3 Ways Technology Has Impacted Our Daily Health Habits

As technology continues to evolve, the impact it has on our daily health habits continues to be greater and greater as well. These impacts can be positive or negative, but their importance is not to be underestimated. We'll go over three ways technology has impacted our daily health habits, for better or worse, so you will have a better idea of how best to utilize these new advancements or maintain your health in the face of them.

1. Smartphones and Fitness Trackers

Thanks to new technology, but particularly what comes embedded in smartphones, people can now track a lot more than just how many steps they've walked. Smartphones can measure heart rate, estimate calories burned based on how hard you're working out and compile your fitness data into easy charts too. There are all sorts of fun game apps that encourage you to get out and exercise on a daily basis as well, such as Pokémon Go and Zombies, Run! Other apps affecting our daily exercise habits include Charity Miles, which donates money to charities for every mile you do, and various music apps that make it easier to listen to music while you work out, such as Pandora and FIT Radio. Apps can even sense whether you are walking, jogging or cycling and adjust their measurements accordingly. There are also apps that allow you to track what you eat so you are aware of not only your daily caloric intake but your eating habits as well.

2. Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals

Many drugs on the market today are the result of advances in the biotech industry and are derived from altered naturally-occurring substances or synthetic substances created in laboratories. This scares a lot of people, but it really shouldn't: bioengineering is simply the process of enhancing naturally-occurring substances on a large scale so they are more powerful, last longer and don't have undesirable side effects. Everything from vitamins to antibiotics to strong, lifesaving prescription-only medications have been perfected and refined thanks to technology. So whether you take a daily medication post-thyroid removal or simple dietary supplements, you have technology to thank for the improvements in the medications you take daily. Multivitamins in particular are something new to human history, and easily provide you with the essential vitamins and minerals you might not be getting from your regular diet. Millions of Americans take a multivitamin every day to enhance their nutrition, and it's all thanks to advancements in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries that this is possible.

3. More Sedentary Lifestyles

There is one major downside to the abundance of technology in our lives, and it's something you should likely address. Because automation and technology now do a lot of the work for us, many people now live more sedentary lifestyles overall, both at work and at home. This is especially apparent in the typical office worker, who sits behind a computer screen for most of their workday. Many, many studies have shown just how unhealthy and dangerous this can be for your health in the long term. People must be aware of how sedentary they are and make up for it in any way they can. Some fixes for this include standing some of the time you are at your desk, taking short walks during breaks, doing stretches in your cubicle or even choosing a profession that requires you to stand or walk more steps during the workday.

You may not consciously realize it, but technology has and will continue to impact our daily health habits in ways we cannot currently imagine. Whether it’s fun smartphone apps or biotechnologies that continue to revolutionize our daily medications, technology's role in our health is not going to go away, and while we need to be responsible for managing it, the possibilities are truly endless.