Mercola Reviews his favorite Apps
I know that most of you know that I am a fan of the applications that can make your health path easier. So when Dr. Mercola reviewed his favorite apps the other day, I knew I had to write about them! However, once I saw the list I realized that it was not a “Health” focused list, just his favorites.
Therefore, I only have a few to share from his list, then I will reiterate mine. If you are not a smart phone user, then this won’t apply (right now), but I am a firm believer that the value of using this type of technology will draw all of you into these types of phones at some point. My iPad is the one most useful piece of technology that I own, really because of the ease of access to information coupled with the increased size of the viewing space.
So on the diet fitness side, Mercola likes the Calorie Tracker by My Fitness Pal, and the Fitness Builder. He comments how the Calorie Tracker helps him “record my food intake and help me keep track of my macronutrient ratios”. I personally don’t preach daily records because of the effort, and the poor compliance by most. However, if you find a way to make it part of your lifestyle, it is always a better choice to record than not to record!
I don’t see much use in my life for the Fitness Builder, as my workouts are programmed for me by someone else. But if you are bored in your routine, and don’t have a certified CrossFit coach making your workouts, or an Exercise Physiologist planning your Max T3 (that’s me), then this functionality might help: “has about five thousand exercises you can choose from, and they each have videos to describe how to perform them”.
Those are the top two from his article that I wanted to share. He also mentions Flipboard for these reasons, and I to, am a Flipboard user. Good app, especially if you take some time to customize it. Here is what he had to say:
Many may not realize that RSS feeds are the tool I have used for nearly 15 years to access the news. Unfortunately RSS feeds never took off and I am not sure why. But the newer version of them is Flipboard, basically RSS feeds on steroids. It is essentially a customized magazine that you create that you can read like a colorful print magazine. Like the Weather Channel, it is also a free and must have app.
Its key innovation is to make finding and subscribing to RSS feeds very easy. It has dozens of preconfigured channels that you can subscribe to, or you can find your favorite RSS feeds and use it as your RSS reader. Unlike a typical RSS feed where it is often difficult to find the subscribe button, you will never fail with Flipboard as it is simple to do. This is one of my favorite apps on the iPad.
One simple modification that you can use is to integrate Google Reader into Flipboard. You can add dozens or even hundreds of RSS feeds into Google Reader and then view Google Reader on Flipboard. The advantage of doing this is that you don’t have to keep flipping through multiple RSS feeds. Some RSS feeds or blogs only post a few times a month. when it is in Google Reader it becomes very efficient to check.
Additionally when you view the posts in Google Reader the headlines become gray after viewing them so you can see where you stopped reading. This does not happen in other Flipboard subscriptions. I have over 50 RSS feeds that I have in my Google Reader which allows me to scan well over 500 blog posts a day that I screen for this newsletter.
So before I depart, a quick reminder of the ones that I have used that I think you should all have. First is the IF Tracker. As I have used this more, I realize that not all of the more processed foods that I use are actually fully represented here (for example – coconut milk is calculated from canned, not in a carton). But the point is that the Inflammation Factor Tracker, will tell you if your food is high in inflammation or not. Trust me when I tell you that 90% of you need to worry about your inflammation.
Lastly, is the “A Low GI Diet” app. This app actually helps you assess glycemic index and glycemic load. The index demonstrated how rapidly a carbohydrate turns into blood sugar. The load indicates how significant of a glycemic change will come from that food. In our world of controlling blood sugar, this app has a fantastic application to your life. However, it is loaded with processed foods, and really I believe you only need the fresh component to get the truth you need, because you can falsely convince yourself that the low GI, GL foods are fine, when in reality, they might be loaded with enough other garbage to warrant complete avoidance (such as a low glycemic food sweetened with aspartame).
I hope this helps you as you move through January with the intention of turning resolutions into revolutions! Be well, Dr. E