We use our phones for pretty much everything, so it follows that we’d use it as a tool for improving our nutrition too.
From tracking what we eat, creating meal plans and savvy shopping, our phones can help with what we eat in many ways. Here are a few of our favourite nutrition apps to help make eating healthy easier.
MyFitnessPal
If you’ve ever thought about calorie counting, chances are you’ve heard of MyFitnessPal. A popular app with over 80 million users, it’s one of the best calorie tracking apps around. It has a comprehensive food database (although we’d recommend triple checking that the info is correct compared to what you’re actually eating), a barcode scanner for easy tracking, a recipe builder for figuring out portion calories, and you can choose which macros to track. It also syncs with many fitness apps to give you a one-stop look at your day.
iOS and Android, free or paid membership
Nutracheck
If you’re not a fan of MyFitnessPal, one of the other great calorie tracking apps is Nutracheck. It’s a smaller company than MyFitnessPal, but uses this to its advantage with UK-based staff dedicated to ensuring its food database is correct. Food tracking is made easy with a barcode scanner and images of packaging so you know if you’re selecting the right things. They offer a website as well as an app, with the desktop version giving you access to a range of professionals including dieticians and medical advisors.
iOS and Android, paid membership with a 7 day free trial
Supercook
If you’ve ever found yourself looking in the fridge wondering what on earth you can make for dinner, the Supercook app is for you. Add all the ingredients you have at home and Supercook will show you what you can make – ideal for cutting down on food waste. It uses a database of over 11 million recipes taken from 18,000 recipe websites but filtering is easy, so chances are you’ll find something that takes your fancy.
iOS and Android, free
Too Good To Go
If you’re looking to save money, love a bargain or just want to help fight food waste, Too Good To Go is a great app. It lets you buy excess food from local shops and restaurants at a knock down price so that it gets eaten instead of wasted. The catch? Because it’s stuff that hasn’t sold that day, you won’t know what you’re getting until you get it, so don’t bank on getting something specific. You’re also likely to be tempted by a ‘magic bag’ from a bakery full of sugary treats, but we’ve also seen healthier restaurants and supermarkets selling fruit and veg on there too. It helps if you’re in a big town or city to get the most choice.
iOS and Android, free. Magic bags start from around £3.
Whisk
If you need a little help with meal planning, Whisk may just help you to organise your shopping lists. With this handy app, you can add recipes from the web, create your own or find new ones in its database, then create a meal plan for the week. Then once you’ve populated your meal plan, you can generate a shopping list with one click, taking all the effort out of figuring out how many chicken breasts you’ll need, or whether 6 eggs will be enough for the week. You can even share recipes and shopping lists with friends or family.
iOS and Android, free