Garmin finally adds native food tracking, but you’ll have to pay for it

If you use your Garmin watch to track runs, sleep, and stress but log your food in a different app, Garmin is making things easier. At CES 2026, the company announced a big update to Garmin Connect that now includes full nutrition tracking.

According to Garmin’s press release, you can now view both burned and consumed calories in one place, get AI insights on how your diet impacts recovery, and see how your meals relate to your performance.

However, this isn’t a free update for all users. The comprehensive nutrition feature is exclusively for Garmin Connect+ subscribers, the company’s premium service tier that costs $7 per month or $70 per year.

Until now, nutrition has been Garmin’s weak spot. You could track calories and macros, but only by linking external services like MyFitnessPal and hoping the sync behaved itself. Garmin Connect handled workouts, sleep, stress, and recovery well, but food tracking never felt fully integrated.

This update helps close that gap. Now, you can log calories, carbs, protein, and fat right in the Connect app, and see daily, weekly, or monthly reports. Foods can be added manually through a searchable database, scanned via barcode, or estimated using your phone’s camera, which attempts to recognize meals from photos.

The main improvement goes beyond convenience. Nutrition data now connects with Garmin’s Active Intelligence system, part of the Connect+ experience. Calories are now linked to your training load, recovery, and sleep data. If you eat a heavy meal late at night, the app might remind you how it could affect your sleep.

For most users, this new feature won’t replace professional nutrition advice, but it does make it easier to track your food along with your training.