Written by Sydney Kurnit, MS, RD, CDN
The Oura Ring is a smart device designed for continuous, unobtrusive health tracking. Using advanced sensors, this device can monitor sleep, activity, and body signals like heart rate, temperature, and blood oxygen. In May 2025, they launched a new tool: Oura Meals, an AI-powered feature within the Oura App that allows users to track and analyze the nutritional content of their meals by taking photos of their food. As a recent Oura Ring owner, I used the device and app to track my meals for one week to test its accuracy in both identifying foods and analyzing nutrition content.
I am a registered dietitian with five years of experience specializing in clinical nutrition, medical nutrition therapy, and nutrition counseling. There are several nutrition tracking apps on the market, most of which assign a number or value to certain foods in an effort to educate users. From a nutrition education perspective, it’s important to avoid labeling foods “good” or “bad.” Instead, it can be more helpful to use a non-judgmental approach focused on encouraging regular consumption of foods with higher nutritional value (ex. low sodium, higher ratio of unsaturated fats, vitamins/minerals) and consuming foods of lower nutritional value in moderation. With this in mind, I was curious how the Oura Meals function worked in comparison to other similar apps.
Firstly, the AI tool is fairly accurate with identifying food items from photos; however, it does easily mistake food items for similarly looking foods. For example, my egg white sandwich with cheddar cheese was mistaken for a grilled cheese sandwich, requiring me to manually edit the ingredients. Most of the time, it accurately deciphered between white and whole wheat bread, but it did make a mistake on one occasion.
As a registered dietitian who promotes intuitive eating, I was pleasantly surprised that this app does not touch upon the specific number of calories or macronutrients in the meal. Instead, it focuses on the nutrient density and vitamin/mineral content. The “Nutrition Breakdown” section rates certain areas of focus as low, medium or high, including protein, fiber, processing level, added sugars, total fats and total carbs. When you click on each nutrient, the app provides a definition and tells you why the nutrient matters in your daily diet. The AI “Advisor” rates your meal from limited to nutritious and provides 2-3 fun facts about some of the nutrients present. You can click “Dive in with Advisor” to chat with the AI tool and learn more about nutrition and wellness. Within that screen, you can write an original question in the text box, or you can choose pre-written conversation starters like, “How can I maintain my activity levels with a busy schedule?”
To further track your health, Oura allows users to pair with Dexcom’s Stelo Glucose Biosensor – a wearable continuous glucose monitor – to track blood glucose fluctuations throughout the day in response to meals, activity, and sleep. This device is intended for people aged 18 years or older that are not using insulin. It is not recommended to use this device if you are using insulin, are on dialysis, or if you have problematic hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).
After using the Oura meal tracking feature myself, I feel that it is a helpful tool to teach about the nutritional benefits of foods and how to choose more nutrient-dense items when building meals and snacks. However, it is important to note that this app should not replace the knowledge of a nutrition professional. For those in need of nutrition education regarding an acute or chronic illness, I would strongly recommend speaking with a registered dietitian.
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