Use this app to ensure you eat enough protein from whole food if you're on a plant-based, dairy-free or weightloss diet or to increase your protein intake if you're over 40 to prevent age-related muscle wasting (sarcopenia). Supplements & high-protein processed foods are not the answer — they are associated with unhealthy higher-than-RDA protein levels and do not provide the thousands of polyphenols & other natural chemicals found in whole food that we need for optimal health. Effects of protein deficiency include muscle wasting and weakness; osteoporosis; brittle hair, dry skin, and weak nails; poor growth, development and wound healing; susceptibility to infections and illnesses; and depression and anxiety.
Protein also suppresses hunger & helps in the prevention and management of overweight/obesity.
Set your daily protein intake based on guidance provided in the app and your preferences for weights of food (g or oz) and display of protein content in foods and beverages (ie, %target/serving, g/100g or g/1oz, or %target/100g or %target/1oz).
Record food and beverage consumption using the barcode scanner, dictation, search or by favoriting foods and using the serving sizes provided (which can be changed at any time). Tap the notepad to add notes.
Monitor daily and long-term progress, export data to share with healthcare providers, synchronize data with other First Line Medical Communications Ltd nutrient counter apps, and share data with Apple's HealthKit.
Add your own foods and recipes and change serving sizes to personalise the app's 400-item database for you.
The app also provides nutritional information for many healthy foods and supports a healthy gut microbiome diet using color-coded type and icons as follows:
1. All high-protein foods (ie, contain more than 15g of protein per serving) appear in blue type. Tap on the food name to find out more about the food including the serving size and see icons: a green leaf icon indicates that the food is a plant and can be included as one of the 30 different types of plant per week recommended by experts for a healthy gut microbiome; a red warning triangle icon indicates that the food is ultra-processed (see below); a gold microbe icon indicates that the food is a probiotic.
2. Plants that can be included as one of the 30 different types of plant per week recommended by experts for a healthy gut microbiome and contain less than 15g of protein per serving are in green type (with a green leaf icon used to indicate a plant in the food popup). The most prebiotic of these plants (ie, those particularly beneficial for the gut microbiome) are in a darker green type.
3. Fermented foods that contain beneficial live microbes to become part of the gut microbiome (probiotics) and contain less than 15g of protein per serving are in gold type with a gold microbe icon in the food popup.
4. Foods that are likely to be ultra-processed (UPFs) — ie, contain ingredients not found in a home kitchen (eg, preservatives, flavorings, and emulsifiers) and contain less than 15g of protein per serving are in red type with a red warning triangle in the food popup. UPFs are often high-calorie, low-fiber, high-saturated fat, high-sugar, high-sodium, low-nutrient foods linked to obesity and chronic inflammation (due to their adverse effect on the gut microbiome), which is a key feature of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). NCDs include type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, many cancers, depression, dementia and Parkinson's disease.
5. Foods in black type contain less than 15g of protein per serving and are neither UPF, plant, prebiotic nor probiotic and are healthy when consumed in moderation as part of a healthy diet.