Guides

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
The same formula as the Saudi health ministry's calculator, your BMI on the WHO scale and on the lower cut-offs NICE uses for Middle Eastern adults, plus your waist-to-height ratio.

Ideal weight for your height: a 150 to 190 cm table and the Saudi Ministry of Health formula
The ministry's ideal weight is a BMI of 22 (63.6 kg at 170 cm), the healthy range for every height from 150 to 190 cm, the classic formulas, and why none uses age.

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.

Healthy breakfast: ideas with calories and protein, from Gulf foods
Whether breakfast helps you lose weight, calories and protein in eggs, foul, labneh, Arabic bread, oats and Greek yoghurt, and four breakfasts added up.

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.

KFC Kuwait calories and protein, plus PICK and Calo
From each chain's own figures for Kuwait, sorted by protein per 100 kcal, and whether menus must show calories.

McDonald's Kuwait calories: the full menu, with protein
Calories and protein for every McDonald's Kuwait burger, chicken sandwich, breakfast, side, dessert and drink, from McDonald's Kuwait's own figures.

UAE fast food calories: McDonald's and KFC, with protein
Calories and protein for McDonald's UAE and KFC UAE: burgers, chicken pieces, sandwiches, breakfast, fries and meals, from each chain's own UAE figures.

McDonald's and KFC Qatar calories, with protein
Calories and protein for McDonald's Qatar and KFC Qatar: burgers, chicken pieces, sandwiches, breakfast, fries and meals, from each chain's own Qatar figures.

KFC Saudi Arabia calories: the full menu, with protein
Every item on KFC Saudi Arabia's nutrition sheet: chicken pieces, Zinger, Twister, combos, boxes, buckets, fries, sauces and drinks.

Herfy calories: the full menu, with protein
Herfy's own figures: Super Herfy, Double Herfy, Double Max, tortillas, kiddie meals, fries, strips, boxes, shakes and drinks.

Barns calories: coffee, karak, frappes and pastries
From Barns' own menu: lattes, cappuccino, Spanish latte, karak, sahlab, frappes, cookies, muffins and donuts.

Calories and protein at Saudi fast-food chains: McDonald's, KFC and Herfy
The Big Mac, Zinger, Twister, Double Herfy and more from the chains' own Saudi figures, the best protein per calorie, and why AlBaik and Kudu have no numbers online.

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.

Protein milk in Saudi Arabia: Almarai and Nada, per bottle
10 bottles sold in Saudi Arabia, protein, calories and sugar per bottle, from the makers' pages and the labels.

Greek yoghurt: protein and calories in Nada and Almarai, plain, low-fat and 0%
Nada 0% has about 16 g of protein in a 101 kcal pot; Almarai's Greek style has 10 g in 208 kcal. Per pot, per 100 g and per 100 kcal, flavours and drinking yoghurt.

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.

Machboos (majboos) calories: chicken, meat and fish, per plate
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 rice: cooked and raw, basmati and sella, per plate and per cup
About 130 kcal per 100 g cooked and 365 raw, sella and brown, how raw weight becomes cooked, and Bukhari and Hassawi rice from Saudi lab analyses.

Calories in bread: Arabic, white and brown, per loaf and per slice
About 275 kcal per 100 g of white pita and 165 in a loaf, toast by the slice, Saudi makers' labels from Al Hatab and L'usine, and why tamees and samouli have no official figure.

Calories in oats: dry and cooked, protein per 50 g, and blood sugar
379 kcal per 100 g dry and 71 cooked, 50 g is about 190 kcal and 6.6 g protein, oats with milk, and the glycaemic index of rolled and instant oats.

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.

Shawarma calories: how many in a chicken or meat sandwich?
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.

Karak tea calories: per cup, from a lab analysis
Calories and sugar per cup, and how karak compares with Arabic coffee.

Ful medames calories: per 100 g and per bowl
116 kcal and 5.3 g of protein per 100 g, a bowl, and the bread and oil with it.

Falafel calories: per piece and per 100 g
339 kcal per 100 g: per piece, in a sandwich, and against hummus, ful and shawarma.

Hummus calories: per spoon, per plate and per 100 g
146 kcal per 100 g, and moutabal, baba ghanouj, tabbouleh and fattoush compared.

Fatayer calories: cheese, zaatar, chicken, meat and spinach
Per 100 g and per piece, with cheese sambousa; the chicken pie has the most protein.

