‘It’s keeping me healthy’
Temi alanamu, 32, lives in London with her husband Rob, 36, and their daughter Eve, one.
Walking along the aisles in the supermarket, I hold my phone up to the food on the shelves. I might look like I’m taking a picture, but actually I’m using an app – and it’s helping keep me healthy...
I was born with sickle-cell anaemia – a lifelong condition with no cure – and, growing up, it meant I couldn’t do the same things as my friends. Strenuous activity or being too hot or cold meant that my blood could become sticky and get blocked in my veins.
I took penicillin and was told folic acid could help, but it didn’t stop me getting ill. Every three months I’d end up in hospital in unbearable pain and often need blood transfusions.
In my teens, doctors said I could take a special medication called hydroxycarbamide, but I didn’t want to rely on it for the rest of my life.
I knew that eating healthy food could help prevent the painful complications so I ditched the junk food I once loved and mostly ate fresh, nutritious meals.
I felt so much better and, in October 2014, after finishing my PHD I met Rob. He was working in web design and five months later we moved in together. Only not long after, we both found ourselves unemployed and struggling to pay the bills.
I couldn’t buy the food I was used to and had to opt for things in cans instead. Worried about the ingredients – colourings, and preservatives – affecting me, I’d spend hours researching online. There had to be an easier way, so Rob and I talked about creating an app.
Rob found a new job and I became a researcher. But we still worked on the app in our spare time.
We approached health professionals to write a brief summary of ingredients and their effects. And created a colour code so when someone took a picture of an ingredients label it would tell you what was in the product and how harmful it could be to your health.
In May 2017 we finally launched Whatsinit?. We’re constantly adding more ingredients to the app and I use it all the time. It’s made looking at what I can eat so much easier, but it’s not just me.
The app also helps people who have allergies or special diets too and helps me decide what to buy for my children.
I’m so pleased it’s making a difference to people’s lives.
whatsinit? is free from the app Store
‘There had To Be an easier Way’