Cronometer adds immunity and women’s health to micronutrient tracking app

07 Apr 2021 --- Cronometer, a micronutrient tracking app, has added capabilities for immunity scores and women’s nutrition targets. The Canada-based company emphasizes that a personalized approach can help prevent micronutrient deficiencies, which have been shown to contribute to several major illnesses.

“Tracking micronutrients in Cronometer gives you feedback on the quality of your diet. Identifying micronutrients that are lacking in your diet can help address health issues ranging from dry skin and hair to fatigue, muscle cramps and headaches,” Karen Stark, Cronometer’s lead nutrition scientist, tells NutritionInsight.

It can also help address more chronic conditions like bone loss, cancer and heart disease.

Cronometer’s individualized nutrient targets are based on the consumer’s sex and life stage. They are customizable to meet each person’s needs based on dietary preferences, restrictions, weight goals and health status.  

“Making changes to your diet can be difficult, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach to healthy eating. Personalization is important to support different approaches to making dietary changes to improve health. Using these tools helps us address dietary trends like low carbohydrate or ketogenic diets and the rise of vegetarian and vegan lifestyles,” explains Stark.

Innova Market Insights has crowned “Tailored to Fit” as one of its Top Ten Trends for 2021. The market researcher reports that 64 percent of global consumers have found more ways to tailor their life and products to their individual styles, beliefs and needs.A breakdown of the Cronometer Immune Support scoring.

How does it work?
People can record the food they eat throughout the day in Cronometer. “People find the entry of foods is easy with many shortcuts available and a robust food database with accurate nutrient information, which helps them stick to their diets,” says Christopher Gardner, faculty director and director of nutrition studies group at Stanford University.

At the end of a certain time period, Cronometer’s users receive a nutrition report, providing a detailed nutritional breakdown of the person’s food. The nutrition scores are percentages against the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for the nutrients that contribute to immune support, bone health and others. 

Users often bring these reports to their health practitioner to aid in the diagnosis of nutrition-related ailments, notes the company.

In addition to keeping track of micronutrients, Cronometer can also be used to record other data like sleep time and blood sugars. It also supports the full integration of biometrics from all the major activity trackers.

The platform now has over 4.5 million registered users, as well as enterprise customers like Boston’s Children’s Hospital. Cronometer aims to provide a more tangible way of looking at how nutrition sustains health.

Rising immunity interest
The Cronometer Immune Support scoring takes folate, vitamins B12, A, C, D, as well as copper, zinc, omega 6, omega 3 and the ratio of omega 3:6 into account. 

The company details that these vitamins and minerals are needed to protect the body from infections caused by bacteria and viruses and to balance the body’s inflammation.

“We saw an interest in strategies to support immune health that coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic and were fortunate to have the data to provide nutrition-based tools to help,” details Stark. 

Indeed, Innova Market Insights’ 2020 consumer survey revealed that six out of ten global consumers are increasingly looking for F&B products that support their immune health, with one in three saying that concerns about immune health increased in 2020 over 2019.

Stark believes that the importance of the link between nutrition and immunity has not been communicated well to consumers. 

“Many people may reach for vitamin C when they feel a cold coming on or chicken soup when they are sick. There are more ways we can assist our immune system through a healthy diet. The Immune Support Nutrition Score gives quick feedback on how well your diet is setting your immune system up to handle challenges that come your way,” she details. 

Notably, DSM is also harnessing personalized nutrition to address immunity. The company recently announced a US$100 million investment in Hologram Sciences, which is developing a rapid immunity concept.

Women’s diverse nutrient needs
Also new to Cronometer’s capabilities is its Women’s Nutrition Targets. 

“We wanted to make it easy for women to access nutrition information that is tailored for them. Having specific targets for women’s health gives them feedback about whether their diet is meeting their unique needs,” says Stark. 

Additionally, the app’s profiles specifically for women can be adjusted for age, pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Stark points out that women have different nutrient needs through their life stages: menstruation, pregnancy, while breastfeeding and following menopause.

She postulates that this is part of the reason why they have traditionally been more engaged with healthy eating. 

The women’s health sector is continuing to evolve, with busy lifestyles and a redefining of gender bringing the arena into its modern form. 

By Katherine Durrell