Can Wearable Technology Help Guide Dieting Safety?

BACKGROUND

The safety of dietary interventions is often unmonitored. Wearable technology can track elevations in resting heart rate (RHR), a marker of physiologic stress, which may provide safety information that is incremental to self-reported data.

METHODS

A single subject was placed on an isocaloric diet for four weeks. In weeks # 1 and 4, timing of food consumption was unregulated. In week #2, food was consumed during a three-hour feeding window (one-meal-a-day, OMAD). During week #3, food was consumed at six intervals, spaced three hours apart (6-meal diet). A Fitbit Versa was worn continuously, and questionnaires were administered twice daily.

RESULTS

Meal frequency did not affect the subject's weight. Hunger scores from morning and night were widely split on OMAD and relatively constant on the 6-meal diet. Energy, happiness, irritability, and sleep scores were more favorable on the 6-meal diet than on OMAD. RHR extracted from the wearable device was lower during the 6-meal diet than during OMAD, especially in the late afternoon, evening, and nighttime (p<0.05). Lower RHR during the 6-meal diet corresponded to more favorable questionnaire scores.

CONCLUSIONS

Changes in RHR patterns acquired by wearable technology are promising indicators of physiologic stress during dietary interventions. Wearable technology can provide physiologic data that are complementary to questionnaire scores or timed manual measurements.