Health and AI disclaimer
The full disclaimer
Palpo is not a medical device and does not give medical advice
Palpo is a log. You record what you eat, drink, take and do; it adds those up and compares them against goals you set. That is the whole of what it does.
It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, prevent or monitor any disease, injury or condition, and you must not use it for any of those purposes. It has no clinical validation. Nothing in it has been reviewed by a doctor, dietitian, pharmacist or any other health professional.
It does not know anything about your health
The app knows only what you typed into it. It does not know your medical history, your diagnoses, your medication, your allergies, whether you are pregnant or breastfeeding, your blood results, or anything a clinician would need in order to advise you. Every number it shows is arithmetic on your own entries, not a judgement about whether those numbers are right or safe for you.
Speak to a professional before you change anything
Get advice from a doctor or a registered dietitian before you change your diet, your training, your fluid intake or your supplements. This matters especially if you:
- are pregnant, trying to conceive, or breastfeeding;
- are under 18 or over 65;
- take prescription medication of any kind;
- have, or think you may have, a condition affecting your heart, blood pressure, kidneys, liver, thyroid, metabolism, blood sugar or digestion;
- have, or have had, an eating disorder;
- are recovering from illness, surgery or injury.
Do not delay getting medical advice because of something the app showed you, and do not stop following advice you have been given because the app suggests otherwise.
Goals and reference values are population averages
Calorie, macronutrient, hydration and step targets are numbers you entered, or standard formulas applied to the height, weight, age, sex and activity level you entered. Daily reference intakes for vitamins and minerals are general population figures. None of it is a personalised recommendation, and none of it accounts for anything specific to you.
Supplements: the app cannot tell you a dose
The app totals the vitamins and minerals in the food and supplements you record and shows the total against a general reference intake. Read that as bookkeeping, not as guidance.
Several nutrients are harmful in excess. Vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin K, iron, selenium, iodine and zinc can all cause real injury at high intake, some of it lasting. Several interact with prescription medication — vitamin K with anticoagulants, for instance. The app cannot see your medication and cannot see your blood work.
Take doses from the product's own label and from a pharmacist or doctor. Never work out a dose from the app's totals, and never exceed a label's stated dose on the strength of a figure in the app.
Allergies: assume the app knows nothing
Never use Palpo to decide whether a food is safe for you to eat.
Food data in the app comes from national food composition tables, from product packaging via Open Food Facts, from AI estimates and from entries made by other users. None of it is an allergen declaration. Recipes and ingredients change, manufacturing changes, and records go out of date.
If you have a food allergy or intolerance, read the actual product's label every time. Treat the app as having no allergen information at all, because functionally it does not.
AI estimates are guesses, and are often wrong
When you describe a meal or photograph it, the app sends that to an external AI service to estimate what it contains. The result is an approximation inferred from words or appearance. It is not a measurement.
Portion size is the weakest part, and the error is not random: estimates tend to overstate small servings and understate large ones. Nutrient figures inherit that error and add their own.
Nothing is recorded until you have reviewed the estimate and confirmed it. That review is yours, and so is what you confirm. Where accuracy actually matters — carbohydrate counting for diabetes, anything involving allergens, anything clinical — use a label and a scale, not an estimate.
Food data comes from third parties and is averaged
National food composition tables describe averages from samples measured at a particular time. Composition varies between brands, batches, seasons, suppliers and cooking methods. A table built for one country may not describe food elsewhere. The organisations that publish this data do not endorse Palpo, and we do not verify their figures or the entries other users add.
Data from watches, phones and other apps
Heart rate, heart rate variability, sleep stages, step counts, VO2 max and energy expenditure read from Google Health Connect are produced by consumer devices and their own algorithms. They are estimates, frequently inaccurate, and not clinical measurements. We neither verify nor correct them.
Other members are not professionals
Anything another member of the community posts, says in a comment or does in their own training is their own. It is not advice, it has not been checked by us or by anyone qualified, and a training programme or a way of eating that suits one person can be wrong or unsafe for another. Do not follow it because it worked for someone whose numbers you saw.
Tracking can be harmful
For some people, counting calories and weighing themselves makes disordered eating worse. If using Palpo is damaging your relationship with food, with exercise or with your body, stop using it and talk to someone qualified. You can delete your account and all of its data at any time, immediately, from Settings.
In an emergency
Palpo is not for emergencies and cannot summon help. If you think you are having a medical emergency, call your local emergency number.