Want to Fight Cancer with Your Fork? Now, there’s a new Android & iPhone app for that

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute announced that its popular, free nutrition app, Ask the Nutritionist: Recipes for Fighting Cancer, is now available for the Android platform, in addition to the iPhone and other Apple devices. The easy-to-use nutrition app provides recipes and nutrition information that can be searched by cancer patients in accordance with their needs. The recipes are also helpful to anyone who wants to have a healthy diet.

The nutrition app contains more than a hundred easy-to-prepare recipes, ranging from nutritious snacks to good-for-you main dishes to delicious desserts. Users can access a list of ingredients, directions on how to prepare the dish, a shopping list to use at the grocery store, nutrition tips and nutritional analysis information in a standard USDA label format. New recipes are added each month.

“We developed Ask the Nutritionist: Recipes for Fighting Cancer to encourage and empower cancer patients and others to explore and enjoy healthy eating habits,” said Steven R. Singer, senior vice president for communications at Dana-Farber. “Studies have long shown that good nutrition is tied to good health, and for those with cancer, treatment side effects can make eating well a real challenge.”

In addition to developing the Android version, Dana-Farber has made upgrades to the app to bring easy-to-operate functionality to users. There is a new search function that allows for faster and more intuitive searching of frequently asked questions answered by Dana-Farber nutritionists and other topics in the “Ask the Nutritionists” section. Another new feature highlights search terms for easier retrieval of nutrition information.

“Nutrition information is one of the most popular sections of the Dana-Farber website, and we wanted to share the expertise of our terrific nutritionists with a wider, mobile audience,” Singer said. “Making it available on the Android platform will allow wider access to this valuable and useful information.”

The app, developed with Dana-Farber’s staff of registered and board-certified dieticians, is designed to help find the optimal diet for any type of cancer. The app curates many of the frequent questions and responses to Dana-Farber’s nutrition staff, and allows users to ask a direct question. It also offers users the ability to search by common symptoms (such as nausea or mouth sores), helping to customize dietary needs while going through treatment. There also are recipes and healthy eating tips for cancer survivors.

“Eating a well-balanced diet is one of the best ways to lower the risk of cancer,” said Stacy Kennedy, a nutritionist at Dana-Farber. “Our hope is that this app will not only be a useful tool for cancer patients and their families but will also make choosing the healthiest foods easier and more fun for everyone.”

Some unique features of Ask the Nutritionist include:

• On-the-go access to over a hundred healthy recipes with an evidence-based approach
• Nutrition tips and information on cancer-fighting nutrients
• Innovative option to search by symptom management
• Specialized diet section for those who require foods that are gluten-free or high-fiber, provide immune support, etc.
• The ability to create a shopping list to take to the grocery store so the patient never forgets a key ingredient
• A searchable “Ask the Nutritionist” function that enables Dana-Farber’s nutrition department to respond to questions from the app’s users
• An extensive searchable database of frequently asked questions (FAQs) and archived questions and responses about nutrition

The app is now available for all Android users with OS version 4 or higher as well as Apple iPhone users with IOS 5 or higher. It is free and can be downloaded by going to the Google Play store or the Apple iTunes store.

Ask The Nutritionist: Recipes for Fighting Cancer was designed and developed in partnership with iFactory, a Boston-based interactive agency.

More information about nutrition and cancer can be found on Dana-Farber’s www.dana-farber.org/nutrition.

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (www.dana-farber.org)is a principal teaching affiliate of the Harvard Medical School and is among the leading cancer research and care centers in the United States. It is a founding member of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC), designated a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute.