The food you eat has a major impact on your health. A balanced diet built around nutritious foods is linked to greater longevity and a lower risk of chronic disease. These foods include vegetables and fruit, whole grains and legumes, lean protein sources like fish, and healthy fats like olive oil and avocado.
On the contrary, a diet full of foods that are high in sugar, sodium, and unhealthy fats can contribute to being overweight or obese. It can also lead to an increased risk of chronic illnesses like type 2 diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and cancer.
One effective method for improving your eating habits is using a diet tracker like the one included in Sharecare, available for Android and iOS. Keeping a daily record can help you make healthier choices. Here’s how.
Why diet tracking works
It’s been said that success is a series of small decisions made over time. These can be the decisions to do something, or to not do something. If your goal is to eat a healthier diet, your small decisions may be things like “eat a piece of fruit with breakfast” or “cook dinner each night instead of eating fast food.” Using a diet tracker allows you to focus on one day at a time and gives you motivation to keep making these decisions. If your goal is to manage your weight, multiple studies have suggested that keeping a daily diet journal can help. For example, a 2021 analysis published in Obesity found that the more closely people tracked their efforts to drop pounds using digital health tools, the more weight they tended to lose. These tools included websites, wearable devices, mobile apps, and digital scales.
Why is diet tracking effective? It can help you:
- Stick to your eating plan. If you see a connection between your dietary habits and your health, you may be more likely to choose healthy foods and avoid unhealthy picks.
- Recognize patterns in your eating habits. Do you tend to eat healthy on certain days? Or opt for more processed foods at other times? Tracking your habits will help you identify your eating trends.
When you use the Sharecare diet tracker, the information becomes part of an overall snapshot of your health that takes into account other factors such as fitness, sleep, stress, weight, and more. It can help you better understand how these factors work together, so you can ultimately live a healthier, happier life.
Sources: Hollis JF, Gullion CM, Stevens VJ, et al... + 2
- Hollis JF, Gullion CM, Stevens VJ, et al. Weight loss during the intensive intervention phase of the weight-loss maintenance trial. Am J Prev Med. 2008;35(2):118-126.
- Katherine D. McManus, MS, RD, LDN. Why keep a food diary? Harvard Health Publishing. Harvard Medical School. January 31, 2019.
- Patel ML, Wakayama LN, Bennett GG. Self-Monitoring via Digital Health in Weight Loss Interventions: A Systematic Review Among Adults with Overweight or Obesity. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2021;29(3):478-499.
