Yuka: the Easiest Way to Live a Healthy Lifestyle?
I’m sure you’ve been in the supermarket shopping and as you’re deciding what to buy, you see aisles upon aisles of different foods. The huge amount of variety and different selections can make it so difficult to know which foods are nutritious and healthy and which are processed and bad for you.
Fortunately, there’s an app that solves this problem effectively and efficiently. Its name is Yuka, and to use it all you have to do is scan the barcode of a food, beauty, or personal care product. One scan and the app will give you an overview of the product which includes any harmful additives, irritants, and allergens it might contain, the nutritional facts, an overall score, and alternative recommendations if the product scores badly.
For example, I was using a conditioner for my hair that I thought was good for me until I scanned it. Yuka revealed that my conditioner actually contained many sub-optimal ingredients, and even some that the EU has been trying to restrict the use of for years. It then gave me a lot of better and healthier conditioners to use instead.
(Note that Yuka does not take money from any brand to sponsor their product or boost the product’s rating)
How accurate is it?
Registered dietician Chrissy Arsenault said, “Based on reviews, it seems fairly accurate, although full testing is needed to to understand this.” Another thing to highlight is that the app does not differentiate between safe ingredients and effective ingredients. The app only tells you whether a product is safe, not how effective it is.
There are also some ingredients flagged by the app as harmful although they are generally safe in normal amounts. One ingredient is phenoxyethanol, which has been proven by studies only causes irritation when used in large amounts for an extended amount of time. The app does not recognize that some ingredients it marks as harmful are only harmful in high dosages and are safe otherwise.
In conclusion
Yuka is a very useful app that can inform you of whether the food and personal care products you buy are healthy or not, and also give healthy alternatives. However, use this app as a guide, and not the only thing you consider when shopping.
(Disclaimer: this is NOT sponsored.)
Written by: Shengze