VoltraGuides
Plain guides on eating and training, with a source for every nutrition number. Each one is also in Arabic.
Calculators
Calorie calculator: how many calories you need a day
Your daily calories, protein, carbs and fat with the same maths as the Voltra app, and your goal in Gulf food.
BMI: calculator, and what your number means
Your BMI on the WHO scale and on the lower cut-offs NICE uses for Middle Eastern adults, plus your waist-to-height ratio.
Calorie tables
Calorie table: 130 common foods per 100 g
Fruit, vegetables, nuts, eggs, dairy, meat, rice and bread from USDA FoodData Central, with a common portion for each.
High-protein foods: the list, per 100 g and per calorie
Chicken, beef, tuna, fish, eggs, dairy, legumes and nuts ranked by protein, and which give the most per calorie.
Chicken breast: protein and calories, raw and cooked
22.5 g of protein per 100 g raw and 31 g roasted, which weight to log, breast against thigh, and why not to wash it.
How much protein is in an egg?
About 6.3 g in a large egg: by size, white against yolk, boiled or fried, why not raw, and how many a day.
High-protein meals: how to build them, with Gulf examples
How much protein a meal needs, the plate in Gulf serving sizes, and breakfast, lunch, dinner, vegetarian and budget days in grams.
Gulf food calorie table: 60 dishes per 100 g
Calories, protein, fat and carbs for 60 Kuwaiti, Bahraini and Saudi dishes, each with its source.
Calories and protein at KFC Kuwait, PICK and Calo
From each chain's own figures for Kuwait, sorted by protein per 100 kcal, and whether menus must show calories.
Protein in Kuwait's supermarket foods, pack by pack
30 foods sold in Kuwait, from KDD and Nada protein milks to Al Alali tuna and KFMB bread, from the makers' own figures.
Calories in Gulf food
Calories in kabsa: chicken, lamb and camel, per 100 g and per plate
Lab analyses from the Saudi Food and Drug Authority and a Riyadh study, and what a plate adds up to.
Calories in mandi: what the published data says
No lab has analysed mandi yet: a recipe study's figure, next to lab-analysed kabsa and Bukhari rice.
Calories in machboos (majboos): chicken, meat and fish
Lab analyses from Kuwait, Bahrain and the UAE, side by side.
Calories in biryani: chicken and mutton, per 100 g and per plate
Lab analyses from Kuwait, Bahrain and the UAE, what a plate adds up to, and the fat in the pot.
Calories in harees: per 100 g and per bowl
Lab analyses from Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, and what the ghee on top adds.
Calories in jareesh: per 100 g and per bowl
The Kuwaiti one with meat and the Saudi one with laban, side by side.
Calories in thareed: per 100 g and per plate
Bread soaked in meat and vegetable stew, from Bahrain's food composition tables.
Calories in margoog: meat or chicken, per 100 g and per plate
Five analyses from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain, and why one margooga is 150 kcal and another 96.
Calories in saloona (marag): chicken, meat and fish
The Gulf stew from Kuwait's and Bahrain's tables, a bowl with and without rice, and which is lightest.
Calories in mutabbaq: the stuffed pastry and mutabbaq samak
The Saudi pastry stuffed with meat and egg, and Kuwait's fish on spiced rice.
Calories in shawarma: chicken or meat, sandwich or meat only
Sandwich versus meat only, the bread, and the garlic sauce.
Calories in sambousa: cheese, vegetable and sweet
Seven analyses from Bahrain and Kuwait, and why the filling matters.
Calories in luqaimat: per 100 g, with date syrup
From the Kuwaiti and Bahraini tables, and what a plate adds up to.
Calories in balaleet: sweet vermicelli with egg
A Gulf breakfast, from the Bahraini and Kuwaiti tables.
Calories in kunafa: cheese or cream, per 100 g and per piece
Lab analyses from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Jordan, what a piece and a share of a tray add up to, and what changes it.
Calories in karak tea: per cup, from a lab analysis
Calories and sugar per cup, and how karak compares with Arabic coffee.
Arabic coffee (gahwa): caffeine and calories per cup
About 27 mg of caffeine and 2 kcal a finjan, how many finjans a day are safe, and why one dallah is stronger than another.
Camel milk: nutrition, blood sugar claims and safety
Close to cow's milk with more vitamin C, what the diabetes trials found, allergy, and why not to drink it raw.
Calories in dates: per date and per 100 g
Medjool, Khalas, Sukkari, Deglet Noor and fresh rutab: why one date can be 20 kcal or 66.
Training and nutrition
What the Gulf's official food guides say
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman side by side: salt, sugar, water, fruit and local foods.
