Has anyone used an app that calculates carbs using a photo?

T1D Tech & Daily Management Support
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There are a number of apps available that use AI to estimate carbs based on a photo of what you’re planning to eat. “Estimate” is of course the operative word but I’m wondering if anyone has tried one and how well it worked? Recipes - especially for home cooked food - can vary so greatly I wonder if it’s even worth bothering🤔?

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Hi Dorie, no I haven’t but with the improvements of photo identification and the AI routines these little programs use get better and better. I used a similar app to identify a species of hedge in my front yard by taking a picture. Many of the carb estimating apps are pay/subscriptions but I think there are some free ones maybe try a few? Anyway good luck :peace_symbol::shamrock:

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I tried an app last year. It wasn’t useful but I’ll try again next year. I ran into some issues with the “take a picture” method though that made me think.

  1. By the time the food is in front of me to snap a pic it’s too late to bolus
  2. Getting out my phone, taking a pic and waiting for a response took way longer than I take to make a swag (sophisticated wild ass guess) about the number of carbs on my plate
  3. Consider Schrodinger’s burrito: there’s no way to know what’s in the burrito until you eat it. There are a lot of foods like that, salad is another one there’s no way to estimate how much is in there from a picture

Have you tried the meal picture logging in the Dexcom G7 app? It does AI ingredient detection, Dexcom says carb estimating is in development. Logging a pic is really great way to go because you can go back in Clarity or Glooko and see that you estimated x but next time x plus a bit more or less would be better.

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So since there’s no way to tell what’s in the burrito it has everything and nothing simultaneously until you open (eat) it? :laughing: thanks for the giggle Chris.

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I experimented with Dexcom’s photo feature just to see if you had to use a “live” photo or if you could use a screenshot (you can). But with every one I tried I had to enter the carbs manually - which would be helpful to have in the future but as you say, may be more trouble than is worth for something you’re eating first time around.

If one DID provide a number at great I would find it useful as a baseline to bolus from, and once I figured out how hidden ingredients or manner of preparation factored in, I could adjust from there. I guess it’s a step up from an educated (?) guess.

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