Natalie Tysdal (00:00)
Are health and fitness trackers really helping us achieve our goals or are they just another tech distraction? Today, we're going to break down the pros, cons, and the truths behind the devices that monitor our well-being.
Hi everyone, welcome to the podcast. I'm Natalie Tisdell. Today, I'm looking into something many of you might already have strapped onto your wrist or maybe your finger. Yep, we're talking about digital health trackers. Those little devices like Apple watches and Aura rings, maybe even a Fitbit, that's the one I first remember. They're tracking our every step, our heartbeat, our calorie intake, and even more.
Some very advanced, some brand new wearable products just revealed at the Consumer Electronics Show. I'm going to talk about them today. Things ranging from an ultrasound blood pressure monitor device and maybe sleep improving earbuds, even augmented reality glasses for gaming
and a satellite connected location tracker for your dog. Be sure to stay with me today because at the end of this episode, I'm trying something new. I'm calling it Better in
Through my experience as a health journalist with my research and my interviews, I'm giving you three things that you can do right now to improve your overall health and wellbeing. Because you know, it's the small steps that add up and these three things, they are going to help, I promise. All right, let's get into today's episode and be sure that you join me online, natalietysdal.com. You can sign up for my newsletter where I give a whole lot of health tips.
and inspiration. So here's the big question for today's episode. Are digital health trackers actually improving our health or are they creating new challenges that we didn't see coming? Get this. Did you know the global fitness tracker market is projected to hit a whopping 45.66 billion by the year 2025? And that number, it's climbing.
It is a massive market and an even bigger influence on how we manage our bodies and our health. With all of that popularity, here's some questions. Are these devices really helping us live healthier or are there some hidden downsides like data privacy issues or increasing anxiety? So stick with me because we're going to break this all down. Why are these trackers so popular? By the way, I'm going to mention right off the top.
I've got my Apple watch on right now. Okay, so for starters, they're marketed as personal health companions, promising to make us fitter, healthier, more in control of our lives. The sales numbers do back that up. The global fitness tracker market is huge. And as I mentioned earlier, it's not slowing down. But what really caught my attention is this statistic. Approximately 30 % of US adults are wearing some type
of wearable healthcare device. That's nearly one in every three people. And of those users, more than 80 % are willing to share that tracker data with healthcare providers. That's a lot of trust that we're putting not just into the device itself, but also the companies, the organizations behind them. So think about it. What got you interested in a tracker? Was it just curiosity because your friends are using them?
That's part of it. Maybe it was a specific health goal, a desire to keep up with your friends, your coworkers. And suddenly you got competitive. Competition is not always a bad thing, right? I first started wearing one because I wanted to know just how many steps I was taking every day. I was running around back and forth. I would go to the newsroom. I would walk outside, inside, back to the restroom, back to the news set, up and down stairs.
I actually was not walking as much as I thought I would be. 10,000 steps, that's the number we often hear. I, on an average day, was getting five to 6,000, so I needed to up that.
Awareness is a big reason a lot of people wear devices. But whatever the reason for you, these devices have become cultural icons. And for many of us, whipping out stats on our steps or asleep has become second nature. But here's the real question. How effective are these trackers in motivating change? That takes us to the good stuff. The benefits of wearable technology.
Digital health trackers, they clearly have their fans.
But do they deliver on the promise of better health? Based on the research, the answer is yes, for many people. One of the biggest benefits is how the devices promote physical activity. Like I mentioned in my step count, studies show that wearable devices significantly improve exercise. They improve frequency of exercise. And the effect is even more noticeable in people managing chronic conditions like, say, hypertension.
For these people, regular use of the trackers has been linked to improvements in both moderate exercise and overall health outcomes. That's good news. That's what we want to hear. And it's not just about fitness buffs hitting their step goals. The trackers are helping people self-manage chronic diseases. For example, hypertensive patients using trackers saw measurable gains in activity levels, which can be a game changer for long-term health outcomes.
