Feeling stressed lately? Did you know that it is now possible to measure a person’s stress level? In the early days, there was no standard method that can measure stress. However, with the advancement of technology like the Samsung Health app, it is now possible to check your stress level by measuring your heart rate.
First of all, what is Samsung Health?
Samsung Health or formerly S Health is a smart application that has been developed by Samsung to help people live a healthier lifestyle. The application shows important information related to your health such as weight, heart rate, stress levels, blood pressure, caffeine intake, glucose level, sleep, calorie intake, and total steps are taken. Although it was developed by Samsung and is usually used on Samsung phones, it can be used on most Android phones by downloading it from the Play Store.
Samsung Health functions as a health tracker and helps you determine your progress when it comes to switching to a healthier lifestyle. A health tracker is important in setting achievable fitness goals and monitoring various health indicators.
What is Heart Rate Variability?
The Samsung Health App quantifies your stress level through a measurement called heart rate variability (HRV). This was first described by Rev. Stephen Hales in 1773 in which he said that the interval between each heartbeat shortens every time a person inhales and lengthens every time a person exhales. If a person is under stress because of exercise, problems, or a particular trauma, he/she will have a low heart rate variability.
How accurate is the Samsung Health App for Stress?
The app measures the variation of your heartbeat and its frequency. These data are then stored and continuously compared in real-time to produce a pattern from which a calculation can be made. This is based on the scientific principle that if an HRV is continuously measured over a long period like a few hours, the differences between a normal state and an anxious state can be determined. The HRV value is indirectly proportional to your stress level. This means that a low HRV value indicates a high-stress level.
How to Use the Samsung Health Stress Tracker?
The Samsung Health Stress Tracker shows a real-time analysis of your stress levels based on your available health data. Having a stress tracker will help you in managing your emotions better. It is also possible to view a daily or monthly report of the data logs of the application so that you would be able to check your average stress level over a particular period. Below are the steps on how to use a Samsung Health Stress Tracker.
- Open the Samsung Health app and go to the Stress Tracker tab. You can also add the stress tracker tab to home for easier access in the future.
- Once ready, press Measure on the app so it can start reading your stress levels.
- To continue, agree to the information and then press Measure again. If the app asks for device permissions, just click Allow.
- Place your finger on the heart rate sensor of your phone. Alternatively, you can also measure your heart rate through the Samsung SmartWatch. If your phone doesn’t have any heart rate sensor, simply connect your phone to your Samsung Smartwatch.
- Wait for the app to show your results. If the read is successful, you will be able to see your heart rate, oxygen saturation, as well as your stress level.
How to Setup Your Samsung Health?
The Samsung Health app usually comes pre-installed on Samsung phones but it can also be installed on android phones manually through the Playstore. Setting up your Samsung Health is pretty easy as long as you know the right steps. To set up your application, just follow the steps below.
- Open the Samsung Health app from your phone.
- You will be prompted with a notification question. Press the circle icon if you agree to receive notifications from the application.
- Press continue.
- Look for the “Start” button and back up your data to your Samsung account.
- On the upper left corner of the application, you would be able to see three lines. Press those three lines.
- Select “Profile”.
- Select “Gender”.
- Once you have chosen your gender, press next.
- The application will then ask you about your birthdate. Input your answer and press next.
- Input your height then click next.
- Input your weight then click next.
- Indicate your “activity Level” and click next.
- Set a nickname to use in the application.
- Close the keyboard and submit.
Adding Accessories to Your Samsung Health
The great thing about the Samsung Health app is that you can connect it to various accessories. These accessories include bike sensors, blood pressure monitors, smartwatches, weighing scales, heart rate monitors, blood glucose monitors, fitness trackers, and smartwatches. To check which accessories are compatible and add them to the application, just follow the steps below.
- From the application, access the “Accessories” section.
- Tap the “Settings” option.
- Look for “Compatible Accessories” and click it.
- Tap the “Exercise” option.
- The application will then show you accessories that are compatible with the app.
- Check to select the chosen accessory and connect them to the application.
Connecting to Third-party Apps
Samsung Health can also connect to third-party apps for a better user experience. The number of apps that are compatible with Samsung Health had considerably grown since it was first released. To add a third-party app, just follow the steps below.
