Keep struggling with digestive problems? Are there pimples suddenly forming on the skin? Possibly a food intolerance or an allergy is behind it. Then you should record your healthy eating habits and the reactions of your body for a while. But who likes to do that nowadays with a pad and pen?
Rule of thumb: You can usually only rely on recognized institutions
Entering all data on body measurements, eating and drinking habits and your own movement profiles can be time-consuming. You have to want that. “And with regard to data protection, it is important to check critically which data access is given by which provider,” say the experts at the State Center for Nutrition.
A look at the imprint, which must be available as well as a data protection declaration, helps here. The rule of thumb is: Recognized institutions are most likely to offer reliable and scientifically proven information.
Anyone who has clarified this for themselves will find a wide range of digital nutritionists. The apps presented here are free – at least in the basic versions, but they always offer a good overview.
Essplorer: calorie counter that provides information about additives and light products
This app from the consumer advice center in Baden-Württemberg is aimed specifically at a very young audience who want to know what’s behind new trends and advertising promises. This applies to food and nutrition, but also to cosmetics. The app bundles independent information on these subject areas.
Central questions are answered such as: What is the difference between an organic product and conventionally produced food? What do the E numbers stand for and how do I recognize additives? Are light products really light? There is also something to play with, for example you can test your knowledge in a quiz. And there are calculators for determining your own body mass index.
The development of the app was funded by the Ministry for Rural Areas and Consumer Protection Baden-Württemberg, it is free, and the consumer center does not collect or store any data. Very informative and comprehensive – not only young people can learn something here.
For iOS and Android
CodeCheck: Find out everything about ingredients using a barcode scanner
Regardless of whether you generally want to pay attention to what is in a product or whether you have to because you are allergic, for example: the CodeCheck app is a practical barcode scanner. The advantage: You don’t have to study the small print on the packaging, you can find out with one click whether and how much lactose, gluten, fructose, sugar, fat and salt are contained in a product.
The app also lists additives, parabens, paraffins, palm oil, nanoparticles, microplastics and much more in a practical traffic light system.
You can also find out where a product comes from and which route it has taken. Practical: the personalization function can also be used to adapt the app to individual needs. It also spits out product alternatives. According to the app manufacturer, the evaluations of the products are based on expert opinions from large environmental protection organizations, consumer groups and animal welfare organizations.
But there has already been criticism, including from Ökotest, that not all information on products is correct, and in some cases products were worse off than they actually are. So question the results critically. And: The offer is financed through advertising.
For iOS and Android
Cara Care: Records the eating behavior of allergy sufferers
Keep struggling with digestive problems? Are there pimples suddenly forming on the skin? Possibly a food intolerance or an allergy is behind it. Then you should record your eating habits and the reactions of your body for a while. But who likes to do that nowadays with a pad and pen?
The Cara app can help. It combines a digital nutrition, health and stool diary. In this way, connections between food intake, exercise, stress and complaints should also be deciphered. You can export the data, for example, to make it available to doctors and nutritionists if you want. Exemplary: Cara also offers an expert chat and (then for a fee) nutritional advice by phone. So you are not left alone.
The creators of the app guarantee that the data is stored encrypted on servers within the EU and transmitted encrypted. These paid options in the app are subsidized by numerous health insurances, which also speaks for seriousness.
For iOS and Android
MyFitnessPal: For healthy weight loss in combination with fitness
Currently very popular with those who want to lose weight: The MyFitnessPal app calculates an individual nutritional concept based on personal information and goals. Requirements for calories, fat, protein, carbohydrates, sugar and fiber are displayed, there are also clear diagrams that show your own progress when losing weight.
And you can enter every meal really easily and straightforwardly, which is currently the measure of nutrition apps for counting calories. But: You have to register for it. However, this is possible free of charge.
Important: This is not just about a healthy diet, the important bridge to more exercise is also built. The app can be connected to a fitness tracker and it also gives recommendations for sports exercises. For an extra motivational kick, you can even combine your profile with that of friends so that you can slim down together. The app is not ad-free (this is only possible against payment).
