Calcium Counter and Tracker 12+
For strong bone, teeth, muscle
First Line Medical Communications Ltd
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- $3.99
Screenshots
Description
Use this app to avoid calcium deficiency causing weakened bone, teeth, muscle, skin, hair, nails if you're on a milk-free or weight loss diet or pregnant or breastfeeding
Use this app to avoid calcium deficiency, which is common if you are on a vegan, milk-free or weightloss diet or if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. Deficiency results in weakened fracture-prone bones and teeth, impaired muscle function with muscle cramps and spasms, dry skin, and brittle hair and nails. A higher calcium intake has also been linked to a lower risk of bowel cancer in women under 55 years of age.
Set your target daily calcium intake based on guidance provided in the app and your preferences for weights of food (g or oz) and display of calcium content in foods and beverages (ie, %target/serving, mg/100g or mg/1oz, or %target/100g or %target/1oz).
Record food and beverage consumption using the barcode scanner (please note that only manufacturers in the US are required to include potassium content in the nutrition label read by the 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 personalize 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-calcium foods (ie, contain more than 150mg of sodium per serving) appear in purple 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 150mg of calcium 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 150mg of calcium 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 150mg of calcium 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 150mg of calcium per serving and are neither UPF, plant, prebiotic nor probiotic and are healthy when consumed in moderation as part of a healthy diet.
What’s New
Version 2.12.0
All high-calcium foods (ie, contain more than 150mg of calcium per serving) are color-coded in purple type. Revised "How to use the app" instructions.
Ratings and Reviews
Needs more foods added
Very basic. Adequate but many foods are not listed, even many that are high in calcium. You end up having to choose the closest match.
Developer Response ,
The app has been redesigned using new Apple technologies and now has a barcode scanner, but the United States and Canada are the only countries requiring manufacturers to provide calcium content in the Nutrition label, so the data may not be available elsewhere in the world using the barcode. This is why we also provide a 325+ database of unbranded foods and beverages so that users in countries other than the United States or Canada can find a best fit, and also an "Add food" tab for users to add in their own foods to the database if they know the calcium content. We constantly improve the app as new technologies evolve and new information becomes available. Once you have bought the app, you get free upgrades, you are not required to register, your data are not collected, additional payments are not required and there is no advertising. We will soon be providing App Previews on the App Store to provide guidance on how to use the Settings tab to set your preferred units for weights (g or ounces) and for amounts of nutrient (in terms of weight or % daily target) per serving and per weight unit, and how to record your intake by dictation, search and favoriting. This guidance is also provided in the "How to use the app" instructions included with the app.
Very clunky
The app is just too difficult to use. It doesn’t have a barcode database so when you scan it brings you to what it considers is the closest thing in its database so you have to spend time customizing its numbers to match the calcium content on the label. Or you enter everything yourself. Other apps simply allow you to scan; is that to difficult/expensive for these developers? I could go on about the problems. Listen to the reviewers, as I should have done, skip this one.
Developer Response ,
We would like to make it clear that scanning barcodes will record the food and its calcium content if the barcode is in the international Open Food Facts database. But not all foods have a barcode and in many countries manufacturers do not provide calcium content in the nutrition label — unlike, calories, carb, protein, fiber, fat, calcium content is not required in the label in most countries except the US. The app therefore provides a large curated database for the user to quickly find a best fit using dictation, search or favorites. Alternatively you can add in your own foods to the app's database if they are not in the Open Food Facts barcode database using the data on the packaging — see instructions for use in the "How to use the app section" "7. Record intake" and "9. Add food"
Truly terrible
Not intuitive. Used scanner and Cheerios comes up with 0 data. Tried to manually fix it. Nothing worked. If you can’t even get through breakfast it’s time to delete the app
Developer Response ,
Cheerios is on the Open Food Facts database, so surprised the scanner came up with 0 data. Please contact us at support@firstlinemedicalcommunications.co.uk and we will help you add Cheerios to the database. Guidance is also provided at the top of the Info tab screen in the "How to use the app" instructions "10. Add food". Once you become familiar with using the app, it becomes very straightforward and quick to log daily intake.
App Privacy
The developer, First Line Medical Communications Ltd, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy.
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- First Line Medical Communications
- Size
- 92.3 MB
- Category
- Health & Fitness
- Compatibility
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- iPhone
- Requires iOS 13.0 or later.
- iPad
- Requires iPadOS 13.0 or later.
- iPod touch
- Requires iOS 13.0 or later.
- Apple Vision
- Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
- Languages
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English
- Age Rating
- 12+ Infrequent/Mild Alcohol, Tobacco, or Drug Use or References
- Copyright
- © First Line Medical Communications
- Price
- $3.99
Supports
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Family Sharing
Up to six family members can use this app with Family Sharing enabled.