Frequently Asked Questions

Getting Started

What is Gluchol?

Gluchol is a consumer wellness app that helps you understand how the food you eat may affect your blood sugar, cholesterol, and blood pressure. It uses a combination of rules-based analysis and AI-powered food recognition to give you qualitative insights (Low, Moderate, or High impact) about your meals. Gluchol is for educational purposes only and is not a medical device.

How do I get started?

After creating your account, you'll go through a short onboarding process where you can share some basic health information. Steps 1 and 2 (personal details and measurements) are required, while steps 3 and 4 (health history and additional details) are optional. This information helps personalise your experience if you upgrade to premium.

Is Gluchol a medical app?

No. Gluchol is strictly for educational and informational purposes. It does not diagnose, treat, prevent, or predict any medical condition. The app uses qualitative categories (Low, Moderate, High) rather than numeric medical values. Always consult your healthcare professional for medical advice.

What devices does Gluchol work on?

Gluchol works on iPhone and Android smartphones, and also runs in your web browser. Features like the camera scanner work best on a physical device.

Scanning & Analysis

How do I scan food?

Tap the Scan tab, then either take a photo of your meal using the camera or search for a food item in the database. AI photo analysis identifies your food, its ingredients, cooking method, and estimated portion size.

What does the analysis show me?

Each scan provides three assessments:

• Blood Sugar Impact — how the food may affect your blood glucose levels
• Cholesterol Risk — the potential effect on your cholesterol
• Blood Pressure Impact — the potential effect on your blood pressure

Each is rated as Low, Moderate, or High with a detailed explanation.

How accurate is the AI photo analysis?

The AI works best with clearly visible, well-lit meals. Complex dishes, heavily mixed foods, or poorly lit photos may be less accurately identified. You can always search the database manually if the photo analysis doesn't recognise your meal correctly.

How many scans can I do per day?

Free users can scan up to 2 meals per day. Premium users have unlimited scans. Free users can also earn bonus scans by watching rewarded ads.

What is the barcode scanner?

The barcode scanner lets you scan packaged food products to instantly look up their nutritional information via the Open Food Facts database. This feature is available to premium users or can be unlocked by free users through a rewarded ad -one ad unlocks unlimited barcode scans for the rest of the day.

Can I save and discard scans?

Yes. After scanning, you can choose to save the scan to your Records for long-term tracking, or discard it if you don't need it. Saved scans contribute to your trends, achievements, and other analytics features.

Can I edit a scan?

Free users can edit their own personal scans (such as updating the photo). Premium users can edit any food item in the database.

Free vs Premium

What do I get for free?

Free users can:

• Scan up to 2 meals per day with AI photo analysis
• Browse the food database (600+ items plus external sources)
• Restaurant Menu Scanner (Limited)
• Barcode scanning via ad-unlock
• Save or discard scans
• View their scan records
• Use favourites and achievements
• Browse community recipes
• Toggle dark mode
• Set meal reminders
• Pause or delete their account
• Unlock extra features by watching rewarded ads

What extra features do premium users get?

Premium unlocks:

• Unlimited AI scans with no daily limit
• Personalised analysis based on your health profile
• Metabolic sensitivity learning
• Trends & analytics (up to 100-day rolling view)
• Smart suggestions for healthier alternatives
• Meal planning calendar
• Food comparison tool
• Restaurant Menu Scanner (Unlimited)
• Barcode scanner
• Data export (CSV and email)
• Weekly email summary
• Community recipe contributions
• Ad-free experience
• Gallery photo uploads for scans

How do ad-unlockable features work?

Free users can watch short rewarded video ads to temporarily unlock certain features:

• Compare Foods — unlocked for the rest of the day
• Meal Planning — unlocked for the rest of the day
• Community Contributions — unlocked for the rest of the day
• Barcode Scanner — unlocks unlimited barcode scans for the rest of the day
• Restaurant Menu Scanner — unlocks 2 restaurant menu scans for the rest of the day
• BP Report — one report per ad watched
• Bonus Scans — extra scan allowance

Free users can watch up to 6 rewarded ads per day (10 during an active Ad Boost).

Does my work in ad-unlocked features get deleted when the unlock expires?

