Carbs & Cals – diet and diabetes app

Carbs & Cals app

  • An app for recording food intake and tracking  progress against nutrition targets in a visual way.
  • Examples include tracking calories for weight management or tracking carbs and fibre for type 1, type 2 or gestational diabetes management.

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Carbs & Cals app By Chello Publishing

Features

  • Weight related goal setting, eg, lose weight, maintain weight, gain weight.
  • Food diary with customisation for ingredients and meals.
  • Visual portions of food can be selected (up to 6).
  • Visual tracker for up to 5 nutrients from calories, carbs, protein, fat, saturated fat, fibre, alcohol, 5-a-day.
  • 1 priority nutrient can be selected and there's a counter in the food diary.
  • Daily macronutrient targets.
  • Ability to record weight and blood glucose (paid version only).
  • Data exports (paid version only).
  • Downloadable graphs and reporting (paid version only).
Country of origin United Kingdom
Clinical review 

3 star review


Read a clinical review below.

Security and privacy Does the app:
  • Collect medical information? Basic information (age, sex, height, weight, activity levels) for free version and more detailed information can be logged (eg, blood glucose levels in upgraded version) however App Terms & Conditions state that personal data is not stored.
  • Require a login? No
  • Have password protection? No
  • Have a privacy policy? Yes
  • Require internet access to use? Yes

Read more about safety and security when using apps.

Brochures:
Tips to improve your privacy and security [PDF, 65 KB] Healthify He Puna Waiora, NZ
Staying safe online(external link) Netsafe, NZ

Cost Basic is free; paid upgrade.
See the app website(external link) for details of cost. 
Advertisements This app contains no ads.
How to get the 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.

PROS CONS 

Food database is visual and engaging to help with portion size education, As an example, you can pick between 3 pictorial sizes of an apple (eg, small, medium, large) or enter a custom weight.

The app is easy to use and intuitive. You can easily record your daily intake of foods and previously used foods are saved and easy to add again.

You can create combinations of foods (meals or simple snacks) for foods you eat often, eg, toast, spread and marmite which makes it quick to add in future.

Select 1 priority nutrient as your focus. It's helpful for tracking carbs or fibre for diabetes management or calories for weight management.

✘ The free version has limited functionality. Most of the helpful features such as adding a custom weight, editing macronutrient targets, logging health measures (eg, blood glucose levels, weight), and downloadable reports are only available with the upgraded version.

✘ Some units are UK-focused (eg, calories instead of kilojoules).

✘ The integrated scanner is based on UK foods (200,000+ foods) so very few New Zealand food products can be scanned.

✘ The restaurant foods section is based on UK venues so isn’t relevant to the New Zealand food supply. A handful of takeaway options (eg, KFC) would be relevant but are based on UK menus.

Clinical review

3 star 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.

Disclaimer: The NZ Health App Library is a free consumer service to help you decide whether a health app would be suitable for you. Our review process is independent. We have no relationship with the app developers or companies and no responsibility for the service they provide. This means that if you have an issue with one of the apps we have reviewed, you will need to contact the app developer or company directly.

Credits: Healthify editorial team. Healthify is brought to you by Health Navigator Charitable Trust.