A food diary helps understanding food reactions or to track symptoms as a result of eating certain types of food. A food diary can be useful in diagnosing or narrowing down possible triggers before experiencing a flare-up.

On MyFoodAllergyTeam, the social network and online support group for those living with food allergy, members talk about a range of personal experiences and struggles. Journals are one of the top 10 topics most discussed.

Here are a few question-and-answer threads about journals:

• How to make a decent food diary?

• Help on how to eat with 19 food allergies?

• Today is our first day of keeping a food journal. Any advice?

Here are conversations that have taken place about journals:

• Feeling good. I found out from a week of food journaling what I'm allergic to.

• A food journal sounds like a great idea for tracking problems.

• I think this journaling and being ridiculously careful about what I eat is helping.

Have another topic you'd like to discuss or explore? Go to MyFoodAllergyTeam today and start the conversation. You'll be surprised just how many others may share similar stories.

Feel free to ask a question here.