Best Apps 4 Eating Healthy.

1. Substitutions Platform: Apple iPhone and iPad
Handy in the supermarket as well as the kitchen, this app offers alternatives for foods you wish to avoid. It also gives tips for ingredients you can swap in a pinch if you’re in the middle of cooking something and realize you’re missing a key item. (Google Play has a similar app for $0.99.)
 
2. Fooducate Platform: Android, Apple iPhone
I can read a few different languages, but the nutrition information on food labels is not one of them. And I know I’m not alone. This app lets you scan the barcode of a product or type in its name (or a kind of food, like “banana”) to uncover its total calories, fat, sodium and other ingredients. It also “scores” the food for healthiness and lets you know if the smoothie that advertises itself as super-wholesome is actually packed with calories.

3. Seafood Watch From the Monterey Bay Aquarium  Platform: Android, Apple iPhone (free)
I used to have a laminated list of “ocean friendly” fish, which I tried to remember to bring with me whenever I went to the market. More often than not, I’d forget it. This app makes eco-consciousness a no-brainer.
In addition to offering alternatives to fish on the “avoid” list, Seafood Watch has a new feature that lets you add names and locations of restaurants that serve sustainable seafood.


4. True Food Platform: Android, Apple iPhone and iPad
According to the nonprofit Center for Food Safety, more than 70% of all packaged foods on our supermarket shelves contain genetically modified ingredients — GMIs — and in the USA, GMOs (the O is for “organisms”) don’t need to be labeled.

There is some debate about how dangerous genetically modified foods may be for our bodies and the environment. But if you want to avoid these products, you’ll appreciate True Food. 
The app lists “green” foods (which do not contain modified ingredients) and “red” foods (which do). Click on a tab and you can join up with anti-GMI activists to protest companies that make or sell “red” products. You can also locate stores that refuse to carry anything with GMOs.

5. Harvest App
Platform: Apple iPhone
Did you know that a yellow spot on the bottom of a watermelon means it ripened on the vine in the sun? I didn’t — until I found this app that helps select fresh produce. An alphabetical directory gives tips for identifying more than 100 ripe edibles grown on trees, vines or in the ground. The app also gives such valuable storage tips as not to wash strawberries until you’re ready to eat them.

6. Locavore
Platform: Android, Apple iPhone
I love the way this app helps me find local produce and in-season food at farmers markets, farm stands and groceries. You can also post directly to Facebook with this app, so your friends can share the food fun.

7. Allergy Guard Platform: Apple iPhone
It never occurred to me that a friend couldn’t eat milk chocolate — until I realized it contains cow’s milk, to which she is severely allergic. For people with food allergies, this app could literally be a lifesaver.
It allows you to look the ingredients in more than 2,000 common foods. Some of the listings are “name brand” items, like Taco Bell seasoning — helpful when you’re eating out. 

The app downloads the data onto your phone, so you have easy access even when out of 3-4G or Wi-Fi range. Another nice aspect: You can use a free version if you don’t mind ads and want to input only your own allergy data 

8. Superfoods 
Platform: Apple iPhone, iPad
We’ve all heard about nutritional powerhouses that can boost our immune systems and memory, ward off disease and give us more energy. But if you, like me, need reminders about which foods to stock in the larder, this guidebook to healthful eating helps you make smart shopping purchases. Spend some time reading through their articles (e.g., “Superfoods for Your Brain”) for in-depth information about the benefits of particular items, like açai or pomegranate juice. The “deals” tab links you to shopping specials. www.forbes.com