sat | Fine, meh or nope | A quick verdict you'll actually record |
| Symptoms | What, when it started, severity 1–5 | The outcome you're tracking |
| Bathroom | Stool type (Bristol 1–7), urgency | An objective marker many care teams ask about |
| Notes | Stress, sleep, missed dose, period, travel | Separates food effects from everything else |
If that feels like too much, keep three columns: what you ate, how it sat, and any symptoms with a time. You can add the rest later.
Printable versions
- [Free 7-day food and symptom log](/printables/7-day-food-symptom-log) (PDF): one page per day with meals, fine/meh/nope, symptoms, Bristol stool type and medicines, plus a summary page for your appointment.
- [Free Bristol stool chart and log](/printables/bristol-stool-log) (PDF): if stool changes are what you mainly track.
- [Free IBD food list](/printables/ibd-food-list) (PDF): one row per food with your own verdict, once you have a few weeks of notes.
- [30-day journal](/printables/30-day-journal) (paid PDF): 30 daily pages, weekly reviews and a doctor-visit summary, if you want a full month bound together.
Spreadsheet version
In any spreadsheet app, make one row per meal and these column headings: Date, Time, Meal, Portion, How it sat, Symptom, Symptom time, Severity (1–5), Stool type, Notes. Freeze the header row, and add a filter so you can show only the "nope" rows or only one food. A data-validation dropdown for "How it sat" (fine, meh, nope) keeps entries consistent, which makes sorting much easier later.
Review it once a week
- Sort or filter by "nope". Which foods show up more than once?
- Check the same foods on "fine" days. A food that was fine most times is a weak suspect.
- Look at the notes column. Bad days often line up with poor sleep, stress or a missed dose rather than a meal.
- Write a short suspects list of two or three foods to discuss at your next appointment.
Our guide on finding your own trigger foods goes through reading the pattern in more detail, and taking your food log to your GI covers how to summarise it for an appointment.
This guide is educational and not a substitute for advice from your own care team. Talk to your gastroenterologist or a dietitian before cutting foods out based on what your tracker shows.
Quick answers
- Is there a free food and symptom tracker template?
- Yes. The free 7-day food and symptom log on this site is a printable PDF with meals, a fine/meh/nope rating, symptoms, Bristol stool type and medicines. For a spreadsheet, use the columns Date, Time, Meal, Portion, How it sat, Symptom, Symptom time, Severity, Stool type and Notes.
- What should a food and symptom tracker include?
- At minimum: what you ate, roughly how much, how it sat (fine, meh or nope) and any symptoms with the time they started. Stool type and a notes column for stress, sleep and missed medicines make the patterns easier to read.
- How long should I use a food symptom tracker?
- Two to four weeks of ordinary eating usually shows whether anything repeats. Review it once a week rather than after every bad day.
Crohn's Food Tracker is educational support and a self-tracking tool. It is not a medical device and does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always talk to your gastroenterologist or care team before changing your diet, medication or treatment. If you have severe pain, persistent bleeding, a high fever or signs of obstruction, seek urgent care.