What is the app that stops eating junk food? Exploring Behavioral and Tracking Tools

October 25, 2025 •

5 min read

According to a study published in the journal Appetite, participants who used the FoodT app once a day for a month successfully reduced their junk food consumption. This research highlights that a dedicated app can significantly influence dietary habits, leading many to wonder, "what is the app that stops eating junk food?". The answer isn't a single solution, but rather a suite of powerful applications targeting psychological triggers, mindful eating, and habit tracking to help users break free from unhealthy snacking.

Quick Summary

Several apps use science-based techniques to help users stop eating junk food. These include brain-training apps like FoodT that associate unhealthy foods with inhibitory responses, and mindful eating apps such as Eat Right Now which address the psychological roots of overeating. Other habit-focused trackers, like QuitJunk, provide motivation and financial insights. A combination of these tools can create a personalized and effective strategy for improving eating habits.

Key Points

FoodT: This brain-training app uses a 'go/no-go' game to reduce cravings by associating junk food images with stopping, helping to retrain the brain's response to unhealthy snacks.
Eat Right Now: Based on mindful eating principles, this app addresses the psychological triggers behind emotional and stress-related eating, rather than just focusing on restriction.
QuitJunk: This app gamifies the process of quitting junk food by tracking 'junk-free' streaks and the money saved from not purchasing unhealthy snacks, providing motivation through progress visualization.
Nutritional Trackers: Apps like MyFitnessPal, Fooducate, and Cronometer increase awareness of overall dietary habits by logging food, tracking nutrients, and in some cases, grading foods based on health value.
Holistic Approach: The most effective use of these apps involves combining them with a broader strategy for healthy living that addresses factors like stress, sleep, and overall lifestyle, often with the guidance of a professional.
Consider App Reliability: Some apps use user-generated data which can be inaccurate; seeking apps with verified food databases like Cronometer can ensure more reliable information.

The Psychological Science Behind Junk Food Apps

For many, eating junk food is not a simple matter of taste but a deeply ingrained habit, often tied to emotional triggers, stress, and cravings. Specialized apps don't just track calories; they target the very psychological mechanisms that drive these unhealthy behaviors. By focusing on behavioral change rather than just dietary restriction, these tools offer a more sustainable path to healthier eating.

Brain-Training with the FoodT App

One of the most notable apps for directly tackling junk food cravings is FoodT, developed by psychologists at the Universities of Exeter and Cardiff. The app employs a 'go/no-go' training paradigm, a cognitive-behavioral technique aimed at improving inhibitory control.

How it works:

Image Association: The game flashes a series of food images on the screen.
Go/No-Go Cues: A green border signals the user to tap the image, while a red border means they should withhold their response.
Biased Association: Unhealthy snack foods are paired with the 'no-go' red border, while healthy foods are paired with the 'go' green border.
Rewiring the Brain: Repeatedly withholding the response to junk food images helps build a mental association between these foods and stopping, effectively reducing the automatic urge to eat them.

Research has shown that consistent use of the FoodT app can lead to a measurable reduction in junk food consumption and cravings.

Cultivating Mindful Eating with 'Eat Right Now'

For individuals whose junk food intake is linked to emotional or stress-induced eating, mindful eating apps provide a powerful alternative to strict diet plans. Eat Right Now, developed by neuroscientist Dr. Judson Brewer, is an evidence-based app that helps users retrain their brain to recognize and cope with the triggers behind craving-related eating.

The app's approach includes guided lessons and mindfulness exercises, focusing on cultivating a different relationship with food. Instead of fighting cravings with willpower, it teaches users to become more aware of their eating patterns and the underlying emotional states. This method has been shown to reduce craving-related eating by as much as 40%, offering a non-restrictive path to better eating habits.

Habit Tracking and Gamification with 'QuitJunk'

Some apps, like QuitJunk, take a more direct, habit-tracking approach by gamifying the process of quitting unhealthy food. This app is designed to be a personal companion for those trying to break bad habits.

Key features of QuitJunk include:

Track Your Spending: Users can log every purchase of junk food to visualize the financial cost of their habit.
Monitor Your Streak: The app tracks the duration of a junk food-free streak, motivating users to keep going.
Insightful Analytics: Detailed charts and reports provide insights into spending patterns, offering a clear view of progress and savings.
Daily Motivation: The app uses visual countdowns and motivational quotes to keep users engaged and focused on their goals.

