Food tracking apps make up a major category of the food-related apps now available. MyFitness Pal, 21 Day Fix Tracker, My Macros and Lose it! are only a few of the most popular. These apps are promoted as helping the user monitor their food consumption, follow a specific diet or lose weight, but are they proven to be effective? Or are they just another diet fad?
With the start of 2019, many people will look to food tracking apps to help them meet their diet goals. While there are apps to encourage more mindful eating or track a chronic disease-related diet, weight loss apps seem to be the most popular in the food tracking category. It's likely because of this that these apps, and their effectiveness in promoting weight loss, are currently a popular area of study.
Although this is a relatively new area of research, there is some evidence to support the use of food tracking apps in promoting adherence to certain diet-related goals, when used in conjunction with nutritional counseling from a healthcare professional, like a registered dietitian. While the reasoning for this link is unclear, better results may have been achieved because of the guidance and individualized approach that can be provided through counselling.
Most people seem to use food tracking apps with a goal in mind, but not necessarily the specific steps and strategies that go into achieving that goal.
Tracking apps are a tool used to document but they don't provide individualized education. Apps that focus on weight loss will ask you how much weight you want to lose and how fast you want to lose it. You may also be asked what percentage of calories you want to eat from proteins, carbohydrates and fats, how you want your calories to be divided throughout the day and how many calories you want to "burn" through exercise. Setting goals to address these questions does not lead to a greater understanding of a healthy diet and a healthier, balance lifestyle over the long term. When arbitrary values are set, an overly restrictive diet can be the result.
Food tracking apps can also remove a level of mindfulness, since the goal is often to hit a target number and not necessarily listen to your own body. If you're consistently overriding feelings of hunger and fullness, it will be more difficult to maintain goals without consistently tracking. A hyper-focus on numbers, like calories or grams of carbohydrates and protein, can also impact the user's intake of a well-rounded diet, full of whole foods. Two foods could have the same amount of calories but very different nutrient values.
When setting a goal for weight loss, some of these apps will tell you how long it will take to reach your desired goal. If you restrict your calories even more, you'll achieve faster weight loss. It's this type of unrealistic goal setting that ultimately leads to frustration, disappointment, yo-yo dieting, disordered eating and unsustainable goals over the long term.
Although I've only mentioned the negatives so far, food tracking apps may serve a positive benefit in helping bring to light eating behaviours that could have otherwise gone unnoticed. One 2018 study in the Journal of Behavioural Medicine found that participants who used a mindful eating app for 28 days experienced a reduction in craving-related eating and self-reported overeating behaviours. However, the study did not look at the long term impact of the app, only the results up to one-month post intervention.
Tracking, or writing down, your snacks and meals can make you more aware of what you're eating, help you understand what leads to your eating behaviours, show you what you're doing well and show you what you can do even better, but without individualized guidance these things could be difficult to identify.
Ultimately, food tracking apps, and weight loss apps in particular, do not support healthy, balanced diets over the long term, nor do they support increased independence and knowledge regarding nutrition. Weight loss apps can lead to an overly restrictive diet and the treatment of food as the enemy. The annoyance or guilt evoked by the demands of these apps can also deter efforts to make positive diet changes in the future.
Meal planning may be a more effective and realistic approach to start with when looking to make diet changes in the new year. There is a menu-planning tool at www.cookspiration.com with daily meal plans, recipes and shopping lists that can be tailored to your diet goals. If you're looking to speak with a dietitian, you can also call Healthlink BC at 8-1-1 or go to www.healthlinkbc.ca/dietitian-services.
Kelsey Leckovic is a registered dietitian with Northern Health working in chronic disease management.
