“Your diet is a bank account. Good food choices are good investments.” – Bethenny Frankel
Recently, I came across an app that has changed the way I shop, from now on and maybe forever… Have you ever wondered what is in the items you buy at the groceries? When you do, are you tempted to look at the list of ingredients to see whether or not it is “healthy” enough for you? or if the list is way too long, do you end up simply not buying it (Imagine spending countless hours at the grocery store just because you had to google each ingredient of every food piece bought)? Do you throw anything labelled “Healthy” in the cart and call it a day? Does the words:” bio” and “organic” rhyme with “very good product” for you?
Two weeks ago, my answer to all these questions above was a firm “yes!”. I thought I solely bought the best for my body. Until I found Yuka, the app that made me realize that we should probably look further into what we are buying. Some food we may perceive as “good”, when in reality, the additives may be a bit on the harsher side. Prior to elaborating on how wonderful this app is, I did a reasonable google search: “Are additives bad for you?”.
As a result, I went down the rabbit hole of web articles on the topic, from Cleveland Clinic to Harvard Health Publishing, I read a lot of enriching posts! All provided similar information. First, a brief description of additives: chemicals added to our food or beauty products for various reasons, included but not limited to: extending shelve life, texture, enhancing taste, etc. Then they all proceeded to clarify that additives are not necessarily bad for you, in small quantities! But some should definitely be avoided over others. Then, they conclude with the important note that a substantial/constant intake of certain additives could potentially result in severe health conditions and diseases.
Now, back to the app talk! After downloading Yuka and going through a swift sign-up, you can immediately start scanning your items. Once scanned, a rating over 100 is prompted alongside a mention stating if it’s excellent, good, poor or bad based on the ingredient list – I captured my screen of a yogurt scan result and added the picture below to give you an idea.
I noticed that most items that were rated really bad also contained additives that we should be staying away from. Hence my additive inquiry above in this article. Overall, my experience with this app was truly eye-opening, since I started scanning ( over 30 products), my “summary” displayed below, showed more poor/bad products than good/excellent which leaves me wanting to change a few of my shopping habits. From this moment forward, I will definitely be more on the lookout when it comes to my food.
Hoping that I have convinced you to at least give the app a try, not only because it is a great app, that provides alternative suggestions to bad products in some cases but also to get a real picture of what is in your pantry now and how you can grocery shop in better ways. Let me know below how it worked out as well as what you think!
Before I storm off, I want to be precise that I am not sponsored by Yuka, I just really like the app and find it ingenious. The links above are my referral links from my account but I get no monetary benefits, only a 30-day premium. Even if you don’t use these links, try the app!
On that note,
Josie Escapes…
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