SARATOGA, Calif., Oct. 16, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- wHealthy SolutionsTM, Inc. today announced the launch of the first scientific-based social network service focused on healthy nutrition. wHealthy Solutions combines proprietary food and beverage ranking algorithms based on proven medical and scientific methods with communal wisdom to enable people to make smart nutritional choices anywhere, anytime. wHealthy Solutions offers cloud-based and mobile services accessible via a variety of devices, including PCs, smart phones, netbooks and tablets.
How It Works
wHealthy Solutions' services include expert rankings by doctors and nutritionists (applied to a scientific algorithm) on a large variety of food and beverage items; a social platform on healthy eating; and product list management tools to simplify the shopping experience for individuals and families. Service functionality includes warnings about unhealthy ingredients; recommendations for healthier alternatives; user community taste rankings and reviews; personalized product lists; and the ability to create and share shopping lists with family members and other users. This functionality enables consumers to quickly and easily build the healthiest "nutritional basket" for their families, while saving them valuable time. Additionally, with the mobile application, consumers can use their mobile devices to scan the bar codes of these items to receive the same information, allowing them to make healthy choices while shopping.
Mobile Application Availability
wHealthy Solutions' FoodSmartTM application is available for Apple's iOS, including the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, and for Android devices. It is available immediately for free download in both Apple's iTunes App Store and the Google Play Store.
Demand
According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention), the percentage of Americans who are obese (with a BMI of 30 or higher) has tripled since 1960 to 34 percent, and extreme or "morbid" obesity (BMI above 40) has risen six-fold to six percent, leaving the estimated toll of obesity on the U.S. economy to $190 billion. As a direct result, more people are becoming aware of what they eat and are striving to make healthier choices. The 2012 "Healthy Living Report" by Baird Investment Banking estimates the healthy food industry to be an $84 billion market, with key segments being natural and organic foods, vitamins and nutritional supplements and healthy beverages. With over 20,000 products in a typical major retail chain store and a multitude of ingredients on each label, it is both difficult and time-consuming (often time-prohibitive) for people to make the healthiest food choices on their own.
"wHealthy Solutions solves the problem of information overload with a single-source solution that enables consumers to easily and quickly select foods and beverages that are both healthy and delicious, while saving them time and effort," said wHealthy Solutions' CEO and Co-founder Michael Segal. "Additionally, unlike any other solution on the market today, wHealthy Solutions will soon enable consumers to personalize their 'nutritional baskets' to meet the needs of their specific health conditions, such as diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or certain food intolerances."
Competitive Advantages
Other products in this market address only a portion of the requirements needed for consumers to make healthy and delicious nutritional decisions quickly and effortlessly. wHealthy Solutions integrates scientific data based on USDA guidelines and medical Subject Matter Expertise (SME) in the area of nutrition into a proprietary mathematical algorithm applied to a broad database of food and beverage products to provide health rankings of all individual items in the database. The algorithm is adaptive and can be easily customized for an individual's health conditions and preferences, enabling wHealthy Solutions to offer consumers the most beneficial recommendations for healthy alternatives. For a demonstration of wHealthy Solutions, visit http://www.whealthysolutions.com.
About wHealthy SolutionsTM, Inc.
wHealthy Solutions' mission is to enable people to live healthier lives and to help prevent and fight chronic illnesses by helping consumers make smarter nutritional choices anywhere, anytime. wHealthy Solutions is the first scientific-based social network service empowering users to select and shop for the healthiest "nutritional basket" for their families, while saving time and effort. The company's FoodSmartTM mobile app is available for free download in Apple's iTunes App Store and the Google Play Store. For more information, visit www.wHealthySolutions.com. Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/wHealthySol and Facebook: www.facebook.com/wHealthySol.
The wHealthy Solutions logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=14802
wHealthy Solutions and FoodSmart are trademarks of wHealthy Solutions, Inc. Other company, product and service names mentioned herein may be trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.