By turning the journey into a game with tangible milestones and rewards (like saved money), QuitJunk helps users stay committed through motivation and accountability.

Other Helpful Tools

Beyond specialized behavioral apps, general-purpose food tracking and nutrition apps can also be instrumental in reducing junk food intake by increasing awareness of one's overall diet.

MyFitnessPal: This app offers a large food database and allows users to track calories, macronutrients, and overall nutrition. By logging every meal and snack, users become more aware of the nutritional density of their choices, making junk food consumption more apparent.
Fooducate: Fooducate goes beyond simple tracking by assigning letter grades to foods based on their nutritional value. By scanning barcodes, users can instantly see a product's health grade, helping them make smarter choices at the grocery store.
Cronometer: With a focus on accuracy, Cronometer's food database is vetted for verified nutrition data. It provides a detailed breakdown of macronutrients, vitamins, and minerals, making it easier to see what nutrients are being missed when relying on junk food.

Comparison of Top Junk Food Apps


Feature	FoodT	Eat Right Now	QuitJunk	MyFitnessPal	Fooducate
Primary Goal	Reduces cravings through cognitive training	Addresses emotional/mindful eating habits	Tracks and gamifies quitting junk food	Comprehensive calorie and macro tracking	Scans barcodes to provide nutrition grades
Mechanism	'Go/No-go' behavioral training	Mindfulness and guided lessons	Streak tracking and financial analytics	Extensive database logging and tracking	Barcode scanning and nutritional grading
Best For	Individuals with strong, habitual cravings	Users prone to emotional or stress eating	Motivated individuals who respond to gamification	General nutrition awareness and diet tracking	Making healthier choices while grocery shopping
Evidence-Based?	Yes, backed by university research	Yes, developed by a neuroscientist	Yes, leverages behavioral psychology principles	Yes, widely-used for nutritional tracking	Yes, uses evidence-based nutritional grading

The Importance of a Holistic Approach

While technology provides powerful tools, an app is most effective when integrated into a broader, holistic strategy for improving nutrition. Increased awareness through tracking can highlight problem areas, but addressing underlying factors like stress, sleep, and overall lifestyle is also crucial. Many apps, like Eat Right Now, integrate educational components to provide this wider context, but for many, working with a registered dietitian or healthcare professional can provide personalized and comprehensive guidance. The goal is to not just stop eating junk food, but to build a truly healthy, sustainable relationship with food.

Conclusion

So, what is the app that stops eating junk food? There isn't just one, but a range of effective applications catering to different needs. For those needing to combat strong cravings, brain-training apps like FoodT offer a science-backed solution. For managing the emotional side of eating, mindful apps like Eat Right Now can help rewire your relationship with food. For others, a practical and motivating tool like QuitJunk or a comprehensive tracker like MyFitnessPal may be the perfect fit. By leveraging these tech tools and addressing the root causes of unhealthy habits, individuals can take significant strides toward a more nutritious and healthier lifestyle.

One Last Thing

When exploring these apps, remember that accuracy can vary, especially with user-generated food data. For the most reliable information, consider apps like Cronometer that verify their database or work with a healthcare professional to validate your nutritional goals. For further reading on the science of behavioral change in nutrition, consult resources from authoritative sources like the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Frequently Asked Questions

The FoodT app, developed by psychologists at the University of Exeter, has been scientifically studied and shown to reduce junk food cravings through a cognitive-behavioral training game.

Yes, Eat Right Now is an evidence-based app developed by a neuroscientist that uses mindfulness exercises and guided lessons to address the psychological roots of craving and emotional eating.

The QuitJunk app is specifically designed to help users track their spending on junk food, visualize how much money they've saved by cutting back, and monitor their streak of not eating junk food.

Yes, apps like MyFitnessPal and Fooducate can help by increasing your awareness of the nutritional content and calorie count of foods. By logging your intake, you become more mindful of how much junk food you're consuming.

A 'go/no-go' training app, like FoodT, is a cognitive-behavioral tool that conditions the user's brain. It teaches the user to associate unhealthy foods with 'stopping' and healthy foods with 'going,' which helps reduce automatic cravings over time.

While apps are powerful tools, they are most effective when part of a broader, holistic approach to health. Combining app usage with addressing lifestyle factors like stress, sleep, and proper nutrition education is often necessary for long-term success.

Fooducate allows you to scan the barcodes of packaged foods. It then assigns a letter grade based on the product's nutritional value, helping you compare products and make healthier choices instantly.