Kidney Pal: Renal Diet Tracker

This is my third time reviewing, so I feel like a lunatic, but if I had waited a week or so, instead of nit-picking about trivial things, this is the review I would give: this app has become an indispensable tool to stay 3A for as long as possible. I tried reading books that used complicated calculations for everything you eat, and they all disagree on what you can and can't eat--which would basically be water and twigs, according to some of these authors--but this app does all the calculations for me, and I'm learning quickly that I can eat most foods (albeit, very little animal protein), depending on what else I have eaten that day. Almost as importantly, I'm discovering what limits I have--4 oz of chicken put me over my protein allowance, so apparently, I've been eating way too much protein. I've also been drinking *too much* water, which surprised me. I'm donating the books I bought to a clinic because not only were the calculations insanely complicated--and I'm a math-phobe--the recipes are depressingly bad, as well as their lengthy list of "verboten" foods, when in fact, they aren't verboten, it's just all a matter of perhaps eating smaller amounts and balancing that with whatever else you eat on that day, which this app makes super easy to figure out. I only wish my nephrologist had been as helpful as this app. As far as negatives? I still wish they used calories instead of kilojoules, but I've bookmarked a converter online, so it's a very small inconvenience. Yes, compared to some apps, this one might be a bit pricey looking at first, but it's well worth the money!

I really wanted to like this app because there are very few tools specifically designed for people with chronic kidney disease, and I appreciated the focus on phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and protein. To evaluate the app, I intentionally created a hypothetical day built around foods that are generally considered kidney-conscious choices, including scallops, rice, asparagus, green leaf salad, fruit, cream of wheat, and small amounts of cheese. The results were discouraging and didn’t seem practical. The app reported that I was already over or very close to my phosphorus limit while simultaneously showing that I was nowhere near my protein goal. In my case, I was still less than halfway to the protein target despite using most of my phosphorus budget. That left me with a basic question the app could not answer: How am I supposed to reach the recommended protein goal without exceeding the phosphorus goal? I also found another review reporting that the kidney burden scoring had become overly aggressive. The developer responded and acknowledged that a recent update had made the scoring algorithm too strict. Based on my experience, the issue may still not be fully resolved. The nutrient tracking may still be useful, but the overall scoring and recommendations did not feel realistic for someone actually trying to build a sustainable kidney-friendly diet. Instead of helping me make better food choices, the app left me feeling that almost every reasonable meal was a problem. The concept is excellent, but the recommendations need to be more practical and transparent, especially when balancing phosphorus restrictions against protein requirements.

I’m being diagnosed with CKD. The doctor is moving more slowly than I like. While I wait I must wrap my head around what is going on and be proactive in my lifestyle changes. I like the app but wish a couple of things were different. I am unable to see a means of searching the recipe database. I’m currently on the 7-day free trial. Tonight I wanted to know if having salmon was a smart idea. I still don’t know. I’m new to tracking these food metrics. It would be nice for a beginner like me to have a cross reference back to the logged foods so that I can learn which foods caused me to consume too much phosphorus. If the app is searchable but I’m unable to see it, I will gladly increase my rating to five stars. Right now this app is the only thing helping me protect myself. Thank you for creating it.