4 useful nutrition apps

Yes, spending too much time on your phone can be detrimental to health. However, some apps can be great tools to support a healthy lifestyle. Below are 4 useful nutrition apps I routinely recommend to patients.

Yuka

This app allows you to scan foods (and cosmetics) and displays a rating based on a weighted scoring system. The scoring system takes into account the food’s nutritional value (based on energy, sugar, salt, saturated fat, protein, dietary fibre, and fruit and vegetable content), the additives and whether the food is organic or not. As other scoring systems, this algorithm is not 100% fool proof, but it is a very good start.

Another interesting feature that is available for free is recommendations of better products within the same category of food when available.

Premium features include filtering by dietary preferences.

One negative of Yuka is that it does not rate supplements, including some foods perceived as supplements such as high fibre seed mixes, nor foods that are high in protein, such as protein smoothies and bars.

More information and download links: https://yuka.io/

Easy Diet Diary

This is the food tracking app most dietitians in Australia use and recommend. It is developed in Australia, which means that it connects with local food databases. It is free to use, does not have any ads and does not have any paid features. It allows scanning foods and manually adding foods and recipes. Finally, it connects with diet analysis software which means that your dietitian can have access to your food diary.

I consider food tracking a useful tool for changing behaviour and bringing awareness to dietary intake and areas of improvement. Note that food tracking is not for everyone but can be useful for some people (learn more on my article on why and how to count macros).

Find it here: https://easydietdiary.com.au/

FODMAP

The Monash University’s FODMAP app is a handy companion for individuals with IBS who are trialling a low FODMAP diet. It contains the database of all foods that Monash has tested for FODMAP content, which is a lot more comprehensive that using a list. Most importantly, the app shows the most updated values as they are tested.

The food guide is categorised by food type. For each food, it shows the FODMAP content in different serving sizes and an overall traffic light rating which indicates if the food is high, moderate, or low FODMAP in a typical serving size.

The app also contains a diary in which individuals can enter the foods they have eaten alongside digestive symptoms, stress levels, and stool consistency (as per the Bristol stool chart). The diary can be used at any step of a low FODMAP elimination process, including the reintroduction phase. The dropdown lists for food categories, food to reintroduce and portion size make reintroduction process a lot easier than doing it using pen and paper.

Other features include information about FODMAPs and IBS, recipes and more.

The app has a one-off small cost, which in my opinion is great value for the features it provides.

Find it here: https://www.monashfodmap.com/ibs-central/i-have-ibs/get-the-app/

Nerva

This app delivers a research-backed gut-directed hypnotherapy program that can significantly improve IBS symptoms. It can be used as a standalone intervention, especially for those patients for whom dietary restriction is not appropriate, or in combination with other interventions (e.g. a low FODMAP diet).

The program has a cost, but Nerva offers a free 7-day trial. I recommend most of my IBS patients to try it out for free. After the trial period, patients can access a discount when referred by a practitioner such as myself. Some patients can also get further discounts if they qualify for financial assistance.

More information: https://www.nervahealth.com/au

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