Beginner gym workout plan: 3-day and 4-day weekly schedules
A full-body 3-day plan and a 4-day plan, with sets, reps and rest, based on ACSM and WHO guidance.
How many calories do you need a day? The formula, with examples
Your resting burn times how active you are, worked examples, and how Voltra sets your target.
How much exercise do you need a week? WHO and Gulf guidelines
150 to 300 minutes of moderate activity plus strength on 2 days, with the Saudi and Qatari advice for heat and Ramadan.
Japanese walking: what the interval walking studies found
3 minutes fast, 3 minutes slow: the trials on strength, fitness, blood pressure and weight, and their limits.
How many steps a day do you need?
7,000 against 10,000: what the big step studies found, where 10,000 came from, and the Omani and Saudi targets.
12-3-30 and weighted vest walking: what the studies show
The one lab study of 12-3-30, and what weighted-vest trials found for fat, weight and bone.
Zone 2 cardio: what it is, and what the evidence shows
Just below your first lactate threshold: why heart-rate rules disagree, how rough 220 minus age is, and how it compares with intervals.
How much water do you need a day? Including Gulf heat and Ramadan
The European, WHO and Saudi figures, and why the Gulf summer needs more.
Exercising in the heat: heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and what to drink
How to tell them apart, first aid for each, fluids before and after training, and when a sports drink helps.
Ice baths and cold plunges: do they help recovery?
Cold water eases soreness, but regular ice baths after lifting can blunt gains. The evidence on mood and metabolism, and the heart risks.
Hijama (cupping) for pain and recovery: what the evidence shows
Eased neck and back pain against no treatment, but not clearly against sham cupping. Athletes, risks such as anaemia, and Gulf rules.
How many hours of sleep do you need?
7 or more for adults, the Saudi health ministry's hours by age, what short sleep is linked to, and its sleep tips.
Ramadan: eating, training and staying hydrated while fasting
What fasting does to your weight, training before or after iftar, spreading water to suhoor, and diabetes.
Sauna: what the studies show for the heart, recovery and sleep
The Finnish studies, the trials on blood pressure, recovery and muscle, Kuwait's temperature limits, and who should be careful.
How much protein do you need a day? By body weight and goal
From the 0.8 g/kg minimum to training and cutting targets, protein in Gulf foods, and who should ask a doctor.
Fibre and psyllium: how much you need, and what psyllium does
WHO's 25 g from food, what the Gulf guides say, psyllium for cholesterol and blood sugar, and taking it safely.
How much sugar a day? WHO limits in grams and teaspoons
Under 10% of calories, about 12 teaspoons on 2,000 kcal, ideally under 5%: what counts, sugar in Gulf drinks, and the new sugar taxes.
Fat loss and diets
Intermittent fasting: does it work better than just eating less?
Year-long trials against ordinary calorie cutting, what happens to muscle, who shouldn't fast, and the heart-death headline.
Cutting: how to lose fat and keep your muscle
About 0.7% of body weight a week, a deficit of 500 kcal a day or less, protein per kg of lean mass, and keep lifting.
Can ab exercises burn belly fat?
What the spot-reduction studies found, what shrinks visceral fat, and how to measure your waist.
Keto diet: does it lose more weight?
0.91 kg more than low-fat over a year, the cholesterol changes, water and muscle, and who should be careful.
Carnivore diet: what the evidence shows
No trial yet: what a survey of 2,029 followers found, the rise in LDL, the missing fibre and vitamin C, and Gulf advice on red meat.
Seed oils: are they bad for you?
Omega-6 and inflammation, what the heart trials found, ghee against vegetable oils, and re-using frying oil.
Cortisol belly and cortisol cocktails: what the evidence says
Whether stress puts fat on your belly, cortisol face, Cushing's syndrome, and the drink nobody has studied.
GLP-1 medicines like Ozempic and Mounjaro: eating and keeping your muscle
Trial results, how much of the loss is lean mass, protein and strength training, stopping, and the Gulf rules.
Peptides like BPC-157 and retatrutide: what's known, and what's legal
Saudi Arabia's crackdown on unregistered peptides, the thin human evidence for BPC-157, and retatrutide's status.
Crash diets: why losing weight too fast backfires
What NICE says about diets under 800 kcal, the gallstone risk, and the 5 to 10% first goal.
Apple cider vinegar for weight loss: what the trials show
A 12-week trial run by a vinegar maker, the retracted Lebanese trial, and the risks to teeth and throat.
Detox diets and juice cleanses: do they work?