- Open the Samsung Health app.
- Look for the “Manage Items” section.
- A button that says “Featured Apps” will appear. Select that button.
- Press the “Find more apps”.
- The application will then take you to an app store. These apps are divided into categories such as nutrition, healthcare, fitness, rest, and others.
- Choose the app that you want to download and click on it.
- Samsung Health will take you to the Google Play Store where it will download your chosen app.
- Once the downloading has finished, go to the Samsung Health app and add the third-party app to your Samsung Health dashboard.
6 Samsung Health App Lifehacks
Record Your Caffeine Intake
Caffeine is a natural stimulant that is usually found in coffee. It stimulates the brain which increases a person’s alertness. It is also the reason why it is used to aid the body to stay awake especially when one is feeling sleepy. Caffeine is also used as a natural remedy to treat headaches and migraines. The recommended maximum intake of caffeine for healthy adults is 400 mg. However, the healthy amount of caffeine per day for a person is 200 mg.
Drinking too much coffee will result in high amounts of caffeine in your body. This may result in nervousness, nausea, increased heart rate, agitation, anxiety, and irregular heartbeat. Although the Samsung Health app does not have a built-in display for the caffeine values, it is still possible to track your caffeine intake by doing the following steps.
- Scroll down to the bottom of the application.
- Press “Manage items”.
- Look for the “Caffeine” section and allow the feature.
Make Your Step-Count More Accurate
The step-count recorded in the Samsung Health app can be inaccurate because there are times that the application may think that you are walking or running due to the motion sensor of the phone. Pausing your step-count when you aren’t walking can help the phone application gather more accurate data. This is especially true when you are riding a vehicle and the phone might mistake the motion for running. To disable the step-count, just follow the following steps below.
- Open the application first.
- Go to the “Steps” section of the app.
- Press “Pause counting steps” in the app.
- Wait for the notification that confirms the feature had been paused successfully.
- To unpause the feature, just follow the same steps again.
Challenge Your Friend to a Fitness Duel
One effective way to achieve motivation in achieving your fitness goals is through competition. Luckily, the Samsung Health app allows you to challenge a friend to a step-count duel. A friendly competition like this will help you push yourself even further compared to when you are just trying to achieve your fitness goals alone. The challenge isn’t only limited to your friends but instead, you can also challenge your family members and even strangers. To enable the challenge feature, just follow the steps below.
- Open the application first.
- Scroll to the “Together” section.
- Press the “Friends” button.
- Enter the email address of the person you would like to challenge to connect with them on the app.
- From your friend’s phone, they must do the same steps and you would be able to link each other’s phone/
- Go back to the “Together” section and press the “Challenge” button.
- Once your friend has already accepted the challenge, you will be able to see each other’s step-count.
Make Your Meal-Tracker More Accurate
For people who are looking to maintain a healthy lifestyle, tracking the number of calories consumed in a day is very important. The Samsung Health app allows you to do this by prompting you to log the foods you have eaten. To make the feature more accurate, you can tweak it so that you can input a more accurate calorie and nutrition count. To do this, just follow the steps below.
- Go the the “Food Items” section of the page.
- Swipe sideways to record a specific calorie count for the meal consumed.
- Afterwards, you will be able to view the total calorie count as well as the carbs, protein and fat consumed.
Save Battery Life
During workout sessions, keeping your phone turned on can easily deplete your phone’s battery. Samsung Health has a solution for this when you are using the app during your workout. The app has a feature that allows it to turn the display into a black screen. To do this, you just need to tap the padlock button which can be found on the lower-right corner of the app under the “Workout” section
Check Unusual Symptoms
The Samsung Health app also comes with an additional feature that helps determine a possible diagnosis for unusual symptoms. This feature is called “Symptom Checker”. It can be accessed by selecting the “Experts” section in the app. Once opened, the app will show you questions that you would have to answer. Based on your answer to these questions, the app will show a possible diagnosis which can also be downloaded in pdf form.
Conclusion
Being able to know your stress level will help you control your emotions better. Stress can be bad for your health in the long run and may lead to other unwanted diseases. The Samsung Health app will greatly help you learn to manage stress in your everyday life and live a healthier lifestyle. Aside from determining your stress levels, the Samsung Health app has a wide variety of features that are essential for maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
