You are what you eat: this common refrain really rings true in this day and age where obesity is on the rise. With the advent of fast food and a lifestyle that has almost completely foregone home cooking, staying and eating healthy food is more difficult than it should be. However, if you want to change what you eat and start leading a healthy lifestyle, there are a number of apps that can help you with your endeavour.
If you are not a fan of smoothies, you should be. They are nutritious, filling, and easy to whip up at a moment’s notice. Fitness aficionados swear by smoothies and for good reason: they can be had for breakfast, lunch, or dinner and can be easily made according to your dietary needs. Blender Girl Smoothies takes the routine up a notch by suggesting ingredients according to your mood, your requirement, and your craving at the moment. It sounds fun, and it is. (» iOS)
Foodstand is Facebook for health-conscious people. Sometimes the hardest part about maintaining a healthy lifestyle and nutritious diet is sticking to your plan. You need encouragement and someone to write you up in case you deviate from your diet or cheat by having that ice cream sundae that you are not supposed to. Foodstand does just that by bringing together people who love health conscious foods in a supportive community. (» iOS / Android)
Thrive Market
FREE
Looking up healthy recipes that fit your budget and your palate is a cinch now, thanks to the internet. However, buying those unconventional ingredients for your really unconventional meal can turn out to be a problem, especially if you do not live in a big metropolitan city with an abundance of artisanal grocery stores. Fortunately, Thrive Market features healthy ingredients and ready to eat products at wholesale prices that you can have shipped to your doorstep. (» iOS / Android)
Fooducate: Nutrition Coach
FREE
Keeping an eye on your calories is important if you want to watch your weight. However, your body needs more than just calories. A variety of macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, fats) and micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, amino acids) are necessary for the proper and healthy functioning of your body. Simply put: 300 calories from a cake won’t do you as good as 300 calories from a kale salad. Fooducate goes a step further than regular calorie counters by also tracking your total nutrient intake. (» iOS / Android)
Not everyone out there has been cooking since they were kids. Believe it or not, home cooking is a new thing among the newer generation and not having culinary training and experience from a young age like the previous generation has a sizeable effect on both their confidence as well as their basic knowledge about foods and cooking. Is My Food Safe allows you to get all your food related questions answered from one place. Whether it is about knowing what temperature you should cook your chicken to or how long those leftovers might last in the fridge, this app is your solution. (» iOS / Android)
Pepperplate Cooking Planner
FREE
So you’ve come across a recipe on your favourite food blog that you are excited to try out. However, it is a wee bit on the indulgent side and you are not about to give in to temptation now. Having a knowledgeable friend suggest substitutions for offending ingredients would save the day, but you don’t have any such friends, do you? Fortunately, there’s an app for that: Pepperplate. This app imports recipes from a vast number of food blogs, tweaks them to make them healthier, changes ingredient amounts to suit the number of servings you need, and also generates shopping lists. (» iOS / Android)
Feeling a bit bored of the city slicker lifestyle? Get closer to Mother Nature by whipping up a tasty treat that can be had fully raw. Eating raw foods can provide you with a host of benefits by allowing your body a break from processed and cooked foods that are difficult to digest. Rawvana helps you out by providing over a hundred different recipes that are simple, healthy, and gorgeous to look at. Your vegan buddies would be impressed! (» iOS / Android)
While most recipe apps do little more than curate recipes from different blogs and sources on the internet, EatingWell takes the other route. The app features over 200 professionally written and tested (and tasted) recipes that are healthy and yet would not look out of place on the table of any gourmet restaurant. Along with its delicious recipes, the app also features exclusive photography that will soon have you well on your way to plating your food like the pros. (» iOS / Android)
Food Intolerances
by Baliza GmbH
FREE
Most of us with normal healthy bodies can pretty much eat whatever looks good to us. Unfortunately, there are a number of people with chemical intolerances, food sensitivities, and allergies who always need to have an eye out for offending ingredients in whatever they eat. This can be tiring and frustrating indeed; there is nothing worse for a lactose intolerant person than seeing some other guy enjoy a delicious ice cream. While that frustration will most likely persist, the Food Intolerances app makes your life a bit easier by helping you track the stuff you need to avoid. (» iOS / Android)
If you love seafood, this app is a must have. Eating responsibly is as important as eating healthy, if not more so. Seafood Watch offers multiple features but its headline functionality is rating foods according to sustainability: for instance, red means overfished or fished using means that harm marine life and the environment; green means minimal impacts on the environment. The app also informs you about common contaminants and industrial effluents that are found in seafood and how to choose the safer options. (» iOS / Android)