What the reviews found, oxalate and your kidneys, and the Saudi FDA's warnings on adulterated slimming teas.
Blood sugar and liver health
Fatty liver disease: what reverses it
MASLD in the Gulf, how much weight to lose, what to eat, exercise, coffee and supplements, per the 2024 guidelines.
Prediabetes and insulin resistance: the numbers, and what can reverse it
The HbA1c and glucose cut-offs, why insulin isn't routinely tested, the 58% lifestyle result, and Gulf rates.
Blood sugar spikes: do they matter if you don't have diabetes?
What's normal after a meal, what glucose monitors show in healthy people, and the hacks, checked.
Supplements
Which supplements are worth taking?
Ten supplements in one line each, from creatine to biotin, and what to check before you buy.
Creatine: how much to take, and what the evidence says about hair and kidneys
3 to 5 g a day, loading or not, water weight, kidney tests and the hair-loss question, with both sides of the evidence.
Creatine for the brain: memory, focus and mood
What the memory meta-analyses found and why EFSA wasn't convinced, sleep loss, mood, and industry ties.
Berberine for weight loss: is it "Nature's Ozempic"?
Under 1 kg in pooled trials, blood sugar, side effects and drug interactions.
Whey protein: do you need it, and isolate or concentrate?
When a powder helps, how much protein per shake and per day, isolate vs concentrate, and what tests on powders found.
Caffeine before a workout: how much, and is pre-workout safe?
3 to 6 mg per kg, the 400 mg daily limit, caffeine in coffee, Arabic coffee and energy drinks, and the Saudi rules.
Vitamin D: how much you need, and what the 50,000 IU dose is for
600 IU a day, the 4,000 IU limit, the treatment dose, testing, and deficiency in the Gulf.
Omega-3 and fish oil: do you need a supplement?
What the big heart trials found, the 5 g safe upper amount, and the heart-rhythm risk above 1 g a day.
Magnesium: how much you need, which form, and does it help sleep?
310 to 420 mg a day, the supplement upper limits, which forms absorb best, and what the sleep trials show.
Melatonin: does it help you sleep, and is it safe?
About 7 minutes faster to sleep, better for jet lag, wrong labels, child poisonings, and its legal status in the Gulf.
Ashwagandha for stress and sleep: what the evidence shows
A small sleep effect in five trials, reviews that disagree on stress, liver and thyroid risks, and where it's banned.
Black seed (Nigella sativa): what the studies show
Small drops in weight, blood pressure and blood sugar in short trials, the risks and drug interactions, and Gulf rules.
Collagen supplements: do they work for skin and joints?
Funded and independent trials disagree on skin; joints, fish vs other collagen, and the SFDA's 10 g limit.
Biotin for hair: does it work?
Case reports only, why high doses throw off blood tests, and the Saudi advice to test before hair supplements.
Iron: who needs a supplement, and how to take it
18 mg a day for women, heavy periods, not with tea or milk, every other day, and anaemia in the Gulf.
Vitamin B12: who needs a supplement?
Older adults, vegetarians, gut surgery and metformin, no upper limit, and why it doesn't boost energy.
Using Voltra
AI calorie counter for Gulf and Arabic food: how Voltra's meal scanner works
Photo, description, search or barcode: what each does, the limits, and how to get a better estimate.
Voltra and Apple Health: what connects and how to turn it on
What Voltra reads and writes, how to connect it, and how Garmin, Oura and WHOOP data gets in.
A fitness and nutrition app that works fully in Arabic
Right to left, Gulf gym names for exercises, 1,000+ Arabic recipes, and a coach that speaks both.
Voltra pricing: plans, free trial and cancelling
Yearly and monthly Premium, how the 7-day trial works, and how to cancel or get a refund.
Voltra compared
Voltra vs MyFitnessPal for Gulf and Arabic food
A dated, sourced comparison, including where MyFitnessPal is the better pick.
Voltra vs Cal AI for Gulf and Arabic food
Both log meals from a photo: how Arabic, Gulf dishes, training and price compare.
Voltra vs Lose It! for Gulf and Arabic food
English-only photo and voice logging, ads, lifetime pricing, and where Lose It! is the better pick.
Voltra vs Lifesum for Gulf and Arabic food
Arabic, AI Tracking, Gulf dishes and price in Kuwait and the US, and where Lifesum is the better pick.
Voltra vs Healthify (HealthifyMe) for Gulf and Arabic food
Arabic, Gulf dishes, human coaching and ads, and where Healthify is the better pick.
Log your food and training with Voltra. Free to download; the yearly plan starts with a 7-day free trial. Works fully in English and Arabic.
