How would you describe GSN’s mission and what is your role in the project?
GSN's mission is to translate nutritional knowledge into software elements to deliver innovative solutions in the service of health and nutrition, to solve challenges or help streamline processes.
This is precisely what we do at Stance4Health, gathering all the knowledge from different disciplines (nutrition, microbiota, biology, medicine, psychology, economics, computer science...) and partners, together with our experience and know-how, to build a complete personalised smart nutrition system that helps people to develop healthy habits, sustainable over time, and improve their health.
It is a demanding and responsible role, as the work of other partners revolves around the App and the SPN we have developed.
Why is using a dietetic software (mobile app) important for consumers?
A dietetic app can be a great ally for our health. Research, experience and technological advances have made it possible to evolve from traditional nutrition based on a "one size fits all" approach to personalised nutrition, as each person is different and, therefore, so are their needs. Not only their nutritional needs, but also their habits and lifestyle, and to achieve real, sustainable wellness over time, it is necessary to find a balance between the two. Adherence is key when it comes to changing habits and for this it is necessary that the suggestions are adapted to the user (as far as possible) and not the other way round.
A nutritional app allows us to have at our fingertips a lot of useful information about food and recipes, which makes it a travel companion that tries to guide and show you the way, improving nutritional education.
However, not all apps available to consumers are always reliable, useful and of high quality, nor are health professionals or researchers involved in their creation. It is key to differentiate between those that have a scientific basis and those that do not. A bad approach can have counterproductive effects on health, with the remedy being worse than the disease. For this reason, if you are looking for a diet app, you should look for one that has credentials, know where the app comes from, who developed it, which person or entity, etc.
How can we better address personalized nutrition through the use of mobile devices?
Nowadays almost everyone carries a mobile device with an internet connection. This has generated an effort in developing tools in the format of apps that contribute to the democratisation of personalised nutrition. Not everyone has the resources to hire a specialised personalised nutrition service, but these types of apps, some of which are even free or low-cost, facilitate access to this type of services for the population. Their simplicity and ease of use, availability, together with a wide range of functions and the possibility of connection with other devices, such as wearables, have made them a valuable ally in empowering consumers to improve their health and wellbeing.
What is different about the app developed within the Stance4Health Personalised Nutrition System?
We have focused on the user, so that the app adapts to them and can help them find their way towards healthy habits that are compatible with their lifestyle, acting on 4 fundamental pillars:
What would you like to achieve by the end of the Stance4Health project?
We would like to feel that all the enormous effort developed has an impact on the improvement of people's health and quality of life, either through the knowledge generated throughout the project or through the exploitable results.
A project as ambitious and comprehensive as Stance4Health is a big challenge for a small company, and it is helping us to be stronger and more competitive.
What are your future plans?
To continue working on our capacity for innovation, which is crucial to our competitiveness and which allows us to provide our customers with the best products and developments, while maintaining our commitment to getting involved in projects that always have research, investment and the development of science and technology in the field of nutrition and health in mind.
GSN's mission is to translate nutritional knowledge into software elements to deliver innovative solutions in the service of health and nutrition, to solve challenges or help streamline processes.
This is precisely what we do at Stance4Health, gathering all the knowledge from different disciplines (nutrition, microbiota, biology, medicine, psychology, economics, computer science...) and partners, together with our experience and know-how, to build a complete personalised smart nutrition system that helps people to develop healthy habits, sustainable over time, and improve their health.
It is a demanding and responsible role, as the work of other partners revolves around the App and the SPN we have developed.
Why is using a dietetic software (mobile app) important for consumers?
A dietetic app can be a great ally for our health. Research, experience and technological advances have made it possible to evolve from traditional nutrition based on a "one size fits all" approach to personalised nutrition, as each person is different and, therefore, so are their needs. Not only their nutritional needs, but also their habits and lifestyle, and to achieve real, sustainable wellness over time, it is necessary to find a balance between the two. Adherence is key when it comes to changing habits and for this it is necessary that the suggestions are adapted to the user (as far as possible) and not the other way round.
A nutritional app allows us to have at our fingertips a lot of useful information about food and recipes, which makes it a travel companion that tries to guide and show you the way, improving nutritional education.
However, not all apps available to consumers are always reliable, useful and of high quality, nor are health professionals or researchers involved in their creation. It is key to differentiate between those that have a scientific basis and those that do not. A bad approach can have counterproductive effects on health, with the remedy being worse than the disease. For this reason, if you are looking for a diet app, you should look for one that has credentials, know where the app comes from, who developed it, which person or entity, etc.
How can we better address personalized nutrition through the use of mobile devices?
Nowadays almost everyone carries a mobile device with an internet connection. This has generated an effort in developing tools in the format of apps that contribute to the democratisation of personalised nutrition. Not everyone has the resources to hire a specialised personalised nutrition service, but these types of apps, some of which are even free or low-cost, facilitate access to this type of services for the population. Their simplicity and ease of use, availability, together with a wide range of functions and the possibility of connection with other devices, such as wearables, have made them a valuable ally in empowering consumers to improve their health and wellbeing.
What is different about the app developed within the Stance4Health Personalised Nutrition System?
We have focused on the user, so that the app adapts to them and can help them find their way towards healthy habits that are compatible with their lifestyle, acting on 4 fundamental pillars:
- Scientific basis and multidisciplinary approach. We have built a system based on reliable and validated data. Some elements have even been the subject of scientific publications. Our food databases are probably the most complete and thanks to them we can make better calculations.
- It takes into account the microbiota and goes a step beyond the usual levels of personalisation: not only do we take into account your nutritional needs, we also take into account what you like, what you don't like, how many times you like to eat a day, even how many dishes you like to have for your main meals of the day or what portion size you are most comfortable with. There are a multitude of combinations to achieve the same amount of energy and nutrients, with more or less food. All this is very important because each person has different habits and preferences and adapting to them makes it easier, more enjoyable and therefore sustainable over time.
- The suggested weekly menu will include the ingredients for your preferred portion size, preparation instructions in case you don't have much experience in the kitchen and it will even elaborate your shopping list. In addition, users can add their own recipes.
- There is two-way, dynamic communication with the user. In other words, the app doesn't just make suggestions. If you decide to eat out, you can tell the app what you have actually eaten and, if your choice is far from your needs, it will make a recalculation to compensate for the mismatch and rebalance your diet.
- Nutrition education. We don't want you to be an expert in nutrition, nor do we want you to study, but we do want to provide you with the tools to become a conscious and critical consumer. We don't want you to get carried away by myths or biased information. Little by little, without realising it, you will acquire this knowledge and make better choices.
What would you like to achieve by the end of the Stance4Health project?
We would like to feel that all the enormous effort developed has an impact on the improvement of people's health and quality of life, either through the knowledge generated throughout the project or through the exploitable results.
A project as ambitious and comprehensive as Stance4Health is a big challenge for a small company, and it is helping us to be stronger and more competitive.
What are your future plans?
To continue working on our capacity for innovation, which is crucial to our competitiveness and which allows us to provide our customers with the best products and developments, while maintaining our commitment to getting involved in projects that always have research, investment and the development of science and technology in the field of nutrition and health in mind.
