When it comes to food, don’t we all want to have our cake and to eat it too? In my case, I want to maintain a healthy diet but without having to agonize over counting calories or determining the molecular composition of every morsel I gobble up. I want to take care of myself without overly-punishing my brain – or my love for salty snacks. Venio just might be the application my diet will accommodate.
Venio works a little like the dietitian most of us can’t afford. Perhaps one day we’ll inhabit an enlightened society that considers dentistry and diet consultation cost-saving measures that belong in any comprehensive insurance plan. In the meantime, quick reference to easy-to-prepare, simple recipes might help us all make better choices about what we eat.
Truth is, most of us don’t want another doctor visit or to think too hard about how to prepare delicious, healthy food. We don’t have the patience to sift through endless recipes either. We opt to open the bag of potato chips rather than learn how to cook something unfamiliar. By entering a few personal details such as height and weight, how active we are, and weight goals into the application, Venio makes healthy meal or snack recommendations. Yes, it should be this easy.
Pumpkin Pie Amaranth Porridge
No need to say goodbye to Thanksgiving! Recommendations Venio provides include Kale Salad and Grapes and Lazy Girl Quinoa – near effortless ways to enjoy super nutritious foods. While some of us require major overhauls of our eating habits, most of us would feel pretty good after a few slight adjustments. All we need is a little nudge, a friendly reminder of what we want to look like and how we want to feel.
There are plenty of food apps like InRFood, Lift, Fitocracy, and Fooducate that tackle various aspects of our dietary woes, but everyone has a different notion of what features constitute the perfect grocery shopping buddy. Recent Venio updates allow you to find substitutes for recommendations you don’t care for, and to limit suggestions based on dietary restrictions such as a lactose intolerance. For those that want more details, recipes do include nutritional information.
In the future, look for Venio to include the ability to filter recipes according to favorite ingredients, difficulty of meal preparation, and time available to piece together meals. Healthy restaurant choices may find there way into the mix as well.
Venio works exclusively with iOS devices at the moment. Find Venio at the App Store here. CEO and Co-founder Jonathan Carr-Harris previously worked at K Network, Innovatus Technologies, and Investors Group Financial Services. Co-founder and CTO Nima Gardideh was the Managing Director at Nspire Innovation Network, and a leader in project management and business development at Xtreme Labs. He earned a degree in computer science from the University of Toronto, Woodsworth College.
Check out Canada-based Venio this month at Toronto’s Extreme Startups accelerator program, and enjoy your Turkey Day, everyone!
