Senior Health Healthy Eating Apps for Your Smart Device 8/25/2023 | By Matthew Kadey Can you improve how you eat with merely the tap of a button? Matthew Kadey of Environmental Nutrition looks at the pros and cons of healthy eating apps to help you decide if these smart device applications are right for you. Eating healthy isn’t always easy. This is why more people are looking for an assist in the form of food tracking applications (apps) that have ballooned with the ubiquitousness of smartphones. One of the most popular features of nutrition-focused digital apps is the ability to record the food you eat and quickly view nutritional information. Dietary guidance, sharing of recipes, and more may also be just a few taps away. Other lifestyle habits, like physical activity and sleep may also be tracked to help with health and weight loss goals. Here are some of the ups and downs of food tracking apps to help you decide if you should be logging your meals. The pros Food apps are convenient, affordable, and increasingly easy to use. “In my experience, the top two strengths of these apps include accountability and awareness of eating habits,” says Dallas-based registered dietitian Caroline Susie. Since behavioral change can be hard to implement and maintain, Susie says one useful tool to support dietary changes is having help to hold you accountable for the dietary choices you are making. Tracking your food can also bring a whole new level of awareness and mindfulness to how you eat. “Using apps for purposes like photo food journaling is an easy way to bring awareness to hunger and fullness, time of meals, portion sizes, and more,” says Susie. “It’s a visual way for my clients and me to identify any patterns that need to be addressed.” Susie adds that seeing what you eat visually and getting feedback simultaneously can be a powerful tool for change. Often, there can be a disconnect between what we are actually eating compared to what we think we are eating, and using a food tracking app can help bridge this gap, helping foster important dietary changes. Research is finding that, for many people, digital nutrition and lifestyle-oriented programs can effectively aid in improving eating habits and contribute to weight loss success. For instance, a meta-analysis of the available science published in the journal Obesity Reviews found that app-based mobile interventions can improve various nutrition behaviors and nutrition-related health outcomes, including positive effects on obesity. A recent research review published in The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity found that digital nutrition interventions including apps that target parents as users can be effective for improving nutrition-related outcomes in children and parents. These positive outcomes may largely be attributed to the food logging apps helping users make informed choices and bringing to light areas for improvement. “Food tracking apps can also be helpful to pinpoint potential food tolerances and allergies along with their associated symptoms,” notes Susie. So by tracking daily food intake, someone may learn that certain foods are not well-tolerated, making it easier to take the necessary dietary action to ameliorate this. Some apps have helpful features, such as barcode scanners, meal planners, workout trackers, dietitian support, and the ability to enter and save your recipes. The cons Food tracking in the digital world is not a perfect science, and Susie stresses they are not for everyone. “These apps can be hyper-focused on calories and macronutrients, while missing the bigger nutrition and health picture,” she cautions. In other words, some apps may zero in on calorie counting over healthier eating and improving other important lifestyle habits. They may do little to teach overall healthy eating skills, like meal planning and preparation. Susie also believes some people will find the apps tedious to use every day. “It takes time to enter a recipe or find the exact food you are consuming, which after a while can lead to reduced compliance.” And, importantly, many apps rely on user-generated food data that is not properly scrutinized for accuracy. “This means the nutritional information of the food database itself can be inaccurate,” Susie says. So the calories and macronutrient intake you see after a day of food logging can be off from the true number. Susie also stresses these healthy eating apps can be harmful to people with a history of disordered eating because of the daily focus on food intake. “These apps can be extremely triggering and problematic if someone becomes obsessive about tracking.” Some users may also overlook what they are doing well and solely focus on the negative parts of their eating. The bottom line of healthy eating apps If you’re struggling to gauge your nutrition and reach a health goal, using a digital food log might be a good way to go. The apps can help users feel more motivated, accountable, and disciplined. But their limitations need to be understood. When selecting a nutrition app to download, it’s important to consider your goals and which features are most important to you. Reprinted with permission from Environmental Nutrition, a monthly publication of Belvoir Media Group, LLC. 800-829-5384. www.EnvironmentalNutrition.com. ©2023 Belvoir Media Group. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Find other great nutritional articles on Seniors Guide: Healthy Ingredient Swaps Read More Matthew Kadey Matthew Kadey, MS, RD is a nutrition, food, and travel writer and photographer as well as professional recipe developer and cookbook author. You can learn more about his work at www.MatthewKadey.com.