The Pixel Smartwatch Will Receive Two New Health Tracking Features.
This week, Google’s Health Guardian feature will be available to Pixel Watch 3, 4, and 5 users, and “later this year” to Fitbit Air users. Google says the new features will include reports on blood pressure trends and insulin resistance, a significant announcement for a wearable device. Here’s what we know about Health Guardian, including how to set it up and what to expect.
Is it really possible to measure insulin resistance with a wearable device?
Insulin resistance is associated with type 2 diabetes and can be an early sign that you’re approaching prediabetes or diabetes. When the body’s insulin receptors stop responding as strongly to insulin, the likelihood of high blood glucose levels increases.
Insulin resistance is typically measured with blood tests. For example, fasting glucose and fasting insulin levels are combined into a measure called HOMA-IR. If you’re concerned about insulin resistance or prediabetes, it’s best to consult with your doctor to find out what tests they recommend and what to do with the results.
The insulin resistance detection feature coming to Google Health, Google notes, is “not intended for medical purposes” and “not a pre-screening tool for diabetes.”
Google published a paper describing some of the testing stages that preceded the development of an algorithm for detecting insulin resistance. In the study, researchers asked people to use their Fitbit or Pixel Watch fitness trackers to record various metrics, including heart rate, heart rate variability, and activity. The paper is unclear on how the algorithm works and whether it will be useful for the general population, but Google apparently hopes it will be an interesting factor to track in the Google Health app.
Is Health Guardian a free service?
Google’s press release states that Health Guardian is available for free to Pixel Watch 3, 4, or 5 users. Fitbit Air users will be able to access blood pressure and insulin resistance data “with a Google Health Premium subscription later this year.” Therefore, the service is free for Pixel Watch users, but not for Fitbit Air-only users. A Google Health Premium subscription costs $9.99 per month.
It’s unclear what happens if you own both devices; presumably, owning a Pixel Watch will grant you free access. In any case, other devices, including older Fitbit models, don’t appear to be included in the program.
How to get Health Guardian forecasts for blood pressure and insulin resistance
The new features are already included in version 5.09 of the Google Health app for Android, which is released this week. (It appears iOS will receive these features later. This makes sense, since iOS users won’t have a paired Pixel Watch anyway.)
According to Google, you can “customize” blood pressure and insulin resistance tracking immediately after installing the new version of the Google Health app. A Reddit user who received the update reports that these features can be configured by going to the “Health” tab, then selecting “Metabolism” to track insulin resistance, “Heart” to track blood pressure, and “Respiratory” to assess breathing quality during sleep.
Google says you’ll receive your first monthly reports on these metrics on October 1st, and after that, you’ll be able to view this data in the Health tab.
To get a blood pressure report on October 1st, Google says you need to wear the watch for five consecutive days in September. To determine insulin resistance, you need to wear the watch for seven or more “days and nights” in September. I noticed it doesn’t say ” consecutive days.”
I haven’t installed the new version of the app yet, and no one else has received their monthly report yet, so I’m looking forward to it as eagerly as you are. I’ll report back with the results once I’ve had a chance to test the new features.