Snapping photos of your food could help you lose weight

Could snapping photos of food help you eat healthier?

That’s the promise of Snap It. Launched by digital health and weight-loss platform Lose It!, the new feature of an already existing app proposes a simple solution to those who struggle to keep track of their caloric intake: Take a photo of your food, and
Snap It will immediately display its calorie count

Showing people the caloric value of their foods before they eat them can help modify their eating habits. Some studies have shown that keeping a food journal helps people stick to their diet.

And in an effort to fight rising obesity rates, the FDA announced in 2014 that chain restaurants throughout the U.S. will have to post calorie information in their menus (the rule is set to go into effect sometime next year).

But the FDA rules won’t apply to all restaurants. And food diets are cumbersome, tending to go the way of new year’s resolutions.
Lose it! thinks that Snap It could be the solution.

But right now Snap It, still in beta, needs some help figuring out what it’s seeing. Snap It might be able to identify your roll of sushi as a roll of sushi, but it needs you to specify the type of rice, the type of fish, and any garnishes.