How to check the effectiveness of a healthy lifestyle hack with Engy Health?

How to test a healthy lifestyle idea with Engy Health? It's simple: before you start using a new life hack, take measurements with Engy Health for a week to identify the "Was" state. Then measure yourself over the course of the week as you experiment with the new habit to see the "Became" state. If your stress and health indicators start to deteriorate, the habit is not for you. And vice versa - with improvement or stable performance, your body adapts well to new changes. Some healthy lifestyle ideas, such as fasting or strict diets, inherently increase your stress. In this case, Engy Health will help you "not go too far" so as not to undermine health or "not break down" after the experiment.

How does Engy Health reveal the usefulness of healthy lifestyle hacks?

By analyzing your heart rate using the Heart Rate Variability (HRV) methodology, Engy Health service allows you to identify the body's and nervous system's response to stressors, including new healthy lifestyle habits. During the experiment, you can see the reaction of the following systems:

• Sympathetic nervous system . It is responsible for mobilizing the body's resources during stress and changes, for the activity of your body.
• Parasympathetic nervous system . It is responsible for restoring the body's resources after stress. The sympathetic and parasympathetic systems must be in balance - this is called autonomic balance
• Humoral and central nervous systems . If the resources of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems are not enough, the central nervous system connects the humoral system, which changes the chemical and hormonal composition of the blood to adapt to changes and thereby transmit signals to the entire body at the same time.

A change in sleep or sports load, diet and any other healthy lifestyle experiment for the better or worse affects the adaptation systems, and Engy Health will identify these changes in time, indicate an improvement or deterioration in the condition and, if necessary, give objective recommendations for correction. Experimenting with health, do not bring the body to breakdowns and illness.

How to test a healthy lifestyle hack?

Example 1. You now have a fitness bracelet with step counting support and decide to walk more. By examining the reaction of the nervous system with Engy Health, you can understand which rate is ideal for you - 3,000 or 13,000 steps per day.

Example 2. You have decided to change your sleep mode from 00.00 - 8.00 to 23.00 - 07.00. Take measurements during the week before and during the experiment. Engy Health will identify the reaction of the nervous system and show to what extent the change in regime is beneficial to your health.

What Engy Health metrics should I use to test healthy lifestyle hacks?

1 step. Analyzing changes in the "Health space" diagram

The Health Space chart shows the readiness of your body to adapt to stress and stress on a scale from full normal to failure of adaptation (you remember that by the effectiveness of adaptation we mean your health). Your state in the space of the diagram is represented by a dot and is determined by the ratio of reserves and voltage, that is, the intensity of their costs.

Let's compare your body with a car: if the battery is fully charged (there are many reserves) and the energy consumption is low (air conditioning and headlights are not turned on), then the car will be "on the go" for a long time. If the battery is already discharged (there are few reserves), and all systems are connected - air conditioning, headlights, etc. (voltage is high), then the car will simply not start in the foreseeable future due to a dead battery.

There are 4 color zones in the diagram:

• Green area . Norm. Lots of resources and low voltage. You hardly spend any resources on adaptation. This is a state of health and inspiration!

• Yellow Zone . Pre-nosological condition. You have enough resources, but resource consumption is increased. You may feel more tired, stressed, anxious, or less toned at the end of the day.

• Orange Zone . Premorbid condition. Few reserves and high voltage. You are at risk of developing diseases, and if you are already sick, the resources of the body itself may not be enough for self-healing. At a minimum, you need a diagnostic check-up and adequate rest.

• Red Zone . Pathology. Chances are, you are already sick. The body's resources are extremely limited. Your health should be your priority, put things aside and see a doctor. Try to get out of the red zone as quickly as possible.

What to do: The task is to keep your state in the green zone. The further you are from the green zone, the more difficult it is to return to it. By fluctuations within the diagram, you can track the deterioration or recovery of the body, as well as record the effect of additional stress on health. If, due to a healthy lifestyle experiment, your condition worsens according to the "Health Chart" - try to reduce the load level. If the improvement or condition is stable, you are on the right path to health!

Step 2. Analyzing your stress level

This indicator correlates with the physiological level of stress, that is, the general stress of the body. The "Stress" indicator will immediately show the change in the stress of your body against the background of a healthy lifestyle experiment, and your task is to prevent episodic stress from becoming permanent.

The bars on the Stress graph are colored from green (all good) to red (critical). If your stress level during a healthy lifestyle experiment has increased significantly, then this is a signal to reduce physical, intellectual, or emotional stress.

If the stress level has not changed or returned to normal within a few days, you can continue the experiment in the same spirit.

If your stress level gets too low (less than 20 points), then this also indicates that your body is too weak. In this case, you also need to reduce physical, intellectual and emotional stress until the indicator recovers.



Why can you trust Engy Health's analysis?

To obtain stress data, we analyze your pulse using the heart rate variability (HRV) methodology developed by the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Data interpretation also complies with International Standards for Measurement, Physiological Interpretation and Clinical Use of Heart Rate Variability (HRV). This methodology has been successfully applied since the 1960s in space cardiology and sports medicine around the world to monitor the nervous system of astronauts, athletes and professionals whose professional activities are directly related to increased responsibility and stress.

How to take HRV measurements with Engy Health?

• Take measurements daily in the morning, 5-10 minutes after waking up, but before taking a shower, any physical activity and breakfast.

• Take measurements always in the same comfortable position for you in accordance with the recommendations of the heart rate monitor you are using

• Do not move or talk during the measurement, try not to cough or sneeze.

• Your eyes must be open

How many times a day should I take measurements?

The main thing is morning measurement, since it shows your state after sleep, that is, after the time when the body is working to restore its resources and when your stress from interacting with the environment is minimal. However, you can also take measurements throughout the day to see your stress state and understand whether, for example, go to fitness in the evening or go to an unplanned party with friends? Or still stay at home to calm down and recover in a hot bath.

This is interesting. Where to start?

Take your first heart rate variability measurement. To do this, you need heart rate monitor and Engy application Health .

I still have questions. What to do?

If you have any questions, you can always ask them in our Support Service feedback@engy.app or contact the Engy Health consultant physiologist in the “Chat »Applications.