Let's talk about a few of the brand new devices being introduced. I think you'll find these very interesting. I like to stay on top of this technology. First of all, tone buds. These are developed by neurotechnology company Next Sense. So what are tone buds? They say they are advanced brain sensing earbuds engineered to improve your sleep quality and optimize daytime alertness. OK, so I've not used these, but
I have been doing the research on them. And if it's something you know about or you want to know more about, then contact me because I'm going to be following it. The company says that all of this is made possible through the integration of what they call clinical grade electroencephalography or EEG technology. They say this enables the earbuds to continuously monitor brain activity and then measure your quality of sleep as part of an AI powered
That's what we're hearing behind a lot of this is the AI powered closed loop audio system. So these earbuds, they say, react by providing comforting audio for falling asleep and sound neutralizing tracks to help users stay asleep, including what they call pink noise and a simulation for pink noise for the deepest stages of non-REM sleep. So ToneBuds, they say, are going to be available to preorder here in the coming months at about $299.
So what else is out there? The VIV ring, have you heard of this? V-I-V. It's a smart ring, probably a lot like the ORA ring, but they say that it measures and analyzes several biometric signals, including heart rate, oxygen saturation, stress levels. The goal is to provide personalized sleep aid sounds to improve sleep quality.
In addition to using the biometric data, the smart will measure sleep patterns, sleep cycles. They use an AI algorithm to provide personalized stream of sleep sounds. So kind of like the other devices we're seeing sleep at the top of a lot of these. And they're saying that this will also include recordings of ocean waves, deep sea sounds, rainfall, bird songs combined with all kinds of other sounds. Now, I don't know about you, but...
I don't really want to think about bird sounds while I'm sleeping. Doesn't sound good to me, but the VIV Ring is one that's going to do all of that too. I don't know where the sound comes from, from the ring itself or maybe there's a separate speaker. I'll be following this one too. Their launch is expected here at the beginning of 2025. And how about this one? Dog trackers. We've seen a little bit of this out there.
Some people might put an Apple tracker on their dog.
Our oldest daughter has a new dog. We love this dog so much. So who would have thought our daughter's dog would be like our first grandchild? And our daughter is an athlete and a coach. She loves her aura ring. So she wanted a tracking collar for her sweet pup. She asked for the FI dog collar for Christmas. It tracks Koa's sleep, her heart rate, her steps, not to mention she can see her steps and her location throughout the day. So if someone else is walking the dog or she can see that the dog is home, so she loves that.
and also on the horizon for wearable technology, in addition to things like dog trackers, cooling devices. Scientists at UCLA, I just read about this yesterday, they're working on a portable device that would offer cooling. They use what they are calling thin, flexible films, electrocaloric cooling, that's how they're defining it,
would be used as a wearable during strenuous conditions or workouts. So would you use this? I guess in the hot sun or maybe an outdoor run in the summer, I could see this, but I think of sweating as a good thing. It's detoxifying. So we'll see about this one in the cooling wearable devices. And what about a wearable device to monitor and improve your mental health? Now this has me really interested.
and watching it closely. It's not out yet, but scientists are working on this range of brainwave reading devices and other gadgets that aim to monitor our nervous system. So the boon in this industry is really not a surprise because, you know, we talk more and more about mental health. So if we can find a wearable that helps with that or calms our nervous system when we get anxious, I will be all about that and I'll be sure to let you know when I hear it.
So the boon in the overall industry, it's not a surprise because we love things that can do more for us and knowledge is power. I'm just curious how far it will go. So what about you? Have you had moments where your tracker made you stop and think, wow, this is really helping me. It's keeping me on track. It's improving my overall health. Or maybe it gave you insights that you weren't expecting. But what I want to talk about now is it can be a good thing.
but what are the potential pitfalls of using wearable health trackers? So let's talk about it and I want to make sure that I'm not knocking these items, I'm making you aware of what the potential downside could be and I use them. So I'm not anti-fitness wearables. But first, let's talk about privacy concerns.