No. Any work you do during an ad-unlocked session is saved permanently. For example, meal plans you create are retained and will be there waiting for you the next time you unlock the feature. This applies to all ad-unlockable features — your data is never lost when the unlock period ends.

Referral Programme

How does the referral programme work?

Every user gets a unique referral code (format: GLU-XXXXX). Share it with friends. When a friend signs up with your code and completes 4 food scans within 48 hours of registering, both of you receive a 7-day Ad Boost.

What is an Ad Boost?

An Ad Boost is a 7-day period where your rewarded ad limits are increased:

• Daily ad limit increases from 6 to 10
• Bonus scan unlocks increase from 3 to 5
• Bonus feature unlocks increase from 3 to 5

If you earn multiple boosts while one is still active, the duration extends rather than restarting.

Is there a limit on how many referrals I can make?

You can refer as many friends as you like, but the reward is capped at 5 successful (rewarded) referrals per calendar month. This resets at the start of each new month.

Do premium users benefit from referrals?

Yes. While the Ad Boost itself is most useful for free users, all users (free and premium) can earn referral achievement badges:

• Ambassador — 1 successful referral
• Champion — 5 successful referrals
• Legend — 10 successful referrals

Premium users also see a gold star counter showing how many of their referrals have since upgraded to premium.

Where do I find my referral code?

Go to Settings → Invite Friends. Your unique code is displayed prominently with options to copy it or share it directly via your device's share menu.

Personalisation & Intelligence

What is personalised analysis?

Premium users receive personalised food analysis that takes their individual health profile into account. Factors like diabetes status, cholesterol levels, blood pressure, ancestry, age, BMI, activity level, medications, eating patterns, and family health history can all influence your results. Personalised results are clearly marked with a "Personalised" banner.

What is metabolic sensitivity?

Over time, the app learns how sensitive you may be to different food components (carbohydrates, sodium, saturated fat) based on your scanning patterns. This is recalculated weekly and adjusts your analysis results to be more relevant to your individual profile. It's entirely rules-based — no machine learning is involved.

What are trends and analytics?

Premium users can view rolling trends across 7, 14, 30, 60, or 100-day windows. This shows how your blood sugar impact, cholesterol risk, and blood pressure impact have changed over time, helping you spot patterns and improvements in your diet.

What is pattern detection?

The app automatically detects recurring dietary patterns in your scan history, such as late-night carb consumption or weekend saturated fat spikes. These patterns are shown as actionable insights to help you make more informed choices.

What are smart suggestions?

After saving a scan, premium users can view AI-generated suggestions for healthier alternatives or modifications to their meal. For example, it might suggest swapping white rice for brown rice or choosing a different cooking method.

Food Database & Community

How big is the food database?

The built-in database contains over 600 food items across 21 categories including Indian, Chinese, African, Mexican, and other world cuisines. Additionally, the app searches external databases (Spoonacular with 365,000+ recipes and USDA with 300,000+ items) for foods not found locally.

Can I contribute foods to the database?

Yes. Premium users (or free users with an ad unlock) can contribute their scanned foods to the community database, making them available to all users. Community contributions are marked with a special label.

What are community recipes?

Community recipes are foods that have been contributed by other Gluchol users. You can browse them freely, like your favourites, and use them in your own meal planning. Contributing new recipes requires premium or an ad unlock.

Can I like foods in the database?

Yes. You can tap the heart icon on any food to like it. The total like count is visible to all users, helping the community surface the most popular and useful food entries.

Meal Planning & Comparison

How does meal planning work?

The meal planner lets you assign foods to specific days and meal slots (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snacks). You can plan ahead and preview the estimated daily health impact for each day. This feature is available to premium users or can be unlocked for a day by watching a rewarded ad.

How does food comparison work?

The Compare Foods feature lets you view two foods side by side to see which has a better blood sugar, cholesterol, and blood pressure profile. This helps you make informed swaps. Available to premium users or unlockable for a day via a rewarded ad.

Is my meal planning data saved if I'm a free user?

Yes. Any meal plans you create during an ad-unlocked session are saved permanently. When you unlock the feature again, your previous plans will be there waiting for you.

Achievements & Favourites

How do achievements work?

