Top Nutrition Apps

No matter what the food dilemma is, from needing help to track calories, to generating good grocery food lists, rest assured there is an app for that. Life can be crazy and busy, so organize yourself with apps that can put you on the fast track to healthy eating and weight loss success. The other benefit aside from organization is that all these apps are free.

MyFitnessPal. The largest food database of any calorie counter, with over one million foods. It’s by far the number one app I recommend as it’s an all-in-one deal, and available for all kinds of phones. It can track food and calories eaten, exercise time and calories expended, and has added bonuses like bar code scanners for food, and the ability to diet with family and friends, while keeping track of each other’s progress.

eaTipster. This is just what the name implies. Dietitians serve up a practical and trusted new tip daily. You can add tips to your favourites to digest later, or dish up tips to your friends, and share on social media. What’s neat about this app is you can set daily reminders to receive new tips to suit your routine. It’s available for iPhones and has a French version too.

 

 

 

 

Fooducate. This app works to tell you what is really in your food, and is available for both iPhone and android phones. How it works: each product is letter graded, so it’s just like being back in school, only this is a scientific algorithm based on its nutrition facts and ingredient lists. It’s great because it recommends foods we all need to consume more of, i.e. minimally processed, real foods that are naturally rich in nutrients and antioxidants.

 

 

  

Shopwell. For iPhones and designed by engineers, statisticians and dietitians, this app deciphers nutrition labels by giving you a single score for food products that are based on your individual needs. A bar code scanner will also assist to ‘nutrify’ your grocery list by suggesting comparable foods with higher scores.

 

 

 

All Recipes –your kitchen inspiration. All recipes, one of the largest food websites, has several apps. This one’s notable though as it helps to solve the everyday dilemma of what to have for supper. Search options allow you to access thousands of tested recipes with your search criteria like, ingredients to include or exclude, dietary restrictions like gluten free, low carbs, and search recipes by meal, cooking method, or prep time. It’s available for iPhones only.

 

 

OurGroceries. This one is really neat. It a simple way to keep your grocery lists instantly synchronized on all the smartphones in your household. How awesome would it be to have your spouse know to pick up milk, and eggs on the way home, instead of sending them an email, or giving them a paper list? Other features include multiple shopping lists, a web interface, and recipes. It’s super handy, a time saver and available for all types of phones.

There are a few honorable mentions as well. Eat This! Not That! Game. A spin off from the popular book, this android app, tests knowledge on calories and fat for comparable foods. Cravings Manager Lite is another honorable mention app that is available for Blackberries. It helps to create a list of personalized reasons to lose weight along with a trigger list so you can learn from mistakes. Motivational, educational and humorous quotes, along with some other features, inspire one to stay on track. And last but certainly not least, The Eatery. Available for iPhones only, app users snap pics of their food and app others will comment. Think of it like a Facebook for your food. Although not scientific, as all comments are user generated, and it’s thought to provide a big-picture breakdown of your unique habits, food positives and negatives, and areas to make change.

 

As seen in The Telegram January 28, 2013

Wholesome Whole Grains

As we learned last week, the notion that eating wheat contributes to weight gain is certainly a myth. While wheat itself won’t contribute to weight gain, that’s not to say it’s wise to consume the majority of our grain intake as whole wheat. Why? Because in Canada, there is a difference between whole grain wheat and whole wheat.

Grains are simply the products, or fruits, of a grass that produce an edible seed called a kernel, grain or berry. They composed of three parts: a bran, germ and endosperm. Whole grains are essentially what their name suggests. The whole thing. I.e. they include the bran, germ and endosperm. Whole grains contain a wide range of nutrients. Protein and carbohydrates, B vitamins and vitamin E, minerals including selenium, magnesium, iron and zinc, antioxidants, and fiber. And that’s just to name a few.

So there is a difference between whole grain and whole wheat. That’s a little confusing, I know. When wheat is milled to make flour, the parts of the grain are often separated and then recombined to make flour. Some refined grains that have lost some of their minerals and vitamins have them added back. The result is flours that are enriched and containing a significant source of several vitamins and iron, but they still lacks some of the nutrients and the fibre found in whole grain flour. To be brutally honest, whole wheat is not much better than regular white flour. This is where going for a whole grain choice becomes rather important. For whole wheat, about 70 per cent of the germ, the nutrient powerhouse, can be removed. In addition to that, sometimes whole wheat breads are darker than white, because of added molasses, and not its extra nutrient goodness as we suspect.

Commonly consumed grains here in Canada include, wheat, barley, oats, rice, corn, millet, rye and sorghum. These grains can be consumed as whole grains, but some can also be found in an enriched form too. Many foods containing whole grains will have the words "whole grain" followed by the grain as one of the first ingredients on an ingredient list. Keep your eyes peeled for the words “whole grain whole wheat flour,” “whole grain,” “whole rye,” “whole oats,” “whole barley,” or “oatmeal” to ensure that the item mainly consists of whole grains. Other whole grains include popcorn, quinoa, barley, oats, buckwheat and brown rice. Homemade white bread might be oldie but goodie, however, whole grains can be easy additions to any diet. Try brown rice in a stir-fry, oatmeal as a thickener to meatloaf, and quinoa in stuffed peppers, and soups.

So refer to the ingredient list, and not just the front of a package. Products labelled with the words "multigrain," and "organic" will not necessarily be whole grain. Read ingredient lists locate a whole grain in the first few ingredients. Also, check the nutrition facts to make sure your food has at least a few grams of fibre per serving. Remember if a food is high in fat, salt, or even sugar, then there is a good chance there might be a healthier option nearby. An easy way to combat this it to choose unprocessed foods.

You want to include whole grains in your diet because they can potentially help to reduce the risk of developing diseases like diabetes, cancer and heart disease, and reduce risk for obesity. To get more whole grains, try and have at least half of your daily intake each day as whole grain. Unfortunately only 15% of Canadians are currently doing this. For more information on whole grains, visit www.healthygrains.ca

As seen in The Telegram January 21, 2013