Carbs & Cals – diet and diabetes app

Carbs and Cals is an app that allows you to record your food intake and track your progress against nutrition targets in a visual way. Portion sizes are depicted by high quality images making it a visual learning experience. You can quickly learn how your food intake across the day contributes to your nutrient targets and you can become better educated about portion sizes. 

• The app can track calories and a small number of nutrients (including protein, carbohydrate, saturated fat, fibre, calories, alcohol) and your progress to 5 fruit/veg a day.
• The app is designed to enable people to follow a dietary approach that fits with their personal health goals or condition management.
• Examples include tracking calories for weight management or tracking carbs and fibre for management of type 1, type 2 or gestational diabetes.

The database is composed of UK foods and drinks which means foods are not completely relevant to New Zealand diets. The free version can be used to track food intake, however it is basic and most of the features (eg, creating specific or tailored nutrient targets, adding certain portion sizes, recording blood glucose levels, and insulin doses) are only available with paid version.

To use the app, you can search for the food and drink you've consumed, allocate a portion size (with visual cues) and link this to a main meal or snack. You can track and display your priority nutrients and see how you're tracking across the day.

For the complete app description, go to the Google Play(external link), App Store(external link) or, for a more detailed review, see reviews below.

This section is based on the free version of the app.

Clinical review

Reviewer: Lily Henderson, New Zealand Registered Dietitian
Date of review: February 2025
Platform: Apple
Version: 5.36.0. Note: This review is based on the free version of the app.
Comments: Carbs and Cals is a great app with the key feature being an ability to prioritise 1 nutrient and the visual display of foods which help to educate around portion sizes and the contribution to energy and carbs. Users can quickly learn how their food intake across the day contributes to their nutrient targets. Users can become more educated on portion sizes through using this app. For example, a person with type 2 diabetes may plan medication around a dose of 50 g carbs and the app would be helpful.
The biggest limitation is that the app is most relevant to the UK population. However, I think it you were prepared for the fact that it may not be 100% perfect for some people it could be a helpful educational tool, particularly for people with limited literacy.
Safety concerns: People must be 16 years and older to use the app. The app doesn’t have any measures or warning messages to prevent people who are underweight utilising the app. A weight loss goal can be set and accepted for any BMI which endorses unhelpful behaviours and can be harmful.
New Zealand relevance: No – not all features are relevant to New Zealand users. Foods as based on UK foods and there will be many differences in the composition of certain foods and therefore the accuracy of the data may impact on a person’s ability to manage of their health condition. The app can help people to grow an awareness of portion sizes and how they contribute to calorie and carb goals. However, the app needs a lot of development for all features and the food library to be completely accurate and relevant to New Zealanders.