As far as weight loss habits go, one thing we've learned through some amazing success stories is that tracking what goes into your body is just as important (if not more so) as making sure you're getting enough exercise. And now, one everyday appliance might finally be able to do the job for you.
As reported by MIT Technology Review earlier this week, GE is in the preliminary stages of building a microwave that will count calories for you, by passing waves through blended or liquid food and determining its fat content, water content and weight. Apparently, other nutritional elements, like sugar, fibre and protein, can be approximated through calculations.
This is fantastic news for anyone who's tried to adhere to a food diary for longer than a few days, as they know the pain of inputting each particular ingredient that goes into their meal to add up all of their calories for the day. However, as of right now, the device only works on food that's been cooked together, as opposed to separate items. There's also the question of passing microwaves through everything you eat into the microwave, which may not be your preference.
Plenty of other proposed inventions to count calories have come up in the news over the last few years, like a plate that scans your food items (and sends calorie data to your phone), and a handheld scanner that performs a similar task. Most popular fitness technologies, however, still only show calories burned, as opposed to what has been ingested.
So we're still holding out hope for this microwave device, and others like it, because as far as we're concerned, knowledge is power — and yes, discovering that the plate of nachos you'd created packs a whopping 2,000 calories might just make you eat a little less of it.
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