How it Works

Our healthcare assessment is designed to provide a comprehensive overview of your key lifestyle factors that impact blood pressure and cardiovascular health. By evaluating your diet, exercise, sleep, alcohol consumption, smoking habits, and body mass index (BMI), we offer personalized insights to help you manage hypertension more effectively. Each factor is scored based on scientific evidence, with clear recommendations tailored to your individual needs. Whether you're focused on improving your diet, increasing physical activity, or addressing sleep and stress management, our assessment is a step towards better overall health and long-term blood pressure control.

Diet Evidence

The impact of dietary choices on blood pressure (BP) management is well-established, with sodium and potassium intake being two of the most influential factors. A reduction in dietary sodium has been repeatedly shown to lower BP, with randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses confirming this effect [1, 2]. A sodium-restricted diet, particularly when sodium intake is reduced to less than 5.8 g of salt per day, can lead to a significant reduction of approximately 5/2 mmHg in systolic and diastolic blood pressure, respectively, in hypertensive patients [3]. Further studies have demonstrated that lowering sodium intake to as low as 800 mg per day results in a linear decrease in BP [4, 5].

On the other hand, potassium intake has a notable influence on BP, with studies showing a U-shaped relationship, where both insufficient and excessive potassium intake can affect BP control [6]. However, low intake is far more common, and a diet rich in potassium—primarily from fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy, fish, meats, nuts, and soy products—can promote heart health and support BP management [7]. 

This diet score is calculated based on a balance of these two critical factors—sodium and potassium intake—using a formula that reflects the impact of dietary choices on BP management and the numerical relationship between these factors and blood pressure.

Exercise Evidence

Studies consistently show an inverse relationship between habitual levels of physical activity and the incidence of hypertension, even after adjusting for age and other factors [8, 9]. Exercise minutes have been shown to directly reduce hypertension risk [8]

Furthermore, reductions due to exercise are even higher in those with hypertension, with an average reduction from aerobic exercise of 5-8 mmHg [10]

Our scoring model calculates exercise based on time spent in physical activity, while acknowledging that the first 150 minutes of exercise per week will yield more benefits than successive minutes.

BMI Evidence

Excess weight and obesity are strongly linked to hypertension [11, 12], and weight-loss interventions are well-established as effective strategies to reduce blood pressure (BP) [13, 14, 15]. A network meta-analysis found that following a low-calorie diet led to reductions of 6.5 mmHg in systolic BP and 4.6 mmHg in diastolic BP among adults with prehypertension [16]. In patients with hypertension, a low-calorie diet was ranked as the most effective lifestyle intervention for lowering both systolic and diastolic BP [16]. Additionally, a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials found that losing just 1 kg of body weight results in approximately a 1 mmHg reduction in both systolic and diastolic BP [13].

Alcohol Evidence

Large-scale observational studies have shown a strong, positive linear relationship between alcohol consumption and blood pressure (BP) [17, 18]. The metabolism of alcohol differs between sexes, with women typically having a lower first-pass metabolism and different alcohol distribution due to body composition. This explains the varying recommended upper limits for daily pure alcohol intake, with higher limits for men compared to women [19].

Because of these differences, our alcohol impact calculations vary by gender. A dose-dependent effect has been particularly observed in heavy drinkers. For example, individuals consuming six drinks per day who reduce their intake by about 50% can expect to see a reduction in systolic and diastolic BP by approximately 5.5/4.0 mmHg [20].

Smoking Evidence

Smokers are more likely than nonsmokers to experience masked hypertension, characterized by normal office BP readings but higher daytime ambulatory BP values [21]. Smoking triggers sympathetic nervous system activation, causing a prolonged increase in blood pressure for about 30 minutes after each cigarette [22]. This pattern of elevated BP spikes also leads to increased daytime BP variability [21]. Furthermore, smoking can reduce the effectiveness of certain antihypertensive medications, such as beta-blockers (BBs) [23].

These factors are considered in our BP scoring model, accounting for the impact of smoking on BP variability and potential interference with medication efficacy, allowing for more personalized insights for smokers.

Sleep Evidence

Sleep quality and quantity play a critical role in cardiovascular health. Poor sleep, including sleep deprivation and conditions like insomnia, has been shown to increase blood pressure (BP) and the risk of developing hypertension [24] and short sleep duration is associated with a 60% higher risk of self-reported incident hypertension [25]. Additionally, self-reported sleep disturbances are also associated with higher risk of hypertension [24].

Our scoring system combines hours rested, perceived restfulness, consistency of sleep cycle and sleep difficulties to get a holistic picture of a user’s sleep.