Smartphone Nutritional Food Apps

Educate yourself about food items you buy from your local grocery store. Smartphones arm us with many apps, one I found extremely interesting and helpful is the Fooducate. There are similar apps, this one just happened to be the one we used to scan our food items. Use your phone to scan a UPC barcode and receive an instant rating along with nutritional information, and alternative choices. To locate a food app go to the application market place on your phone and search on the keyword food. 

We used the smartphone app to scan barcodes found on food products in our house. I was happy to find that most products were very healthy; however, some surprised me as not so healthy.  One refrigerated product we scanned is a popular butter substitute spread. The app came back with nutritional information, a rating, and alternative choices. In addition, it provided some information about a particular ingredient used as a preservative in the product. This prompted me to investigate the ingredient and to make the decision not to purchase this product in the future. On another food item, the nutritional label listed 0 trans fat, but after scanning the barcode we found that it did contain trans fat. According to the Fooducate app I experimented with, there is a loop whole that manufactures use. If there is less than half a gram of trans fat per serving, manufactures can round the amount of trans fat down to zero, resulting in a labeling of 0 trans fat.

Scan before you buy to make healthy food choices for you and your family. If the product does not meet your nutritional needs, or if you find a particular ingredient suspect, select an alternative product right at the store. It is all at your fingertips. Feel confident in the choices you are making, buy food products that are satisfying to the taste and meet your nutritional needs. For the health conscious person, the food app can be one more ingredient in your treasure trove of information.

Restaurant Dining

Restaurant dining can be somewhat of a challenge. There are many food choices on the menu that seem to be quite healthy. At a restaurant, grilled seafood, poultry, lean meat, vegetables, and salad can be very healthy choices. Why would you think otherwise? I did some research on the nutritional values of some restaurant menu items and was shocked to find how unhealthy some of them can be.

Nutritional information about items at your favorite restaurant can be found on various websites, and in some instances, larger restaurants post the information on their website. What I am finding is that even at some of the best restaurants, the food choices contain far too much sodium. I found that many restaurant food choices can contain 3,000 - 4,000 milligrams of sodium per entree, some even higher! For everyone on a sodium restricted diet,  your meal could contain enough sodium for 2 - 3 days.

I am not very hung up on carb counting when dining out.  For me, I simply eat only a small portion of the carbs presented on the plate and take the rest home to enjoy at a later time. When I choose a salad, whether it be a side choice, or the main entree, I will always request that the salad dressing be served separately. I dip my salad into the dressing, rather than pouring it directly on the salad.  I find this to be very satisfying and do not miss the extra dressing; in fact, you will be surprised at the amount of dressing that is left at the end of your meal. Of course, vinegar and oil are always a good choice.

Before heading out to your favorite restaurant you might want to search the Internet for nutritional values. In doing so, you will be more informed and armed with the ability to make a healthy meal choice before arriving at the restaurant. Become a wise restaurant diner and you will enjoy your meal without any guilt or concerns.

Some Resources I Find Helpful:
USDA Consumer Corner
Livestrong.com