Top 10 Apps for Eating Healthy

At home or on the road, dining out or ordering in, these apps for eating healthy can help you find the best options available and make better food choices. Not to mention that you’ll save loads of time and learn in the process.

An interesting bonus feature in some of these apps – such as and Locavore and Food Tripping – is that they give you an easy way to contribute to the common good. Some have quick links to the “powers that be” so you can make your voice heard. Others let you share and promote your favorite finds with others to help spread the word and drive foot traffic to those providers.

In this case, sharing isn’t just about being social. It serves a valid purpose. You may have already discovered that one of the biggest problems with trying to eat healthier is that good, real food can often be hard to find. The best thing we can do to change that is to support healthy food markets and eateries by letting others know about what we find and where. With some of these apps, that hardly even takes any effort on your part!

1. Fooducate

iOS, Android – Free
Scan a barcode or say the name of a food to get a grade based on nutritional quality plus need-to-know info about ingredients, additives, calories, fat, carbs, sodium, and more. Fooducate will also give you suggestions for better options. Find out which foods claim to be healthy but really aren’t all that. Find the Fooducate app here:

2. Non-GMO Project Shopping Guide

iOS, Android – Free
Free
If you’ve tried eliminating GMOs from your diet you know it can be difficult to spot them all. This app makes shopping easier by helping you locate food products and brands that have been verified by the Non-GMO Project. Search by product type, brand names, product names, or keywords, or use the app to find retailers near you that offer non-GMO goods. Get this Shopping Guide app here:

3. MyFitnessPal

iOS, Android – Free*
No matter what your fitness goal, an important first step is understanding your current eating habits. The vast majority of us know very little about calories, and quite often we eat more than we think. This app solves that. Everyone should at least give it a try, if only for a few weeks. You may be surprised at what you learn!

*Note: Unlocking the full functionality of this app requires a monthly paid subscription. Get the free version here:

4. Carbs Control

iOS, Android – $2.99
Diabetics may find this app useful, but it’s also great for anyone using a low carb diet to lose weight. You can look up carb amounts in specific foods, keep a food diary, and track your carb intake by the day or look at individual meals. The database covers 100,000 foods, which is far less than apps that require a monthly subscription, but it’s also much cheaper with only a single payment. Get it here:

5. NxtNutrio

iOS, Android – $3.99
Want to know what’s in food before you buy? Use this app to scan a bar code and discover all the preservatives and other unwanted additives hiding in foods. Most major brands are recognized, and you can also personalize the app to recognize your own nutritional ingredient risks. Get it here:

6. Dirty Dozen

iOS
Ideally, none of us would ever eat pesticides again, but sometimes organic produce can be pricey. Here’s a little tool to help you decide when organic is worth the extra cost, and when it may be okay to go for the less expensive choice. The Dirty Dozen app includes two lists, both the Dirty Dozen and the Clean 15. It also has a Guide with answers to common questions about pesticides in fruits and vegetables.

7. Seafood Watch

iOS, Android – Free
Fish helps keep us healthy. Seafood Watch helps return the favor to our planet by providing up-to-date info on fish that are caught or farmed in ways that don’t have such a negative environmental impact. Enter a seafood or sushi name and find out the best choices, the good alternatives, and those it would be best to avoid altogether. Get Seafood Watch here:

8. Locavore

iOS, Android – Free
Great for local food sourcing, Locavore helps you find the nearest farmers and markets that sell locally grown foods. You can also share what you find with your friends on Facebook to help support your local farmers and economy. Available at:

9. Healthy Out

iOS, Android – Free
Instead of showing up at the restaurant and searching the menu for a healthy option, get all the info before you go, or before you order in. Healthy Out lets you search local eateries by calories, cuisines, or nutritional needs or preferences such as paleo, low carb, or low cal. There are lots of similar apps, but this one covers over 500 cities, so you don’t have to live in a major metropolitan area.

10. Is That Gluten Free?

iOS – $7.99
That price may seem high for an app, but it’s certainly worth it for anyone who has celiac disease or who is hyper sensitive to gluten for other reasons. This new improved version includes over 36,400 items and 1,650 brands, and you can search by category, by product name, or by brand. No connectivity is required, so your app will work even inside warehouse type stores where you may lose your internet connection. Get the app here:

Plus 3 More

In addition to our top 10 apps for healthy eating above, you may also find these three useful!

Substitutions

iOS – $1.99
This is convenient when you’re home cooking and suddenly realize you don’t have one of the ingredients in your recipe, but it does a lot more. In some cases Substitution can help you find alternatives that will help with your specific dietary needs or allergies, or even just to save money. Download at:

Food Planner

iOS, Android – Free
If you like to browse and save recipes from the web, this app is for you. Food Planner supports ALL the major recipe websites plus dozens and dozens more. The app organizes all the healthy recipes you upload and creates a shopping list of ingredients you’ll need. It can help make sure you stay within budget and also that you don’t get home without that one crucial ingredient. Available here:

Food Tripping

iOS, Android – Free
Want to eat healthier while you’re traveling? This is a GPS-based app that helps you avoid fast food joints along your route and find healthier alternatives. The database includes all kinds of eateries, farmers markets, and even microbreweries and organic coffee shops. When you discover a perfect little spot on your own, you can share it back to help grow the database.

What’s Your Favorite Healthy Eating App?

Do you know of a really great food app that we haven’t listed here? If so, please add your comments below so we can help spread the word. Tell us the name of the app and how you’re using it to help you locate good food sources or to make smarter, healthier choices when you shop.