Smartwatches and fitness trackers help people to stay healthy. These devices are designed to help people track their activity levels and improve their health. Smartwatches and fitness trackers come with many different features that make them beneficial for your health.
Some of the most common features include heart rate monitors, sleep monitoring, calorie counters, step counters, and more. All these things can help you keep track of your daily activities and ensure that you’re living a healthy lifestyle every day.
In this article, I’ll go over the health benefits that you can get from using smartwatches or fitness trackers.
1. Heart Rate Monitoring
Heart rate monitoring is essential because it gives you an overall idea of your health, and it is a basic feature available in most smartwatches and fitness trackers. With the help of a heart rate sensor, it monitors your heart rate in real-time, allowing you to see your heart rate during different activities throughout the day.
Advanced health-tracking smartwatches from Apple, Fitbit, etc., can even alert you on irregular heart rates. Even if it is expensive, Apple watches are worth the price if you want to make sure that your heart is healthy.
Because of these reasons, heart rate monitoring is one of the main features that make smartwatches and fitness trackers beneficial for your health.
2. Electrocardiogram (ECG)
ECG/EKG is a complex health tracking feature available only in high-end smartwatches. A smartwatch with ECG allows you to take an ECG on the go just in a few seconds. Even if it is not a medical-grade device, it may help you detect serious atrial fibrillation (AF), and it needs immediate medical attention.
Apple Watch Series 4 and later features an FDA Approved ECG sensor and app which allows you to take an ECG anytime and anywhere. If you are an Android smartphone user, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3, Watch 4, and Fitbit Sense are the best FDA Approved ECG Smartwatches.
3. Blood Oxygen
A smartwatch that comes with a pulse oximeter can monitor your oxygen (SpO2) level in the blood. For a healthy person, the SpO2 reading should be in the range of 95-100%. If it goes below the normal level, that might be an early sign of some medical problems like asthma and others. Monitoring your blood oxygen may also help you find early signs of medical conditions that might affect your blood oxygen level.
If you are active in outdoor activities like running or thinking, it is better to have a smartwatch with a blood oxygen sensor because it might help you determine if your SpO2 level goes below the normal range.
For example, when you go heights, the level of oxygen in the air decrease; as a result, the SpO2 level in the blood also decreases. Therefore, using a fitness tracker with a pulse oximeter is better when gearing up for any outdoor activity like hiking or outdoor adventure.
5. Stress Monitoring
You can get accurate stress monitoring results using a smartwatch or fitness tracker with heart rate sensors. These devices closely monitor your heart rate and Heart Rate Variations (HRV) to monitor stress levels and alert you if your stress level goes beyond the healthy zone.
Even if it is not accurate (like medical equipment), these devices are great for keeping track of your stress level throughout the day. With this data, you can check any significant changes in your stress level throughout the week or month and plan accordingly for a healthier lifestyle.
Fitbit Sense and Fitbit Charge 5 has an EDA (Electrodermal Activity) sensor for monitoring stress. Fitbit claims that it is more accurate than the heart rate-based stress monitoring technology.
6. Blood Pressure
Hypertension or high blood pressure can harm your heart and arteries. It is the leading cause of death in the United States. Early detection of blood pressure is the best way to keep your heart healthy. Omron Heart Guide is an FDA Approved blood pressure watch that can accurately measure your blood pressure.
Even if it is not clinically validated, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 and Watch 4 also measure your blood pressure. In the companion app, you can input your age, weight, height, and activity level to determine the best range for you. Once everything is set, it will display your blood pressure trends and comparisons to previous readings. This will give you an idea about your risk of blood pressure.
7. Sleep Tracking
Sleep Tracking was not so easy until the introduction of smartwatches. Using a smartwatch with a sleep tracking feature will monitor your sleeping patterns and give you a sleep score with details like time slept, deep sleep, light sleep, and more.
Smart wearables calculate the quality of sleep based on the heart rate variation, movements, and other parameters during sleep time. A smartwatch with blood oxygen levels can even detect sleep apnea.
8. Calories Burned
It is also a common feature in most smartwatches and fitness trackers. If you are trying to lose weight, monitoring the number of calories burned will help you determine if your diet and workout routine is working as expected or need adjustments for better results.
To calculate calorie burned data accurately, you must input basic data such as your age, weight, and height into the companion app. Smartwatches utilize this data along with your heart rate and activity duration to calculate calorie count. These values are then compared to your calorie intake levels, and the difference is considered a total calorie burned.
10. Female Health Tracking
Female health tracking is another helpful feature in some smartwatches. It allows women to keep track of the menstrual cycle and pregnancy milestones like ovulation and fertilization. This feature helps them to make better decisions for a healthy life. Garmin, Apple, Samsung, and Fitbit watches all have this feature.
Conclusion
Smartwatches have a wealth of health benefits. It can help you manage stress, keep track of your blood pressure and heart rate to avoid serious medical problems later. It can also calculate calories burned count throughout the day to know what type of diet plan is best for your lifestyle choices.
Which feature from our list has helped improve or maintain your wellness? Let us know below!