Express press service

On Tinder, you can search for a date. What if you could search for the right nutritional combination for your health issues, much like the dating app? Using a simple left and right swipe method? CORA Health, a Bengaluru-based e-commerce platform, enables users to access healthy food alternatives based on their medical conditions and lifestyle diseases. The platform is home to over 3,000 products from over 200 brands like OZiva, D-live, Dr. Morepen, Neuherbs, and Sattviko.

Snigdha Kumar founded CORA Health while dealing with her health issues regarding PCOS and gallbladder, which required dietary modifications. She defines CORA (where C and O stand for “basic health” and “outstanding” respectively) as a preventative healthcare aggregation platform integrating technology to find healthy meal replacements and personalization.

About what led her to design the platform, she says, “There was too much clutter in terms of advice on what to eat and what to buy to address your health issues. Unfortunately, this is often unverified and unprofessional advice. More importantly, generic advice. I have tried a dozen solutions to treat polycystic ovary disease (PCOD) and gallbladder issues, but to no avail. But when I found a personalized solution based on my health, age, location, food, eating habits, and type of PCOS (there are four types), it worked wonders. I wanted to provide the same online experience to others who come to us with health issues. »

Considering she’s worked at brands like Flipkart, she could see exactly where the gaps were. Thus CORA was conceived in 2020 with his colleague Shrijit Venkatesh. The duo is now working on integrating AI into the platform which will soon take the form of a virtual assistant: Alexa for Nutrition. The virtual entity will answer questions about food and nutrition taking into account health status, preferences, age, diet and 10 other factors, including allergies, dietary habits exercise, etc

“We have the user’s health information (collected with permission) like age, health issues, cuisine they eat, exercise frequency, etc. We are a health platform of matchmaking that finds the right vitamins and nutritional supplements. Products are chosen by food scientists and nutritionists. Swiping left and right helps you get closer to the right solution.

A live chat with an expert gives users the advice they need. Food is medicine and it should only be prescribed after thought and research,” says Kumar.

Products are categorized under headings such as PCOS, Immunity, Guilt-Free Snacks, and more. The final section showcases 170 products ranging from walnut kernels to whole grain organic unsalted brown rice cakes. In another section, it ranges from herbal teas to camel milk chocolates. They are also categorized by age group or dietary demographics (vegan, gluten-free, or sugar-free). Users can use online chat or WhatsApp to get expert advice before ordering products.

Completion time
CORA has two nutrition experts who personally review questions, provide answers to specific concerns, and suggest products. For example, a new mother who is breastfeeding needs a different solution than a woman who is not breastfeeding. Typical turnaround time is between five and 20 minutes. Special and complicated cases are prioritized and recalled earlier.