Our nutritional needs change as we grow older. To make things easy for us, World Health Organization (WHO) has laid out clear nutritional guidelines for older adults. For instance, according to WHO, increasing the consumption of fruit and vegetables by just 1-2 servings daily can reduce cardiovascular risk by 30%!
While there are many online resources that can provide similar information on elderly health, it’s hard to find the time and energy to do the research. This is the reason why we have hand-picked top free mobile applications that do just that.
My Fitness Pal
This app has the biggest food database with over 6 million foods from a range of different cuisines and cultures. It also lets you scan barcodes and import recipes to analyze the nutritional details of these foods for your loved ones.
MyFitnessPal can help you monitor their calorie intake as well as help them set realistic health goals. So this helps in making small changes, for instance to daily meals, that can have a huge positive long-term impact.
Yummly
Have you ever felt that you have run out of recipe options when preparing dinner? Or do you know how to make quick and easy healthy snacks?
In the case that your answer is no, Yummly has come to your rescue. It features over 2 million recipes, so it’s basically multiple cookbooks wrapped into one app. In addition to this, you can personalize the app, particularly if your loved one has any diet preferences or allergies.
What makes this app really amazing is that you can just type in whatever is available in your fridge and Yummly would do the thinking for you. It will show you the recipes that you can make those ingredients and enjoy with your loved one!
Waterlogged
Available on iOS and Android
Dehydration is a common cause of concern when it comes to elderly health. Seniors, especially if they are living with conditions such as dementia or Alzheimer’s, end up consuming less water than they should.
If you are concerned that your loved one isn’t getting enough water, you can download Waterlogged on their phone. The application provides personalized charts and reminders to help them stay healthy and hydrated. With the app, they can easily see their progress and meet daily water drinking goals.
Shopwell
Grocery shopping itself is a tedious task. However, when you have to narrow down your search due to allergies, medical conditions, or other health reasons; it becomes even more difficult to know which products to buy.
Well you’re in luck. Shopwell helps simplify nutrition labels for you and find products that meet your requirements.
When it comes to nutritional information for the elderly, the app provides personalized nutrition scores when you create a Food Profile for them. The comprehensive profile includes dietary goals, health concerns, allergies and dislikes.
HealthyOut
Available on iOS
When going out for a meal, it’s important to make sure that you’re taking your loved one to a restaurant that serves meals that provide proper nutrition and meet their dietary requirements. Usually the process of researching is painstaking. However, with HealthyOut, it becomes very simple. HealthyOut helps you find healthy meals from local restaurants in your area.
You can also use filters such as low calorie, low carb, low fat, high protein and heart healthy to narrow down the results. The app can also help you tailor the search according to their dietary restrictions.
With these apps on your mobile, there is so much you can do. You can stop worrying about what to cook, what to buy, or whether your loved one is getting proper nutrition.
So, it’s time to let technology help. While these applications can help you keep a track of their health, LocateMotion can help you be constantly aware of their whereabouts. With technology by your side you, you can make sure that the people you care about stay healthy and safe.
Author: Erum Ansari is a public relations professional who specializes in technology comms. She is an avid reader, a travel enthusiast, and a self-proclaimed story-teller. Before joining the content team at Your Doctors Online, Erum was the PR manager at Hill & Knowlton Strategies and was handling communications and content strategy for a diverse portfolio of brands. She is also a new mom who is finding her way around motherhood.