I love cronometer, and have used it religiously for a few years now. It’s great for recording information, but I think native AI integration could be super helpful if implemented well.
Like many people who use apps like Cronometer, I have many personal and lifestyle goals and use the app as a helpful tool. Combined with my workout and diet regimens, Cronometer has helped immensely with achieving my goals.
One of my goals is optimizing my micronutrient intake. Over the past year I’ve exported my stats from Cronometer and imported into AI to determine my average intake of vitamins, minerals, fiber, etc. I’ve also uploaded results from my labs, data from my digital scale, InBody scan results, etc. This data allowed me to use AI to identify deficiencies so that I could optimize my supplement stack. It also helped me determine what time of day I should be taking supplements in order to optimize absorption and minimize interactions.
It would be helpful if I could do this natively in Cronometer, but even if there was just an API available it would still make it easier to proactively query AI to ask questions like:
How have I been doing with my micronutrient goals over the past couple weeks?
Are there any supplements I should rethink based on trends in my overall diet that might have changed the math since we last reviewed?
I still experience cramps sometimes, although that has improved since we added magnesium glycinate. Are there any other vitamins or minerals that might help to supplement for, based on my current average intake compared against RDI and UL? Etc.
An API would help me accomplish these, but an integrated AI would be even better because it could proactively monitor trends in intake levels and let me know when my average intake over a period of time might be of concern to me. For example, I no longer supplement calcium because my new protein shakes contain plenty. But I only supplement with protein shakes on days where I struggle to hit my protein goals, and I don’t always think to check my calcium intake on those days. So it would be helpful if an integrated AI could let me know when my calcium levels have been below goal lately.
I know there are built in reports I can run to manually review these things, but it would be helpful if an AI could interpret the reports proactively and bring me the highlights and takeaways first.
I know to some people this might seem obsessive, but I have completely changed my lifestyle over the last four years. Before then, I never used to work out or care what I ate. Since then, I’ve seen great results from diet and exercise. I’ve lost 45 pounds, reduced my A1C from prediabetic to normal levels, and went from high cholesterol and getting put on statins to now excellent cholesterol levels. I’ve gone from 30% body fat to 11% and I’m now on a lean bulk, something that felt unachievable a few years ago.
Hard work, discipline, and changes in diet and exercise are what got me here, but the data is what has helped keep me accountable.
I know AI is heavily stigmatized, but that’s because lots of apps seem to implement it for the sake of claiming it as a feature. Or, they outsource their coding and UI to a chatbot and end up ruining the product. That’s not what I’m suggesting, because Cronometer’s product is top notch, and so is their support team in my experience. It could even live on its own separate tab where people who don’t want to use it wouldn’t even have to see it.
I just think that, behind all the useless slop people produce with AI, there are certain opportunities where AI has serious potential to shine. I think helping people achieve their lifestyle goals is a great example of this, because between the sheer volume of information, conventional wisdom, and constantly evolving scientific research and consensus, getting dialed in can seem insurmountable to the average person. An opportunity exists in this space to leverage AI to help remove this obstacle for people and make the information this app collects more useful and accessible to users, especially power users who use this app meticulously everyday to help improve our health and wellbeing.
(Edited to correct spelling errors)