Shark Tank: Why Did The Sharks Trash A Smart Solution To The U.S. Obesity Crisis?

Remember that food journal you kept during the nutrition unit in health class? You had to jot down everything you ate and how much. Then you looked up the calories in a database and added them up. It was a tedious chore to merely confirm your unabated denial that you eat too much, especially when it comes to deep-fried foods and chocolate.

Very soon you can throw away that spiral-bound notebook and instead use a SmartPlate made by Fitly. The SmartPlate is “the world’s first Wi-Fi and Bluetooth-enabled device that instantly tracks and analyzes everything you eat, so you never have to enter anything manually again,” claims Philadelphia-based Fitly.

The patent-pending device analyzes the food on its surface and tells you the nutritional value. It’s equipped with weight sensors and three cameras similar to smartphone cameras. Smartplate uses the image and weight to analyze your meal by crossing it with the USDA’s database of more than 8,000 foods and another database with more than 100,000 restaurant meals and 300,000 different grocery food items.

Scientific studies prove that simply keeping a food journal can help you lose weight and stay fit. The journal raises your awareness about bad eating habits, patterns of overeating and the number calories you’re eating. Just having to document food intake deters over eating because you won’t want to write it down.

SmartPlate is divided into three sections to help you control your portions. The “Portion Patrol” feature alerts when you put too much food on the plate, Fitly claims. The dishwasher-safe plate works with a water-resistant charger that you set next the sink.

If you go out to eat, you can snap a picture of your food and submit it to the SmartPlate Android or iOS app. The app miraculously tells you what you’re eating and the nutritional data: number of calories and grams of protein, carbs, sugar, fiber, fat and sodium.

Read the full article here.

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