Digital health and wellness company Lumen has announced a new pocket-sized device that promises to deliver weight management and performance data simply by analyzing a user’s breath. The new pocket-sized device monitors a user’s metabolism by analyzing the amount of CO2 and other gases exhaled by the user, sending the data to a companion iOS app that uses an AI engine to determine whether users are burning carbs or fat for energy and provide immediate nutritional guidance and real-time insights from that data, building a nutrition plan that’s personalized for each user’s metabolism. Plans can be customized to help users lose weight, optimize workouts, or reach other health and fitness goals.
Lumen’s eponymous product was developed in partnership with renowned design company frog to provide a premium luxury user experience in a portable device that can be taken anywhere for use on-the-go, and has been in testing since 2017, where the company notes that more than 300 beta testers hav already lost an average of 6.8 pounds in 30 days by following Lumen’s tailored recommendations.
Lumen works by analyzing a user’s Respiratory Exchange Ratio (RER), measuring CO2 production and O2 uptake of a user’s breath to calculate how much energy is being burned from carbohydrates versus fats, a method which the company says has been validated by numerous studies. By analyzing the ratio of these two main energy sources — carbs and fat — Lumen’s app is able to provide tailored nutrition plans specifically for the body’s mechanics, and the app emphasizes educating users on not only what to do, but explaining the reasoning behind its recommendations.
Users will even be able to submit pictures of their meals to nutritionists to get professional feedback on food choices. Lumen can be pre-ordered on Indiegogo for $179 and is expected to be available in early 2019.
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