With today’s technology, it seems like there’s a mobile application for every aspect of life. There are thousands of apps in the health category alone. To save you time, I compiled a list the best health apps for menu planning, intake and symptoms, food allergies and sensitivities, and diabetics.
Menu Planning Apps
Yummly
Sleekly designed, this app lets you search through a comprehensive database of recipes to find meals that fit specific allergies, diet and palettes. It even pairs up with an Instacart account to have the ingredients delivered right to your door within 1-2 hours.
Innit
Called “Your culinary GPS for everyday eating”, Innit is an all-in -one platform to plan personalized meals, create shopping lists and get step-to-step cooking instructions. The light, bright, user-friendly design and food photography makes recipe search a pleasure. Innit works with google home and is ideal for the smart home.
Mealime
This simple, personalized meal planning app lets you filter recipes by diet type, allergies and food restrictions. The automatic grocery lists make shopping and planning a breeze. Perfect for anyone seeking nutritionally presented, healthy dinner recipes without venturing down the internet rabbit hole, Mealime offers flexibility and value in a clean and cheerful package.
Runtasty
Runtasty is a recipe app that caters to a variety of dietary needs and provides step-by-step cooking videos and nutrition information, motivating users to make healthful recipes. Easily search for recipes using ingredients keywords or common dietary preferences. If you are a whiz at converting metric to customary units and don’t mind putting pen to paper to create a shopping list, you will love this simple-to-navigate recipe app.
Diabetes Food Hub
www.diabetesfoodhub.org, a new (11/2018) digital cooking and recipe destination. It provides simple solutions to daily meal planning. Diabetes Food Hub makes it easy to find healthy recipe that fit your lifestyle, and includes shopping lists, meal prep tips from nutrition experts, and more.
Food & Fluid Intake / Symptom & Sleep Monitoring Apps
My Fitness Pal
If anyone uses a healthy lifestyle app, it’s probably this power house which lets you track calories (including a built-in barcode scanner and perhaps the largest database of nutritional values out there) as well as weight, activity and more.
Waterlogged
Track your water intake, get “sip” reminders throughout the day and visualize your progress on finally getting in those eight glasses of water a day.
mySymptoms
The mySymptoms app offers a way to track foods, activities, stressors and environmental factors that may cause unpleasant side effects, such as nausea, bloating, or eczema. MySymptom is well-designed, easy to use and one of the most comprehensive apps of its kind. Combined with the care of a qualified health professional, it’s useful tracker for anyone working to pin down the source of an allergy or ailment.
Today
With the goal of helping users develop and track good habits, such as eating better, mediating and getting enough sleep, this app is simple to use. The high-quality graphics inspire and motivate you to stick to good habits, which can be enhanced with Apple Health charts, to-do lists, milestone trackers, journals and more. While the free version is limited to three habits, the premium app allows unlimited habits and also backs up and secures your data.
Lose It!
This app supports weight loss and allows people to join public challenges and community groups while sharing on Facebook and Twitter. If users want a full spectrum of feature, such as fitness, diet, blood glucose, and blood pressure monitoring they will need to pay $39.99/year.
Food Allergies & Gluten Sensitivity Apps
AllergyEats
AllergyEats was created to reduce the anxiety associated with eating out with food allergies. Though not all cities are fully represented, AllergyEats can make it easier to find allergy-friendly restaurants throughout the country. The simple design filters by major food allergens and puts key details-restaurant, website, phone number, directions and menus- in one place. The active user community provides real-life experiences with restaurant ratings and comments.
FODMAP Grocery Guide
FODMOP Grocery guide simplifies the shopping process for those who are new to a low-FODMAP diet. This app is designed specifically for people with functional gut disorders. While grocery shopping, users can access a detailed list of low-FODMAP foods organized by aisle. This app should be used as a supplement to work with a health professional.
Blood Glucose Monitoring Apps for Diabetes
One Drop Diabetes Management
Track blood glucose, food, physical activity and medication using the One Drop Diabetes Management app. One Drop syncs with popular glucometers and insulin pumps, making it easy to track and spot trends and share information with a health care team. Users can log intake directly from the food library or by entering the amount of carbohydrates eaten. One Drop is ideal for adults seeking a simple and convenient way to manage diabetes.
Glucose Buddy: Diabetes Helper
This app supports entries for diet, exercise, blood glucose and medication.