The Quick Guide to Using Your iPhone to Track Your Health

Your iPhone may be the only device you need to track your health and lead you to wellness. The Health app was launched in 2014 on iPhone, making it easier and more efficient to monitor and manage your health, even from a variety of devices. The Health app has undergone dramatic changes and now it’s better than ever for giving users insight into their health and wellness.

Most iPhone users have barely scratched surface of the Health app. It has some amazing features that are largely unknown to the average user. It can help people track their sleep, monitor their diet, manage their reproductive health, and so much more. Let’s explore the many ways your iPhone can track your health through the Health app.

Activity Tracker

By monitoring your daily activity, the Health app can provide you with more accurate recommendations on diet, weight loss, stress management, and sleep management. The app does this through the iPhone feature known as the accelerometer. The accelerometer can measure the number of steps and the distance that you’ve covered without the need to wear an additional device.

If you have an Apple Watch, however,  you can use it together with your iPhone to access the app’s more detailed features. You can track calories burned, essential information for those who want to lose weight. You’ll get an idea of how often you perform certain daily activities, such as standing, walking, and sleeping. The Apple Watch and the Health app can also record how much you exercise.

• Get daily or yearly records of your activity.
• Track the number of minutes you’re active versus resting.
• Get data on specific activities like dancing, running, jogging, swimming, cycling, and more.
• Import activity data from your Garmin or Fitbit activity tracking devices.
• Use data from activity apps like Nike+, Pocket Yoga, Strava, and many more.

Diet Tracker

People with nutrient imbalances or metabolic disorders and those taking certain medications must manage their food intake and diet. The Apple Health app can track what you eat by inputting the types of foods you eat and the size, portion, or weight of each food. The app helps you be mindful of what you eat and easily tracks the number of calories you consume per meal. The Health app can:

• Sync with third-party apps to break down the nutrition of foods you eat.
• Track the vitamins and minerals you consume from major meals to snacks.
• Help adjust your meals depending on the nutrients you need.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Weight Management

Another great feature of the Health app is its ability to help you lose weight safely and effectively. Through the app’s Health Data feature, you can track your measurements. Use data you enter initially to compare with your current data to track your progress. By entering your body measurements, you create baseline data that you can use for your diet, exercise, and to monitor the performance of different types of activities.

• Enter your body measurements and add new data for comparison.
• Import weight and body measurements from compatible devices and apps.
• Review weight changes over the day, week, month, or year.

Body Dimensions

Body weight and other measurements may be entered into the Health app and reviewed in real-time. When you enter your weight and height, the app can compute body fat percentage, BMI, waist circumference, and lean body mass percentage. All of these are very helpful if you want to monitor your weight loss, or weight gain, journey.

• Manually add the data to the Health app.
• Track third-party app weight and body measurement data from the Health app.
• Import notes, photos, and other third-party files to the Health app.

Reproductive Health Monitoring

Cycle Tracking is available from the Health app, or you can download it as a standalone app from the Apple Store. Cycle Tracking lets you monitor your menstrual cycle, which is helpful if you’re planning to become pregnant or want to avoid pregnancy.

The Cycle Tracking app also allows you to take note of symptoms to help diagnose possible disease or track menopause.

• Help track your cycle with an easy-to-use calendar.
• Import data from third-party cycle tracking apps.
• Log test results to help track symptoms.
• Log symptoms to monitor illnesses and reproductive conditions.

Stress Management

An important part of health and wellness is successful stress management. The Health app has a feature called Breathe that can help manage this aspect of your health. This feature reminds you to occasionally stop and do some deep breathing to help you relax throughout your day.  Breathe is useful at home or at the office to help prevent stress and anxiety. With Breathe, you can:

• Designate the number of reminders you want no matter where you are.
• Use third-party apps and import data to the Health app for stress management.
• Reduce stress and maintain a healthy work-life balance.

Sleep Management

You can also use the Health app to monitor the hours you sleep you get daily.

Keep Track of Important Health Records

Based on a report by Digital Authority Partners, the iPhone is also effective for storing user health data. The Health app serves as your personal online health records system. You can access the data no matter where you are, making it very convenient for patients that need to consult different doctors and specialists.

• Import health data from doctors, specialists, clinics, and hospitals to the Health app.
• All your files are organized and easy to retrieve.
• Keep records of your immunizations, allergies, and blood results.
• Keep records of tests, hospitalizations, and doctor visits.

Your iPhone is your key to wellness and good health. Through the Apple Health app, you can monitor your activity, diet, reproductive cycle, stress levels, sleep, weight loss, and body dimensions. The app can also store health records for easy retrieval when needed. When used properly, the Health app can help you reach your health and wellness goals.