The Center for Telematics and Telemedicine (ZTG) says: “The app offers detailed setting and configuration options and, especially in the area of nutrition, gives a very specific overview of the food consumed every day.” But since it potentially uses third-party services, it is Sometimes it is very difficult for users to record which data is being processed and when. In case of doubt you have to get involved.
For iOS and Android
Eatsmarter: Much more than a calorie counter
Eating healthy is all well and good, but you also need the right recipe ideas. Eatsmarter is a gigantic digital cookbook for healthy recipes, which you can filter in the app by preparation difficulty level, season, price or meal. Many recipes are also offered for families with children, which means that you don’t have to cook extra for the little ones if you want to lose weight yourself.
Those who register can also create a recipe book with favorites, have the ingredients for a recipe shown as a shopping list and share them. The German Nutrition Society (DGE), together with “In Form”, the federal initiative for healthy eating and exercise, has awarded some Eatsmarter recipes with the “Tested IN FORM recipes” seal.
For: iOS and Android
RegioApp. Eat not only healthy, but also regionally
Would you also like to buy products directly from the region, but you don’t really know where to get what exactly? What is grown or processed for daily needs in my area and when are the relevant shops open? With the RegioApp you can find the nearby producers quickly and easily.
The app either recognizes the location via GPS on request or you can use the manual location search. Producers and sales outlets of regional products as well as restaurateurs who process regional products are listed accordingly.
For iOS and Android
Seasonal calendar app: Take it with you when you go shopping
If you want to eat healthily and in an environmentally conscious way, you have to know which fruits and vegetables are in season and when. The season calendar app from the Federal Center for Nutrition helps.
For the current month, it lists all vegetables and fruits that are currently in the main harvest season. Practical: It also uses the same principle to assess exotic and citrus fruits, for which there is also a season in their growing countries. This is also how you can control your purchasing.
Particularly informative: the app explains how the supply quantities are made up and reveals, for example, how large the import share of a product is compared to domestic goods. This makes environmentally friendly purchasing planning much easier.
For iOS and Android
Nabu seal check: thumbs up for ecologically recommendable food
You want to do something for the environment when shopping and make sure that animal welfare is more important. But it’s not that simple. In the jungle of labels and seals, it is easy to lose track of things, the seal-check app from the Naturschutzbund (Nabu) helps. The app shows whether food is ecologically recommendable or not. Simply take a picture of the packaging logo.
There is a green thumb for products that are recommendable from an ecological point of view, a yellow thumb stands for a good product that could have better environmental benefits, and a red thumb indicates that this is not an environmentally friendly product.
Seals whose demands on the product go beyond the applicable standards can be recognized by two green thumbs. Labels that do not say anything about the environmental benefits of a product, but can still be found in the food sector, have a neutral rating.
And: In a gallery you can search for seals yourself or browse through product categories for trustworthy logos for organically produced, fair trade or regional food. The database is constantly updated.
For iOS and Android
Yazio: A nutrition app for athletes
Build muscle, maintain or reduce weight? With this app you can design your personal nutrition plan to match your sports program. The app tracks the calories and nutritional values such as carbohydrates, protein and fats. The food database is really very detailed and contains all the usual dishes, you don’t have to enter the consumed quantities down to the gram. Sports activities are recorded manually.
There is also coaching, interfaces to fitness trackers and a variety of recipes. The user interface is self-explanatory and clear. Detailed evaluations, which are also very well prepared graphically, are only available in the paid Pro version. The food diary can be kept free of charge.
For iOS and Android
Water drinking alarm clock: determine personal fluid requirements
Proper drinking behavior is also part of a healthy diet. If you keep forgetting to drink enough fluids during the day, the water drinking alarm clock is a really useful helper.
The app helps you to really drink enough every day. The drinking reminders are based on the personally determined daily fluid requirement, which the app conveniently calculates by querying factors such as age, weight, current weather conditions and physical activity. And then the alarm clock rings when it’s time to pick up the water glass.
By the way, the app also includes other liquids, so you don’t just have to stick to water. It records personal drinking behavior in graphics and logs, so you have a practical overview every evening and can analyze your drinking behavior and optimize it for the next day.
Originally published at Pledge times