How to Manage Chronic Illness With Calorie Tracking Apps

Chronic illnesses are wide-reaching and varying in scope, with nearly half of all Americans suffering from at least one chronic disease, ranging from depression to diabetes.¹

Managing chronic diseases with the help of calorie tracker apps can be highly beneficial. Many go above and beyond simply counting calories, allowing you to track symptoms, water intake, macro- and micronutrient consumption, and more. 

This article will dive into how you might use calorie trackers to manage your chronic disease, including some of our top choices to try out. 

What Are Chronic Diseases?

A chronic condition is a long-term (one year or longer) medical condition that is generally progressive and can be managed but not always cured.

Although there are hundreds of potential chronic conditions, some of the most common are obesity, hypertension, coronary heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, cancer (excluding skin cancer), and depression.² 

More than two-thirds of all deaths are caused by one or more of these five chronic diseases: heart disease, cancer, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and diabetes.

Most autoimmune diseases are also chronic and can go back and forth between remission and flare-ups of symptoms. Some of the most diagnosed autoimmune diseases include inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, and multiple sclerosis.

Can You Use Calorie Tracking for Chronic Disease Management?

Although chronic diseases can vary widely, affecting any organ or system in the body, proper nutrition can help with many symptoms or biomarkers of them. This is not always true (we would never say that eating veggies will cure your cancer), but tracking your calories, nutrients, hydration, or symptoms can certainly help manage aspects of your health and quality of life. 

Tracking calories and maintaining a healthy weight with an app can empower patients, help them gain personal insights about their condition, and provide valuable support on their treatment journey. 

Here are some things to consider when choosing an app for managing chronic disease:

1. Choose the Right App: First, you need an app tailored to your health condition and needs. Although calorie tracking can be important, you’ll want an app that tracks more than just calories, such as micronutrients, hydration, physical exercise, mood, symptoms, and medication reminders. You may also need an app that can sync with other health devices or apps (like your Apple Watch, fitness trackers, glucometers, or blood pressure monitors). 
2. Decide on a Goal: You may just want to use a calorie tracker app to keep an eye on your overall food intake and weight, or you may want to focus on specific aspects like sodium intake for hypertension, carb consumption for diabetes, or pain management.
3. Track Consistently: Log your meals and snacks (in addition to symptoms, pain, or other markers) every day.
4. Pay Attention to Food Quality: Although calories are important, overall diet quality is also essential for managing chronic illnesses. Focus on nutrient-dense foods rich in antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals in addition to eating the right amount of calories for your body. 
5. Utilize Additional Features: Certain apps also allow you to track micronutrient intake, hydration, physical activity, medication reminders, and mental health. Many also have a community area where you can interact with and receive support from others going through the same thing. 

A few of our favorite apps for tracking calories, nutrient intake, and physical activity include MyFitnessPal, MyNetDiary, and Cronometer.

Benefits of Calorie Tracking for Chronic Illness

A risk factor for almost all of the most common chronic illnesses is obesity, so calorie tracking can help with weight loss if that is your goal. Chronic diseases related to having excess body weight include heart disease, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, stroke, hypertension, obstructive sleep apnea, fatty liver disease, gout, arthritis, and respiratory problems.³

One systematic review and meta-analysis combining data from 22 clinical studies found that people with chronic illnesses who used a mobile health app reduced their body weight (by an average of 5.4 pounds), waist circumference (by an average of 1 inch), and daily calorie consumption (by an average of 150 calories) compared to people who didn’t use apps.⁴

According to the researchers, “Dietary mobile apps are effective self-monitoring tools, and their use results in positive effects on measured nutritional outcomes in chronic diseases, especially weight loss.”⁴

Losing weight can improve symptoms and slow the progression of many chronic diseases. Even as little as a 5% weight loss can significantly improve the health of an overweight or obese person, including reducing the risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, liver disease, and kidney disease.⁵

On the flip side, some people with chronic illnesses, like cancer patients or Crohn’s disease, need to ensure they are eating enough calories and not undereating. In these cases, tracking daily food can help facilitate weight management or gain.

In addition to monitoring weight, there are several other ways by which tracking apps can benefit people with chronic illnesses, including various health biomarkers, medication adherence, pain management, and day-to-day symptoms. Here are some ways that mobile apps can help provide valuable insights to people with specific chronic diseases:

• Diabetes: Managing blood sugar levels and tracking carbohydrate intake. 
• Heart Disease: Tracking cholesterol and blood pressure through nutrition.
• Kidney Disease: Tracking protein, potassium, and phosphorus intake.
• Cancer: Ensuring adequate nutrition to maintain weight, support recovery, and manage treatment side effects.
• Arthritis: Tracking pain symptoms and inflammatory triggers. 
• Digestive disorders or autoimmune diseases: Managing symptoms by identifying and avoiding trigger foods. 
• Depression: Track day-to-day mood changes, emotions, and nutritional quality. Sleep cycle monitoring can also play a role in mental health issues like depression. 
• Breathing problems or lung diseases: Track air quality, asthma attacks, breathing issues, or other environmental triggers.

However, be aware that anyone with an eating disorder or a history of disordered eating should avoid using calorie trackers, as the apps can make you more likely to engage in disordered eating behaviors again. If you start skipping meals, feeling guilty about your food choices, being overly preoccupied with what you eat, or being obsessive about any part of calorie counting, it’s time to take a break. You can also speak with a Registered Dietitian specializing in eating disorders or chat, call, or text with trained volunteers at the National Eating Disorders Association helpline for free.

Chronic Disease Management Apps

Some mobile apps, in addition to calorie tracking, are designed to target specific areas of chronic disease management. 

• Medisafe: If your chronic disease requires multiple medications, Medisafe is an app that can provide personalized real-time reminders for when to take each medication and vital drug interaction warnings. 
• mySugr: This app helps track and manage blood sugar levels in people with diabetes. It allows users to track blood sugar, carb counts, meals, activity, and insulin doses. 
• SmartBP: A blood pressure app tracker that enables you to log, monitor, evaluate, and share blood pressure reports with your doctor. 
• Curable: If your chronic condition causes pain, Curable is an app that uses a biopsychosocial approach to pain management, including lessons, guided meditations, visualizations, and research-backed techniques.
• PainScale: Another chronic disease management app related to pain that helps you track your pain level and delivers personalized pain management education. 
• Bearable: This chronic disease management app is a “pain and mental health journal” that can help you track health data like daily symptoms, pain, fatigue, emotions, mental health, sleep patterns, and more. 
• Flaredown: A comprehensive app to help you determine what triggers your flareups (common in autoimmune diseases). This app is beneficial if you think food affects your chronic disease symptoms. 
• LivingWith: People with cancer can use LivingWith to receive daily positive affirmations, track mood, pain, and other symptoms, find local communities with similar illnesses, and use the “request” section to easily ask loved ones for help with daily tasks like meals or rides to appointments.

Chronic Illness FAQs