Top 3 apps for a healthy lifestyle

The advent of the smartphone has made managing your personal health and fitness simpler than ever. With just three apps – Health Buddy for instant access to medical information, iDAT to help you keep track of your daily diet and exercise, and Healthy Chef, your one-stop source for healthy, tasty recipes – you’ll be amazed how easy it is to stay in the pink of health.

As these health apps are developed by reputable, local healthcare organisations, you can be certain the information is both accurate and relevant. They’re free of charge so don’t hesitate to try them out!

Have medical knowledge at your fingertips with Health Buddy

Covering diet advice as well as men’s, women’s and children’s health articles and videos, Health Buddy offers the convenience of having doctor-approved health tips delivered directly to you every week.

Its comprehensive glossary of health conditions, which includes causes, symptoms and treatments, lets you research on medical conditions anytime, anywhere.

Should you be in need of a doctor, the app’s islandwide listing of GP clinics, SingHealth hospitals and specialist centres helps you find a nearby doctor in an instant. Enquiring for an appointment is just as effortless – simply push the ‘Call’ or ‘Email’ button directly from the app.

Being a user also entitles you to participate in doctors’ Q&As on selected monthly health topics and get personalised answers to your health queries.

Last but not least, the app contains detailed maps of the hospitals and national centres under SingHealth, including a “Locate Me” function.

Health Buddy is developed by SingHealth. Available for iOS, Android and Blackberry. Click here for app details.

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Keep track of how much you eat and exercise with iDAT

iDAT (short for interactive Diet and Activity Tracker) is designed to help you balance your daily calorie intake and physical activity.

The built-in Diet Tracker contains calorie information for the common foods in Singapore, information which is often missing from foreign-sourced apps. It also has an Activity Tracker to help record your exercises, and by comparing it with your daily intake, you’ll know if you’re on track to meeting your weight loss goals.

iDAT is developed by Health Promotion Board (HPB). Available for iOS and Android. Click here for app details.

Related article: Love Indian hawker food? Find out healthier ways to eat your favourite dishes

Enjoy healthy, tasty cuisine with recipes from Healthy Chef

If you have no idea how to go about preparing a healthy tasty dish, downloading the Healthy Chef app is a great way to start. Serving up over 70 mouth-watering recipes – all created by renowned Singapore chefs – Healthy Chef offers an entire range of Chinese, Malay, Indian and Western cuisines.

The app also helps calculate the amount of ingredients you need based on the number of servings you specify and has an integrated shopping list function.

Healthy Chef is developed by Health Promotion Board. Available for iOS only. Click here for app details.

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By Alvin Chumari for HealthXchange.com.sg.

Health Xchange's articles are meant for informational purposes only and cannot replace professional surgical, medical or health advice, examination, diagnosis, or treatment.