Mahshi and vine leaves calories: per 100 g and per plate
Vine leaves with meat or in oil, stuffed cabbage and stuffed zucchini.

Shish tawook calories and protein, with tikka and kofta
164 kcal and 16.9 g of protein per 100 g, a plate's portion, and the other grills.

Gulf seafood calories: shrimp, fried safi and fish dishes
Grilled shrimp, shrimp hamsa, momawash, fried safi, hamour machboos, fish saneya, shuari saloona and steamed crab.

Gulf sweets calories: ghraiba, rahash, halwa, zalabiya and more
Lab analyses per 100 g and per piece, with the sugar in halwa and zalabiya.

Marag calories: okra, meat, chicken, fish and lentil stews
Okra marag (bamia) 64 kcal per 100 g in Kuwait's lab analyses, a bowl, and the rice under it.

Cheese and labneh calories: halloumi, akkawi, white cheese and more
Halloumi 363 kcal per 100 g, akkawi 255, white cheese 278, feta 250, labneh 154, kashta 207 and yoghurt.

Tabbouleh and fattoush calories: per cup and per 100 g
About 106 kcal in a cup of tabbouleh and 104 in fattoush, with baba ghanouj, loubieh and hindbeh.

Kibbeh calories, with lahm bi ajeen, shish barak and sayadieh
Baked kibbeh 266 kcal per 100 g (202 in half a square), lahm bi ajeen, shish barak, sayadieh and moussaka.

Mujadara calories, with molokhia, moghrabieh and other home dishes
Mujadara 113 kcal per 100 g, molokhia 112, moghrabieh 124, fasoulia 140, fatteh hummus and rice dishes.

Baklava calories: per piece and per 100 g
Assorted baklava 474 kcal per 100 g, about 109 a piece, with bird's nest, pistachio pastries, ghraybeh and barazek.

Maamoul calories: date, walnut and pistachio, per piece
Date maamoul about 90 kcal a piece, walnut 95, pistachio 124, with maamoul madd and karabij.

Arabic desserts calories: qatayef, halawet el jibn, namoura and more
Qatayef about 96 kcal each, halawet el jibn 99, namoura (basbousa) 75 a piece, mouhalabieh, rice pudding and tahini halva.

How much caffeine is in Arabic coffee? Gahwa per cup, and calories
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.

Does green tea help you lose weight? What studies show, caffeine per cup, and green tea pills
0.04 kg more lost outside Japan in the Cochrane review, 13 to 29 mg of caffeine a cup, and why the liver risk is in pills (800 mg EGCG a day or more).

Camel milk nutrition: protein and calories, 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.

Calories in a banana: by size, with protein and carbs
About 105 kcal in a medium banana and 89 per 100 g, every size, ripeness, glycaemic index, and what the evidence says about bananas for training and weight loss.

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.

Ab exercises: the 7 best moves and how often to do them
The ab exercises that worked the abs hardest in EMG studies, how often to train them, and why they don't burn belly fat on their own.

Back exercises: a stronger back, and what helps back pain
Eight back exercises with Voltra's rep ranges, how often to train your back, and what NICE, the WHO and the NHS say about exercise for low back pain.

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.

Cardio before or after weights? Fasted cardio, and how much it burns
Cardio didn't blunt muscle growth across 43 studies, lift first for leg strength, fasted cardio burned no more fat, and calories for 16 activities.

How much water do you need a day? Including Gulf heat and Ramadan
The Saudi health ministry's formula by weight (35 ml per kilo), the European and WHO 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?
16:8 and 5:2, how much it takes off a month, when results show, 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.

Weight gain and bulking: calories over maintenance, kilos a month and protein
A 10 to 20% surplus, 0.25 to 0.5% of your weight a week, 1.6 to 2.2 g of protein per kg, and why bigger surpluses mostly add fat.

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.

Mounjaro, Wegovy and Ozempic: Saudi prices, eating and keeping your muscle
SFDA registered prices in Saudi Arabia, 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, what egg, dates-and-laban and water diets really take off, and the 5 to 10% first goal.

The Tayyibat diet: allowed and banned foods, and the Saudi MoH warning
What the diet bans and allows, why Saudi Arabia's health ministry warned against it, and what the evidence says.

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.

Fat burners: do fat-burning pills and drinks work?
What trials found for L-carnitine, chitosan, garcinia, CLA, green tea and vinegar, and the banned drugs the Saudi FDA found in slimming products.

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.