11 Best Health Apps of 2023, Tested by Experts

Grocery shopping can be time consuming and can trigger some unhealthy eating habits if you don’t have a plan going in. Fooducate’s app can help you stay focused and on your healthy eating path. Fooducate makes grocery shopping incredibly easy if you’re looking to sub out those not-so-good products for healthier options. Just scan the barcode on the food you are purchasing and you’ll get a personalized nutrition grade, pros and cons, and healthy alternatives to buy instead.

We like that the app takes into account more than just calories, because not every calorie is equal. Nutrients such as sugar, added sugar, saturated fat and sodium should all be considered when you are working to improve your overall diet. Testers appreciated the large food database, and that the app contains a community support feature and ways to swap recipes, although some describe it as limited.

Water consumption is one of the most important things you can do to improve your overall well-being. In fact, research continually shows that increased water consumption is associated with lower mortality risk. After all, maybe the reason for your afternoon slump is as simple as you are dehydrated. Waterlogged can help you prevent that from happening.

This app provides a simple and easy way to log your water intake. Choose the size of bottles or drinking glasses you are using and set timers as a gentle nudge to drink up. (For recommendations on best bottles, take a look at our picks for the best water bottles of 2023.) Follow the app to chart your progress in meeting your daily hydration goals.

Brought to you by Under Armour, Map My Walk provides you with the details on your walks and jogs with custom feedback on pace, distance, calorie burn, elevation and more. If you are just breaking in those new sneakers or even working out on the road, this app can show you the best routes to follow. Users gain motivation from a membership base of over 40 million members strong. Connect with Garmin or Apple Health to get the most out of your workout. This app is easy to use and updates users with their progress along their route. Upgrade to the premium version to use live tracking features so friends and family always know your location. The premium version also offers audio coaching on pace and speed.

It can take time to find a therapist you really click with, but with the BetterHelp app, you fill out a detailed questionnaire, then you’re matched with one of 20,000 licensed therapists (you can switch if it’s not a good fit). The price includes one weekly live session via video or phone, and unlimited texts in a secure “therapy room.” Users love the flexibility of scheduling appointments and access to thousands of therapists across the country.

The focus is yoga workouts on this fitness app from the trendy Alo Yoga clothing line, but you can also check out a wide variety of dance, Pilates, cardio and strength-training classes. Have a shoulder injury? There’s a workout for that. Looking for prenatal yoga? You can find that here. GH testers also enjoyed the healthy recipe series from influencer Nicole Berrie of Bonberi.

Whether you are new to meditation, intermediate or advanced, Headspace is your magic wand to putting you in a calmer, happier place. GH testers can’t rave enough about these easy-to-follow guided meditations. There are hundreds of mindfulness and breathing exercises to choose from, including ones geared toward improving anxiety to helping with focus and concentration with the soothing sounds of musician John Legend. Start with 3-minute meditations and build up to some of the longer practices if that’s your goal.

Do you ever question why some days you wake up feeling refreshed and others exhausted? This app could hold all the answers. Once downloaded, enable the microphone and the app records movement and other sounds to analyze your sleep patterns. It can record if you snore or talk in your sleep, something a lot of people question and must take other people’s word for. It analyzes your sleep from your bedside table, and when you wake, statistics about your sleep quality are immediately available for you.

A new feature that rolled out this year is Sleep Goal, which helps users set a weekly sleep target with wake-up and bedtimes to encourage long-term behavioral changes. If you need another reason to get more sleep, lack of sleep is associated with multiple health related problems such as high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes.

The OG of weight loss programs, WW (formerly known as Weight Watchers) has been perfecting and tweaking their system for years. This app provides everything you need for successful and sustainable weight loss including an easy-to-use barcode scanner that makes grocery shopping a breeze. Consistently rated one of the highest weight loss apps, this system assigns each user a daily SmartPoints goal and each food is given a point value, with no food being off limits. Recent research shows that using the WW program is significantly more effective for weight loss than doing it on your own.

The app is user-friendly; it contains a live coaching feature as well as a large social community to help keep users motivated. In addition to tracking food, users can also log water and daily physical activity.

Remember that fitness tracker apps or other healthy lifestyle apps are not regulated by the FDA. Always consult with your healthcare provider before starting or adopting a new exercise or dietary regimen.