There are 11 achievement badges to earn through various activities:

• First Bite — Complete your first scan
• Getting Started — Complete 10 scans
• Food Explorer — Complete 30 scans
• Nutrition Expert — Complete 100 scans
• Record Keeper — Save your first scan
• Clean Eating — All meals in one day have low impact
• Week Warrior — Track meals for 7 consecutive days
• Curator — Save 5 foods to favourites
• Ambassador — Refer 1 friend
• Champion — Refer 5 friends
• Legend — Refer 10 friends

Can I reset my achievements?

Yes. Once you've earned all 11 badges, you can reset and start fresh. Each completion is recorded in your Completion History, so you can track how many times you've achieved the full set.

How do favourites work?

Tap the heart icon on any food item or scan result to add it to your favourites. You can access all your favourites from Settings → Favourites. This creates a personal collection of foods you frequently eat or want to track.

Notifications & Reminders

What notifications does Gluchol send?

Gluchol can send meal reminders to help you remember to scan your meals at your preferred times. You can also receive inactivity nudges if you haven't scanned in a while, encouraging you to stay on track.

Can I customise my notifications?

Yes. Go to Settings → Notifications to control which types of notifications you receive and when. You can enable or disable meal reminders and adjust the timing to suit your schedule.

Do notifications work on web?

Push notifications are designed for mobile devices (iPhone and Android). On the web version, notification functionality is limited.

Data & Privacy

How is my data stored?

Your data is stored securely in an encrypted database. Your account password is hashed using bcrypt and is never stored in plain text. Your health profile information is used only to personalise your food analysis.

Can I export my data?

Premium users can export all their scan records as a CSV file, which can be downloaded directly or emailed to your registered email address. Go to Settings → Export Data.

Can I delete my account?

Yes. Go to Settings → My Profile & Account → Delete Account. The app uses a secure 5-step deletion flow:

1. Confirm your intent
2. Share your reason for leaving (optional)
3. Provide improvement feedback (optional)
4. Review a retention offer (pause option or data reminder)
5. Enter your password to confirm deletion

All your personal data is permanently removed upon deletion.

Can I pause my account instead of deleting it?

Yes. During the deletion process or from Settings, you can choose to pause your account for 30 days, 90 days, or indefinitely. While paused, your data is preserved but your account is inactive. All standard notifications are suppressed during the pause. We may send occasional re-engagement reminders to welcome you back. You can resume at any time.

Where can I read the full privacy policy?

Go to Settings → Privacy & Cookie Policy to read the full document. You can also find the Terms & Conditions in the same section of Settings. Both documents are also available at gluchol.com/privacy and gluchol.com/terms.

Account & Settings

How do I change my profile information?

Go to Settings → Edit Profile to update your personal details, health information, and other profile data that was collected during onboarding.

Is there a dark mode?

Yes. Go to Settings → Appearance to toggle dark mode on or off. The entire app adapts to your preference.

How do I contact support?

Go to Settings → Contact Us. Fill in the category (e.g., Bug Report, Feature Request, General Query) and your message. Premium users are routed to priority support.

How do I upgrade to premium?

Tap Settings → Membership → Upgrade to see all premium features and pricing. You can also tap the upgrade prompt that appears when you try to use a premium-only feature.

Can I switch between free and premium?

Yes. You can toggle your tier from Settings → Membership. Downgrading to free will restrict access to premium features but your data is retained.

Troubleshooting

My photo scan isn't recognising the food correctly.

Try the following:

• Ensure the food is clearly visible and well-lit
• Avoid photos with multiple dishes (scan one at a time)
• Take the photo from directly above if possible
• If the AI still can't identify it, use the manual database search instead

I've reached my daily scan limit. What can I do?

Free users can watch a rewarded ad to earn a bonus scan. Alternatively, you can browse the food database and view existing food items without using a scan. Upgrading to premium removes all scan limits.

The app isn't loading or seems stuck.

Try these steps:

• Close and reopen the app
• Check your internet connection
• Clear the app cache in your device settings

If the problem persists, contact us via Settings → Contact Us.

I forgot my account password.

On the login screen, use the password reset option to receive a reset link via email. Follow the instructions in the email to set a new password.

My weekly email summary didn't arrive.

Check your spam or junk folder first. Email summaries are a premium feature and are sent to the email address associated with your account. Make sure your email preferences are enabled in Settings → Notifications.