Making the commitment to eat healthy foods and plan nutritious menus is a step in the right direction toward improving health and preventing disease. If you are planning to make changes, it can be overwhelming to know where to begin, but many software programs exist that help you improve the nutrition of your meals and learn how to build a healthy eating plan. Not all software programs are created equally, however, and learning more about some of your options will help you select the one that is right for you.
Benefits
The primary benefit of nutrition and menu planning software is the ability to plan healthy meals and have the nutritional information for those meals close at hand. Comparing your meals with the nutrients they provide is a key step in preparing healthier food. The nutrition information can also help you cut fat and calories from your eating plan. Software helps you track what you eat so you can begin to identify poor eating habits and make changes. Being held accountable can motivate you to pass on unhealthy foods, which improves your diet. Menu planning also allows you to try new foods that are beneficial.
Uses and Drawbacks
Many types of menu planning software allow you to customize your meals by plugging in your main dish and sides to get a total calorie count. They also allow you to recalculate the nutrition information as you make changes to your menu. Some programs also calculate your intake of certain vitamins and minerals. One of the biggest drawbacks to using nutrition and menu planning software is that it can be challenging to know whether you are eating an appropriate balance of foods since most programs focus on caloric and fat intake. Software also relies on your careful data input to give you accurate results, so typographical errors or other mistakes can give you information that may not necessarily be true.
Basic Software Suggested Titles
Mastercook is among the most well-known software for menu planning and nutrition information. This program allows you to customize your menu based on the 400 included recipes or on your own recipes. After you create the menu, you can print a customized shopping list as well. The Mastercook software also enables you to build low-sodium, low-fat, gluten-free and kosher menus. Cook'n is another software that allows you to input your recipes and drag them to a menu template. Then you can print out your menu and a coordinating shopping list. You also get a nutrition calculator to help you build healthier meals. ShopNCook is a similar program that does all of the things Cook'n does, as well as allows you to share recipes online with family and friends.
Advanced Software Suggested Titles
Recipe Calc4.0 is a comprehensive software package that allows you to analyze recipes, meals and daily food intake for specific nutritional value. This is one program that may address the problem of creating a menu based on a balanced diet. The program lets you plug in a meal or recipe and gives you fat and calorie content, as well as percentage daily values for sodium, cholesterol, sugar, fiber, protein and essential vitamins and minerals. Easy Recipe Deluxe is another advanced program that allows you to link your menu with the USDA nutrition database to learn more about fat, calorie, fiber, protein, vitamin and mineral content. The program also enables you to write a menu and create a shopping list based on each of your meals and recipes.
References
- National Resourece Center on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Aging; Nutrient Analysis Software for Menu Planning and Evaluation
- cdkitchen.com; MasterCook Recipe Management Software
- DVO; Cook'n Makes Menu Planning Easy!
- Recipe Calc4.0; Overview
- Soft32.com; ShopNCook
- WenSoftware.com; Easy Recipe Deluxe
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