A nutrition research team at the University, led by Manabu Nakamura, professor in ACES, developed MealPlot — a weight loss app that hopes to promote sustainable dieting and weight loss.
According to Nakamura, MealPlot has been under development for five years and is now a functioning multi-platform application, with final user-interface revisions to be completed by the end of this semester.
“There are so many apps for weight loss, but almost all of them are just counting calories, and counting calories is not enough,” Nakamura said.
Instead, the app promotes a high protein, high fiber diet based on EMPOWER — an online nutrition program developed by Nakamura for healthy weight loss and maintenance.
“Protein is a calorie, so if you cut protein, you do lose weight, but what you are losing is bone and muscle,” Nakamura said. “You only want to lose stored fat, so to do this, we increase protein and decrease calories at the same time.”
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Nakamura also explained their choice to increase fiber, saying it is a superfood important for maintaining lost weight. It also reduces high blood pressure, cholesterol and blood glucose, all of which are commonly associated with obesity.
The team has completed two in-person and two online trials of the program to ensure the sustainability of their diet plan.
“When we did the body combustion analysis on participants in our trial, their muscle mass was well maintained,” Nakamura said.
The app features a target box that helps users determine if their meal fits the dietary plan.
“(Users) can experiment; we have given examples, but everybody has different tastes, so we don’t tell them what they have to eat,” Nakamura said.
MealPlot also includes a Wi-Fi scale that connects to the app, feeding data to a weight tracker so that users can keep tabs on their progress, and a fixed messaging hub where dietitians and nutrition professionals coach participants.
Apart from helping users lose weight, MealPlot helps them maintain their target weight. The team has accounted for participants’ personal lives by developing a weight loss counseling component in the app.
“We have collaborated with a professor from the School of Social Work because family problems, work problems, stress and depression are all reasons for obesity,” Nakamura said.
The app is free for all users, and the research team hopes it remains accessible to everyone.
“This can help students or their parents or families because they will learn how to eat healthy,” Nakamura said.
