IOH Diabetes Product Review Sharper Image Carb Tracker Scale



		Islets of Hope Product reviews - Sharper Image Carb-Tracker Nutrition Scale



		Read our review on the EatSmart Nutrition Scale For every EatSmart Scale purchased through our website you get a 10% discount and a portion of the sale will be donated to iPump, a 501(c)(3) diabetes charity that helps others in need. IOH receives no compensation for advertising or for the sale of EatSmart scales.. IOH Rating Item #: AC350, For carb-counting dieters, this helpful kitchen tool eliminates the guesswork! NOTE: As of February 2008 this scale is no longer being listed for sale on the Sharper Image's website. IOH has not received any form of compensation for this review, however, IOH does receive a commission for sales of this scale made through our website.
						Islets of Hope Reviews - Main Page Diabetes Products, Publication and Service Reviews The Sharper Image Carb-Tracker Nutrition Scale Rated 12/05/2005 by Lahle Wolfe IOH Product Rating: About Carb-Tracker Nutrition Scale Product: The Sharper Image, Carb-Tracker Nutrition Scale Company: The Sharper Image Web Address: The Sharper Image Price: $39.95 to $59.95 Purpose: Calculates and Reports Various Nutritional Values of Foods By Weight Carb Tracker Ad Claims: Tracks calories, protein, fat, carbohydrate, and cholesterol values of over 900 foods. Product Review The Carb-Tracker Manual is easy to read, and offers a "quick start" page for those of us who hate to read full-length instructions (hey, I am a busy, single mom of four even busier children -- who has time to read instructions?). The scale features a low-battery warning, a stylish, clean glass plate to lay your food on, and the unit is small enough to rest on your counter without adding substantial clutter. The key pad is easy to press and has a flip-style cover (like a cell phone) when not in use. An interesting feature is the memory storage option, complete with recall to tally your nutritional totals per meal or per day (I never use this feature but extras are always nice in any product). It can hold up to 99 entries in the memory. Weighing food is easy. You can either put it right on the scale or in a container. Weigh the empty container first and with a few buttons pushes the scale knows to subtract the container's weight when you weigh it again with food inside. The scale is intended for individuals and reasonable serving portions. It has a maximum weight of 6.6. lbs. But truly, is anyone going to eat more than 6 lbs of bananas or lettuce or pasta at once? If you are, the only scale you need to tell you if you are own track with your eating is the one in your bathroom. Pluses - What I like about the scale The size and ease of use are both pluses for this product, but is the service it provides to users that is the biggest selling point. Being a die-hard low-carb (aka Atkins) girl I shun carbs and will even pass on healthy ones sometimes. I may be a walking carb nutritional guide able to tell you the carb count in just about any food you could name but I am not so good at guessing the weight of fruit and vegetables. The Carb-Tracker Scale has made me feel a lot better about the accuracy of food nutrition (I really love the fiber count feature). While I originally purchased the scale to review I am keeping it. I eat a wider variety of fruits and vegetables (still able to keep within my 40 carbs per day) and it has also been a great tool determining more accurate food boluses for my daughter with type 1. I was amazed to find that the weight of fruit and the carb count really varies considerable and is not always obvious from just the size alone. And, it is so simple my children can use it to help with bolus calculations when mom is busy working on her websites. Minuses - What I did not like about the scale I have two complaints about this scale. First, it uses those expensive little lithium watch batteries no one ever keeps on hand (it comes with two needed to run the scale). And second, if you lose the booklet with food codes the scale is pretty much useless. It would be nice if the codes were in the scale memory and could be scrolled through. Of course, turning to page 10 is much faster than scrolling through 900 codes and I have memorized most of the codes commonly used anyhow. Maybe the scale was designed by a busy, single mom who understands time is precious and scrolling just takes to much of our time (or maybe the manufacturer did not understand in this high-tech world EVERYTHING scrolls). Besides, The Sharper Image sells a remote control tracking device -- just tag any object and you will never lose it again ... I'll just tag the code book. Maybe I will even try tagging all our glucose meters and write a product review on the remote locator next month. With three people testing sugars in this household we are always looking for someone's meter!

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iPump.org, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit diabetes charity. Financial gifts and donations of unexpired diabetes supplies and insulin pumps are tax-deductible. Your gifts can help others with diabetes who cannot afford insulin and supplies live long enough until we do have a cure.

Page Updated 02/06/2008