Apps to keep you up-to-date with all the latest health trends
Smart Phones and tablets are making major impacts on our lives. They help us get to places we need to go, take and share pictures to rival professional photographers, issue a gaming challenge to friends, search the Web on the fly, and watch our favorite television shows. With the recent app explosion, there’s something suitable for everyone. In fact, there are even now apps available that can help you get healthy and keep you up to date on medical news and breakthroughs.
There are a number of apps out there to assist you in dieting and keeping track of your calorie intake including: Lose It!, Restaurant Nutrition, My Net Diary’s Calorie Counter, My Fitness Pal’s Calorie Counter, Meal Snap, Calories Pro, TracknBurn, and My Diet Calorie Counter, to name a few. Keeping track of caloric intake is important, but what if you want to know how good (or bad) a product is before you even purchase it? The Fooducate app allows users to scan UPCs at the grocery story to help them make healthier choices. As the products are scanned, the app will give the item a grade, as if it were in school, as well as breaking down the calories per serving and nutritional information. Warnings can accompany the information such as “Look out! Not 100% whole grain” (fooducate.com). It also lets users know if others like the product and what the ‘points’ of a serving are for those on diets using that kind of system. Available for iPhone and Android products, it has a 4 1/2 star rating.
The exercise apps are many as well, some of the better known ones being: Gym Pact, Pumping Weight,Teemo, Sportaneous, Fitness Fast, and Daily Burn. If you’re a couch potato looking to get into better shape, the Couch to 5k app will have you leaving that indent in your sofa behind. With sessions starting at 20-30 minutes, it’s something most people can fit into their schedule and in just 9 weeks you can be running 3.1 miles. The app will walk you through each session, prompting when you should warm up, walk, run, and cool down. You can even pipe your own music through the app to keep you moving. Available for iPhone and Android, it has a 5 star rating.
Even your doctors are getting in on the app craze, making communications between their staff and patience easier. 80% of doctors use Smart Phones and medical apps (bizjournals.com) and 40% think the apps help reduce the number of visits to physician offices (bizjournals.com). Some apps they choose to use are: Airstrip, DocBook MD, Drchrono EMR.