The Color Doctor is an “As Seen On TV” product that promises a better solution for quick, easy home monitoring of your heart rate and blood pressure. It’s certainly as easy to use (and read) as advertised. But is it worth purchasing? Let’s go find out!

A Caution about Wrist-Based Blood Pressure Monitors

Before we begin, we should talk a little bit about monitoring your blood pressure. High blood pressure runs in my family, so I’ve done a bit of research on this subject.

The Color Doctor is designed to wrap around your wrist, as opposed to your upper arm. For an accurate reading, you should sit with your elbow resting on a table and the unit held parallel to the level of your heart. Organizations like the Mayo Clinic and the American Heart Association do not consider wrist monitors to be as accurate as traditional upper-arm cuffs. They are much more sensitive to body position and tend to show a higher reading than an upper-arm monitor (because the arteries in your wrist are closer to the skin, affecting the measurement).

Does this mean that wrist monitors are bad? No. Some of us can’t use upper-arm monitors for a variety of reasons. You just need to be aware that the readings may be different than what you’ll see on professional equipment at the doctor’s office. As with anything health-related, be sure to check with your doctor if you’re going to do home blood pressure monitoring. Take your monitor with you on your next visit, and have your doctor show you the best way to use it. He or she can also calibrate the readings against the office equipment so that you understand how to properly interpret the readings at home. Knowledge is power, folks. Be smart and be safe.

Got it? Cool. Now back to the review!

Construction and Design

The Color Doctor is a compact, lightweight piece of equipment. The unit and cuff weigh about 4 ounces and fit nicely into the included 3″ by 3″ by 3″ plastic storage case. The size and weight make it very easy to stash in your dresser drawer or medicine cabinet, and it takes up very little room if you’re packing it for travel. 

You’ll find a big digital screen on the face, below which are positioned a large blue start/stop button, and a smaller white memory button. There are some tiny labels on the sides of the screen to indicate the digital readings; while they are hard to read, you won’t need them once you start using the unit (as we’ll see below). The buttons themselves are big and friendly with a little raised surface, so they are easy to operate.

One-handed attachment is easy and drama-free. The back of the unit is contoured to fit the shape of your wrist. The short side of the cuff (to the right of the unit) is rigid and curved so that it “hooks” into the proper position on to your wrist, after which you wrap the loose side of the cuff around to the desired tightness and secure it with the velcro on the strap. This is a nice design feature, especially for those that may have issues with manual dexterity: it’s pretty much foolproof for one-handed operation.

While the Color Doctor is certainly easy to operate, the construction is pretty average. Assembly looks pretty good, with no obvious faults in seams or stitching. Materials feel like budget-grade plastics and fabrics. Given that this a light-use kind of device, this may not be a big deal… but you’ll want to keep it in its protective storage case when not in use.

The Color Doctor uses two “AAA” alkaline batteries, which are not included in the purchase. They’re installed via a snap panel on the back of the unit.

The Color Doctor is really simple to use. Get yourself in the proper position, wrap the unit around your wrist, and press the blue start/stop button. The unit will buzz while the cuff inflates, and the readings are displayed in about a minute or so.

The biggest strength of the Color Doctor is its easy-to-read display. Systolic pressure is found on the upper-right quadrant of the screen, diastolic pressure on the lower right, and current heart rate on the lower left. The screen changes color based on the results: green for “normal” levels (120/80 systolic/diastolic pressures), yellow for “prehypertensive” (up to 139/89), and red for “hypertensive” (over 140/90). The screen is bright, and and the numbers are large with good contrast against the screen. After a recent workout, I took readings during my cool down period to show how the color indicator changes based on the results. You can see how easy it is to read in pictures below:

As you can see, the display is really impressive. Even in low-light conditions or for those who may have issues with their vision, the combination of color reinforcement and big numbers makes it easy to see what your reading looks like. Combined with the ease of attachment and simple button design, it’s a great tool for getting a fast blood pressure reading.

