This isn’t the NEWEST trend on the market, but it’s still fairly new in the world of fitness and health: wearable technology. And it is quickly becoming to this decade what short shorts and jazzercise were to the 80s.

There are so many options. In fact, just take a look at this video here. This doctor recommends 10 different metrics to measure and 10 different devices/apps with which to measure them. He’s got us measuring some of the more normal bodily functions like pulse and blood pressure, but several other metrics as well. Most interestingly, perhaps, are mental focus and emotional state. Both require a headband piece of tech designed to measure brain activity and brain waves.

Each device offers measurement features, but to really make sense of it over time, one would likely have to create spreadsheets just to monitor the health metrics across their dozen or so devices. Honestly, after years of working with patients of all stripes, I have my doubts that very many people will take the time and effort required to get much benefit out of such a disparate group of gadgets, apps and data. This level of health tracking might naturally gravitate more toward “health nerds” (like myself), athletes and researchers.

Furthermore, many of these measurements don’t indicate true health. That’s dependent on a cocktail of factors ranging from hormone and toxicity testing to the state of your spine to simply how you feel and what your definition of health is. A blood pressure of 125/82 is more dangerous for 6 foot 5 inch man than it is for a 5 foot 2 inch woman. And people lie–even to themselves and their devices.

That being said, you will never improve what you don’t measure, so I think the overall idea of health marker measurements and tracking is a good one.

What would be a way to get the most bang for your buck?

I recently ran across this watch–the Helo watch–that gets fairly close to comprehensive health tracking. For wearable tech, it’s got the most features and its corresponding app does the most analysis of anything similar I’ve seen. The watch monitors:

• Blood Pressure
• EKG
• Heart Rate
• Mood
• Breathing

But rather than simply spit numbers back at you, the watch hangs onto data over time, which allows you to see trends in the long term and make adjustments. For example, perhaps your everyday 2-mile jog is giving you diminished returns. Heart rate and breathing don’t increase as much as they used to. That’s definitely a sign that you’re getting healthier, but it’s also a sign you need to change up your routine and push yourself a little harder.

Another interesting feature of this watch is that, when you buy the “Family Plan,” you can monitor the health of your family members. It’s great for family contests, or if you have a special needs child, or just to ensure everyone is safe and healthy. If you find yourself in an emergency situation, you can use Helo’s panic button that automatically sends a text message to your family members, alerting them that you need assistance and giving GPS coordinates.

And my favorite feature of this watch is the electromagnetic cancelling tech. With a device like this, one would assume that it would only further exacerbate the EMF problem (that is, the molecular and cellular damage caused by the proliferation of Wi-Fi signals, cellular phone signals, radio waves, microwaves, bluetooth, etc., etc., etc.). But quite the opposite. This watch actually comes with metal plating that neutralizes the positive ions emitted by EM devices.

There’s really nothing out there that offers this range of features. I’m an Apple guy, always have been. But even their Apple Watch really only monitors your heart rate, and even then, all you get by way of analysis is a weekly update. I’m not about to give up my Apple Watch–because it pairs with all my other Apple devices–in favor of a Helo. But I thought for patients and readers looking into exploring wearable tech, a Helo might be a good choice.

*Dr. Ernst is not a Helo representative, nor does he profit from Helo sales in any way.