Did you know that over 80 % of the wearable fitness technology users are sharing their wearable data with healthcare providers? So what happens after that isn't always crystal clear. What are these companies doing with that information? Who owns that data about your fitness?
What if that data is hacked or misused? Imagine a world where your health data could influence things like your insurance premium, or what if it was used by employers in making hiring decisions? We don't think that that's going to happen, but what if it did? It makes you think twice, then there's the issue of accuracy. Many wearables claim to be 92 to 99 % accurate. Studies have found
some inconsistencies when it comes to calorie tracking or even measuring your steps. So this can lead to some frustration or it could actually lead to poor health decisions based on that unreliable data.
And of course I have to talk about the psychological effect. It isn't me, but some people report feeling anxious or even overly dependent on their wearable. It's easy to get caught up in a cycle of obsessing over hitting that daily goal or feeling guilty if you don't hit it. You we see this with people who have had eating disorders that if they carefully, meticulously,
follow all of their calories, that can lead to some mental health issues. You have to be aware if that's the case for you. And if you're obsessing over it, then it's probably not a good thing. For some, that constant pressure can be more harmful than helpful. And finally, these devices, while they're not cheap, with high costs, they remain
out of reach for a whole lot of people creating a gap in who can actually access this type of health technology. It's yet another example of how tech isn't always as inclusive as it should be, but it shouldn't keep you from doing it if you can afford it.
Do any of these things resonate with you? Maybe you felt frustrated by track your inaccuracies or maybe overwhelmed by those daily targets. If so, just know that you're not alone. Okay, so where does this leave us? On one hand, wearable devices push us to be more active. They're fantastic tools for chronic disease management. They can provide critical health insights. But then on the other hand, there are some concerns from privacy to the mental health pressure that they can create.
The key takeaway and my takeaway, they are tools, not a substitute for self-awareness or professional medical advice. I would advise you, if you are using some type of wearable technology, talk to your doctor about it. Make sure that they're aware of it. Give them that information. It might provide some insight that could help in your overall health. So my bottom line, use them as part of your health strategy, but not the entire strategy.
Like anything in life, it's about balance. And that's something I talk about a lot here on the podcast. OK, I told you at the beginning of the episode about something new I'm starting. It's called Better in Three. So I want to do this today and get your feedback. The idea is that if we just do three things, we will better ourselves in small increments. And these things add up. So I'll tell you where this started. When I anchored the morning show, my alarm went off at 2 30 in the morning. And every day when driving home, all I could think about
was how tired I was. And all I wanted to do was crash and get some sleep. So what I would do is I would say, tell myself, if I can just do three things, then I can crash and get that sleep.
It was something about the number three that was powerful for me and doable. Long lists, they overwhelm me and I know they overwhelm a lot of you. So let's get to today's better in three. First, make appointments. Just make the appointment. You don't have to do it. Make appointments for your annual checkup, your mammogram, your pap smear. We know early detection is key and I don't want you to get so busy.
that you forget to do these really important things. So make the appointments today. Number two, do some strength training. If you can't get to the gym, don't let that hold you back. Go get some cans from your pantry. Even if it's just three sets of arm curls, do something to support your muscles and your overall bone health. It's so important. We can go for the longer workouts as we build in, but don't skip doing something to strength train today. And number three,
Practice perfect posture as I sit here. I'm putting my shoulders back. Focus today on maintaining a straight back and aligned shoulders to prevent back pain. With all of us on our phones, myself included, it's so important that we think about our posture because you know what else it does? It helps our back and our overall strength, but it helps our confidence too. So focus on your posture today. All right, that's it. You're better in three and wearable technology breakdown.
I'd love to hear your stories and your feedback. Have health trackers transformed your health for the better? Or maybe they've added some stress. Share your thoughts with me. You will find me on Instagram at n tisdle t y s d a l or I'm on all the other social media platforms too. Thanks so much for joining me today. I'll see you back here next week.
