Recommended Apps:
Chemical Maze
Know what food additives and cosmetic ingredients to avoid The Chemical Maze was written to make it simpler and easier to recognise additives and ingredients in foods and cosmetics having the potential to cause discomfort and ill-health.
I've learnt a lot about food and what is in it and I use Chemical Maze to understand the ingredients. This is a very useful app to use and has a easy to understand rating system which is:
When I look at a product for the first time I will look up the ingredients especially those with a number associated and here is an example. These are the ingredients for ETA Mayonnaise EzyGrip
Water, cane sugar, white vinegar, vegetable oil [antioxidant (320)], maize thickener (1442), salt, wheaten cornflour, egg yolk, vegetable gum (xanthan), flavour, colour (161b).
Looks harmless right? Wrong...
When you see ingredients that have numbers the chances are that some of those will not be good for you. For example, vegetable oil [antioxidant (320)] sounds like just an antioxidant however when you look up 320 it has 2 red sad faces which is hazardous to your health. The real name for this ingredient is Butylated hydroxyanisole it is derived from petroleum and just some of the potential effects include:
DNA damage, suspected respiratory, endocrine, skin, immuno, liver and neurotoxicity. Recognised carcinogen, prohibited in foods for infants. Symptoms include Allergic and hyper-sensitive reactions, Asthma, Headaches and Migraines, skin ailments such as eczema, dermatitis, rash etc.
Looking at 1442 - it is not quite so bad as Chemical Maze rates it 2 orange icons.
161b is Lutein and has one green face.
My point is you cannot take for granted that what is promoted as a 'healthy option' is actually healthy for you. While it does take time to read the ingredients you only have to do it to determine a safe product to purchase, after that you can keep using the same product. As a rule, I buy organic products. If I can’t buy organic, I will look for products that have no preservatives or additive’s and I also look for low sugar (less than 5g per 100g) or is sweetened with natural products like dates.
Available for purchase for iOS and Android.
Know what food additives and cosmetic ingredients to avoid The Chemical Maze was written to make it simpler and easier to recognise additives and ingredients in foods and cosmetics having the potential to cause discomfort and ill-health.
I've learnt a lot about food and what is in it and I use Chemical Maze to understand the ingredients. This is a very useful app to use and has a easy to understand rating system which is:
- 2 green double happy faces and is safe and/or beneficial
- 1 green happy face and is safe for most people
- 2 orange icons - quizzical face and question mark - caution advised
- 1 red sad face - best avoided
- 2 red double sad face - Potentially hazardous to health
When I look at a product for the first time I will look up the ingredients especially those with a number associated and here is an example. These are the ingredients for ETA Mayonnaise EzyGrip
Water, cane sugar, white vinegar, vegetable oil [antioxidant (320)], maize thickener (1442), salt, wheaten cornflour, egg yolk, vegetable gum (xanthan), flavour, colour (161b).
Looks harmless right? Wrong...
When you see ingredients that have numbers the chances are that some of those will not be good for you. For example, vegetable oil [antioxidant (320)] sounds like just an antioxidant however when you look up 320 it has 2 red sad faces which is hazardous to your health. The real name for this ingredient is Butylated hydroxyanisole it is derived from petroleum and just some of the potential effects include:
DNA damage, suspected respiratory, endocrine, skin, immuno, liver and neurotoxicity. Recognised carcinogen, prohibited in foods for infants. Symptoms include Allergic and hyper-sensitive reactions, Asthma, Headaches and Migraines, skin ailments such as eczema, dermatitis, rash etc.
Looking at 1442 - it is not quite so bad as Chemical Maze rates it 2 orange icons.
161b is Lutein and has one green face.
My point is you cannot take for granted that what is promoted as a 'healthy option' is actually healthy for you. While it does take time to read the ingredients you only have to do it to determine a safe product to purchase, after that you can keep using the same product. As a rule, I buy organic products. If I can’t buy organic, I will look for products that have no preservatives or additive’s and I also look for low sugar (less than 5g per 100g) or is sweetened with natural products like dates.
Available for purchase for iOS and Android.
Think Dirty
Think Dirty® app is the easiest way to learn about the potentially toxic ingredients in your cosmetics and personal care products. Just scan the product barcode and Think Dirty will give you easy-to-understand info on the product, its ingredients, and shop cleaner options!
Does not have everything but it will get better over time.
Available for free for iOS and Android.
Think Dirty® app is the easiest way to learn about the potentially toxic ingredients in your cosmetics and personal care products. Just scan the product barcode and Think Dirty will give you easy-to-understand info on the product, its ingredients, and shop cleaner options!
Does not have everything but it will get better over time.
Available for free for iOS and Android.
101 Juice Recipes & 101 Smoothie Recipes - Joe Cross.
You can:
Both are available for purchase for iOS and Android.
You can:
- Search for recipes by ingredient
- Create and print custom shopping lists
- Search for juices that help fight health conditions such as arthritis, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, osteoporosis and more
- Substitute fruits and veggies you don’t like or are hard to find by following the Substitution Chart
- Save your favorite recipes to review later
- View video tutorials on how to prepare juice
- Print shopping lists
Both are available for purchase for iOS and Android.
Food Switch New Zealand
Packaged foods can be surprisingly high in salt, fat and sugars. Use FoodSwitch for healthy grocery shopping and make better food choices for you and your family.
Take three simple steps to better health by reducing high levels of fat, salt and sugars in you and your family’s diet.
1. Scan barcodes of packaged foods with your camera and see what’s in the food you’re eating.
2. See similar foods that are healthier based on established nutrition criteria.
3. Share your healthier food choices with your friends via Facebook, Twitter or email.
FoodSwitch comes with handy filters to suit different health needs:
Features:
Packaged foods can be surprisingly high in salt, fat and sugars. Use FoodSwitch for healthy grocery shopping and make better food choices for you and your family.
Take three simple steps to better health by reducing high levels of fat, salt and sugars in you and your family’s diet.
1. Scan barcodes of packaged foods with your camera and see what’s in the food you’re eating.
2. See similar foods that are healthier based on established nutrition criteria.
3. Share your healthier food choices with your friends via Facebook, Twitter or email.
FoodSwitch comes with handy filters to suit different health needs:
- FoodSwitch Classic is for anyone looking to make generally healthier food choices.
- SaltSwitch has been designed to help people lower their salt intake and is great for people with, or being treated for, high blood pressure.
- GlutenSwitch is great for people with coeliac disease or a gluten intolerance who are looking for gluten-free products.
Features:
- Immediate, easy-to-understand nutritional information from a large, independent, NZ packaged food products database.
- Simple color-coded ratings for 4 key food components (total fat, saturated fat, sugars and salt).
- Get a list of healthier choices for the food you scan and switch to healthier choices where available.
- Save your healthy favorites on personalised shopping lists.
- Export your lists of healthier choices or share them with friends and family.
