Time-Saving Tip: Yuka
If you are concerned about your health, but don’t have a whole lot of extra time to research the safety of what you put into and onto your body, the Yuka app can help you.
I’d made a comment to one of my doctors that it’s hard to know which products are healthy and which are unhealthy – or even dangerous. That’s when she showed me the Yuka app.
Their home page states:
“Make the right choices for your health.
Yuka deciphers product labels and analyzes the health impact of food products and cosmetics.”
You can check on the safety of the ingredients in:
Toiletries: toothpaste, soap, makeup, skincare, lotion, cleansers, etc.
Food: boxed, canned, bottled, generic, name brand
I’m not a fan of apps. I keep a minimal number on my phone because I don’t like the data collection and tracking they do. However, I’m willing to allow this app to live on my phone because of the time that it saves me.
Here’s how to use Yuka:
1) Download the Yuka app from the Google Play or Apple App store.
2) Register your information. (I used my “shopping” email address and a fake name.)
3) Open the app and tap on the little green bar code icon.
4) Scan the bar code.
5) Read the results.
In an instant, you can find out if Yuka rates a product as Excellent, Good, Fair or Poor. More importantly, the reasons for the rating are listed. If a product is not rated as Excellent or Good, I can see what the “bad” ingredients are, browse the synopsis of why those ingredients are labeled as such, and decide if this is an unhealthy product to avoid or semi-healthy product to continue using.
Why would you want to purchase a product rated as just Fair or Good? It depends on how you yourself rate the ingredients. For example, there are times when I’ve purchased a product despite the ding against the amount of carbs because I saw they were from fiber, and I’m OK with that. However, for many other products that were rated at Poor or Fair, I did not feel comfortable putting those ingredients into my system, so I opted to purchase an alternative.
How did I know which alternative to purchase? Two ways:
1) Yuka will display similar products that rank higher. (I double checked, and Yuka does not receive revenue from product companies, so there shouldn’t be any conflict of interest.)
2) If the recommendations are not available on the shelf in front of you, you can scan the products that are, and choose your best option.
Yuka offers both free and paid versions. I currently still use the free version and have been pleased with it.
If your health is important to you, and you don’t have hours of extra time to research all the products you use on a daily basis, look into the Yuka app.
For recommendations on other ways to save time in your life, read The Inefficiency Assassin: Time Management Tactics for Working Smarter, Not Longer.