Additional Features

The Color Doctor has several additional features. You can set the date and time, and toggle between two different users. When you take a new reading, the results are automatically saved for the last user selected. It will save the last 90 readings and has a memory recall feature that allows you to review the average of the last three readings or cycle through the history of readings for the last user.

Access to these settings and features gets really clunky because there are only two buttons to work with. Do you remember those old-school two-button digital watches, with all the features that were activated by some combination of pressing or holding the buttons? It’s a lot like that. Honestly, I tried to document all of the variations for the review and gave up due to the complexity if it all. You’ll need the manual to sort it all out.

Conclusions and Pricing

In a lot of ways, the Color Doctor Blood Pressure Monitor delivers on its “As Seen on TV” promotional messaging. It’s easy to use and operate. The screen is bright, and the results are clear. The color-changing display adds a nice level of visual reinforcement that will be especially valuable for those that may have vision issues. On the down side, the additional features are difficult to work with and, in some cases, downright frustrating.

In my mind, the bigger issue with the Color Doctor is the $39.99 retail price. There are a lot of competitive products in this space; a quick search on Amazon yields a bunch of wrist monitors that range in price from $15 to $50. After spending some time looking at customer reviews for these products, I’m not sure that the Color Doctor distinguishes itself significantly against these products. If the ease of use and bold color display are important to you, you won’t be unhappy with this purchase… you may want to shop around a bit first, though.

The Color Doctor retails for $39.99 and is available for direct purchase at their web site.

Source: The sample for this review was provided by BulbHead. For more information, visit their web site.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Health and fitness

Color Doctor Blood Pressure Monitor Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 21, 2017 at 9:00 am.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.

I have celiac disease, an inherited autoimmune condition that affects about one in every 100 people. When I eat gluten – think pizza, pasta, bread, cake and cookies – my body revolts against the enemy intruder and starts attacking itself, resulting in a number of seemingly unrelated and ugly reactions from which I’ll spare you a description. But let’s just say some involve the gut.

People will sometimes offer me food they insist is safe for me (which, according to the FDA, is less than 20 parts per million), and sometimes I end up experiencing a variety of effects – some immediate, some less so, but all unpleasant and potentially contributing to premature mortality. This can happen at a get-together or at a restaurant.

So I was thrilled to be able to review the Nima Portable Gluten Sensor, a compact device that allows you to test for gluten. The unit, which retails for $279, comes with three test vials, a micro-USB recharging cable and a carrying pouch, which fits in a purse or pocket. I was given an extra 12 vials for review purposes.

The unit measures 3.5 inches wide and 3.1 inches high and has Bluetooth connectivity so it can sync to your smartphone. Users can contribute their test results to the Nima community using a free Nima app, which also provides a list of Nima-tested restaurants. That all was great when I paired my Nima with the phone I had initially, but the unit would not pair with my replacement phone a couple of weeks later, greatly limiting my ability to be part of the online Nima community where test results are shared.

To test for the presence of gluten, users put a tiny sample of food – liquid or solid – into a vial and insert the vial into the device. In three minutes – a theoretical estimation because my test times amounted to more like five minutes – a wheat icon and a “gluten detected” warning will warn users if their food is not safe to consume; a smile icon gives diners the go-ahead.

The unit and single-use vials use a combination of chemistry and sensors. Subscriptions are available for $59.95 per month for 12 capsules or $61.95 for 12 vials every other month. Those who eat restaurant or processed food often can opt for the $116.94, 24-capsule plan per month, trusting if they can afford to eat out all the time, they can afford the subscription cost. Some foods – soy sauce, pure vinegar, beer, or alcohol – cannot be tested, leaving diners to make educated judgment calls before consumption. The unit also is glitchy with frozen foods such as ice cream, but we’ll get to that in a bit.

For those who are pretty good at math, the ongoing cost comes out to roughly $5 a vial. That $5 vial allows you to test a sample about half the size of a pea. So forget the notion of trying to test a mixture of your entrée and sides. You’ll do well to fit a whole grain of rice in the vial, which means you could go through three vials to test an entire plate of food at a restaurant. Don’t even consider testing your way through a buffet line unless you have very deep pockets and a whole lot of time.

