Kidney Pal: Renal Diet Tracker

• Free to download
• In-app purchases

Last verified 31 Jul 2026

4.6 1285 ratings · App Store

1. 5/5So far, so good

   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.

   SmartAz · 31 Jul 2026

2. 4/5Needs one more thing

   I'm grateful for this app, because my dyscalculian brain shuts down just looking at the sort of complicated calculations to find out if a food is safe or not. I appreciate the nutrient breakdown, the green/yellow/ red system to denote whether the food is kidney-friendly or something to avoid. I also like that if you've eaten something high in potassium, for example, you get the tip "next time, switch the banana for an apple", etc. Can't help but wonder, though--why aren't calories included? I hate having to pay for yet another subscription or go back and forth finding the calories on google. I mean, would it be that much more trouble to include calories in the breakdown? This would be especially helpful for diebetics.

   Trixterchick · 31 Jul 2026

3. 2/5don't believe everything you see

   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.

   chasingveronica · 31 Jul 2026

4. 3/5Something happened

   There was some sort of update to the app that makes me worry about its accuracy. It is suddenly scoring everything way differently. Just to test it I took a recipe that I imported from the national kidney foundation that last week it scored as 25 a very good score I resubmitted it under a different name and now it's a 55. It is scoring my meals that hit not even a 1/4th of my daily limit as high kidney burden. It's disappointing because based on my numbers it's doing great for my lab results but now it wouldn't even hit my lowest limits if I had something like 8 meals day because it will only approve like celery. It's suggesting things like a tbsp of salsa is a high kidney burden with a score of something like 85. And while I know I should use moderation last week it was okay with that.

   ChrisSellers11 · 31 Jul 2026

5. 4/5Make serving sizes adjustable on recipes?

   Computers and apps can do anything they are programmed to do. Why haven’t you programmed your app to allow users to select number of servings on your recipes so that the app will automatically adjust amounts for each ingredient? Many recipe apps provide this. I am only one person. Right now I have to get out my calculator and split ingredients to make one serving. Or figure out what to do with a second (or third and fourth) serving of the recipe, some of which don’t reheat well. I really don’t want to eat 4 servings of something.

   RaEmhetep · 31 Jul 2026

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