I also discovered the device is very sensitive and prone to capsule errors. My first test was a gluten-free roll at Cooper’s Hawk Winery, one of my favorite restaurants for its extensive and delicious gluten-free menu. I have never reacted to anything I’ve eaten there, but I decided to test the roll as an academic exercise. I only had one capsule with me, and I got a “capsule error” warning. I ate the roll anyway and didn’t get sick.

A couple of days later, I made my homemade cornbread using Quaker yellow cornmeal. (The only other ingredients are oil, salt, baking powder, baking soda, buttermilk and egg.) I successfully tested the finished product and got a smiley face icon. And I happily ate.

However, I received another capsule error when I tried to test my steak salad at Longhorn Steakhouse. This might have been a result of the difficulty in reducing my salad to a half-pea-sized test sample. Fortunately, I had better luck at Bonefish Grill, where my Chilean sea bass with mango salsa tested safe. My birthday dinner at PF Changs – the gluten-free Hokkien Street Noodles – also earned a smiley face from my Nima unit and my belly, as did my mushroom truffle pizza at Uncle Maddio’s Pizza during the continuation of my birthday celebration.

My husband had bought me a strawberry birthday cake made by Inspired by Happiness. Though that was marked gluten-free, I tested it anyway and was happy to learn it was safe. I also tested the Talenti double dark chocolate gelato he bought for me, only to receive a capsule error after waiting five minutes for results – longer than it actually took me to eat the gelato.

However, a few days later – or a few days too late, depending on your perspective – an email from Nima addressed the capsule errors that were occurring when testing ice cream. The company suggested a smaller sample size with a drop of water. I realized it would have to be a very small sample and a very small drop.

So I decided to test Talenti’s mango gelato (because the chocolate had inexplicably disappeared) using the updated testing parameters. I even waited a couple of minutes to begin the test while I photographed what the sample looked like. But this time I got no results whatsoever. Crickets. And when I pushed the start button a second time, I, of course, got a capsule error.

Here’s a case in which my Nima saved the day. One of my husband’s coworkers sent him home with a box of dark chocolate truffles from a Ukrainian company called LVIV Handmade Chocolates. I’m all about dark chocolate all day long (and this may incriminate me regarding the chocolate gelato), but I don’t speak or read Ukrainian and couldn’t decipher the ingredients list. I cut a sliver of truffle and put it into my Nima. Five minutes later, the smiley face icon told me my pig-out session was about to begin. Sometimes it’s the little things.

But let’s talk about a case in which my Nima truly saved the day. I met some ladies at a local BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse to celebrate a friend’s birthday. My friends had me choose the restaurant so I could be ensured a wide variety of selections. I ordered a gluten-free chicken-bacon-ranch pizza, which looked and tasted amazing. But I began to notice my mouth, which is prone to blisters when exposed to gluten, began feeling weird, so I pulled out my Nima and tested a piece of the cheese-covered crust. A few minutes later, I got a new icon: low gluten with a wheat stalk. In my hunger and impatience, I had already eaten one piece of the pizza. The rest went back to the kitchen and was replaced with salad.

The technology has tremendous applications and promise, but it’s still glitchy, and the cost is burdensome. It also can be difficult to get food into the capsule. Including tiny disposable tweezers or a sample-sized scoop would help, but that, no doubt, would only add to the cost.

As one who cooks from scratch and typically doesn’t eat out a ton, I will not become a monthly subscriber just yet, but I will pack my Nima with me when I travel, particularly in unfamiliar areas or overseas. I commend the company’s efforts, and I anxiously await improvements to the technology and reductions in the cost. Nima is a great beginning to addressing a serious health and quality-of-life issue for people like me for whom gluten-free isn’t a fad but a necessity. For the time being, it’s a valuable, somewhat fickle and costly ally for celiacs.

Source: The sample for this review was provided by Nima. Please visit their site for more info.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Health and fitness

Nima Portable Gluten Sensor review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 18, 2017 at 9:01 am.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.