Keystone Health Measurements: Do You Know Yours?

Have you ever heard of Keystone Health Measurements? These measurements are some of the most important data points you can learn about yourself. They consist of four different measurements that include blood pressure, fasting blood sugar, resting heart rate, and body fat percentage. Knowledge of these five measurements can give you a baseline to gauge your current health status and provide you with a valuable tool for tracking your fitness progress. They can also alert you to any changes that could preclude the development of a chronic condition such as type 2 diabetes or metabolic syndrome. By basing your health and fitness goals off of these measurements, you can work towards results that will benefit your health over a lifetime. 

BLOOD PRESSURE 

Are you familiar with the meaning of hypertension? It’s the medical term for high blood pressure and it is a lot more common than you’d like to think. The CDCestimates that around 1 in 3 U.S. adults has high blood pressure, or close to 75 million people.  Your blood pressure is an important indicator of your overall cardiovascular function which includes your heart, arteries and veins. High blood pressure generally doesn’t produce any symptoms (except in emergency situations). This means that you can go years without it being diagnosed, all while high blood pressure is causing damage to your internal organs and increasing your risk for developing heart attack or stroke. Checking your blood pressure at least once a week can help you diagnose early hypertension and monitor your readings to make sure you’re in a healthy range.

Recommendations:We suggest testing your blood pressure twice a day for one week, once in the morning and once at night. If after one week, your numbers are within the normal range, change to testing twice a week (one day during the week and once on the weekend). If after one week, your numbers are elevated (see chart below), continue measuring twice a day for one more week. If after the 2nd week, your numbers are still elevated on two different times, you can be pretty sure that you have high blood pressure and we recommend seeing your doctor soon to have your blood pressure managed.

We recommend using an at-home blood pressure cuff monitor that fits around the arm like this one. You can also visit your local pharmacy such as Rite Aid and use their in-store blood pressure cuff. Take a photo with your phone or track the numbers in a journal or on your phone’s notes app. Below is a chart that demonstrates blood pressure ranges.

FASTING BLOOD SUGAR 

A good indicator of how well your body’s insulin is working can be determined by monitoring your fasting blood sugar. This is found when you have not consumed any food or drinks (other than water) within the last 8 hours. Most people check fasting blood sugar first thing in the morning. When monitored at regular intervals, you can potentially help avoid the onset of high blood sugar levels which can be a precursor to type 2 diabetes. Generally, people with Type 2 diabetes are found to have lived with abnormally high blood sugar levels for a long period of time before being diagnosed.  

Recommendations:We suggest testing your fasting blood sugar once in the morning (before eating or drinking) for seven daysusing an at-home blood sugar monitor set like this one. If numbers are under 100 for a majority of the days, then continue to measure it only once a week. If your readings are over 100 for 4 or more days, then we suggest seeing a doctor to have your fasting blood sugar and hemoglobin A1C levels checked to determine if you are diabetic or prediabetic.

Fasting blood sugar test taken first thing in the morning should be under 100. A fasting blood sugar level from 100 to 125 mg/dL (5.6 to 6.9 mmol/L) is considered prediabetes. If it's 126 mg/dL (7 mmol/L) or higher on three separate tests, you have diabetes.

RESTING HEART RATE 

Your resting heart rate is another important indicator of overall heart health and the efficiency of your heart. In basic terms, a heart that beats less often over time to do the same amount of work operates more efficiently and will last longer than a heart that has to beat more often to do the same amount of work. You can increase the efficiency of your heart by lowering your resting heart rate. This is done through diet and exercise. A lower heart rate will improve the health and efficiency of circulation and oxygenation within your body that are critical for optimum health. 

Recommendations:We suggest testing your resting heart rate twice a day (once in the morning and once at night)using an activity tracker like a Fitbit or pulse oximeter like this one. If it’s consistency running high (over 100) we suggest scheduling an appointment to discuss this with your doctor.

A resting heart rate can range between 60-100 for the average adult and can change depending on medication use, emotional state, body position (sitting or standing), age and body size.

PERCENT BODY FAT 

When most people hear ‘percent body fat’, they may think about your BMI (body mass index). However, according to Dr. Mark Chavez, “Percent body fat and BMI (body mass index) are two completely different and unrelated measurements. Percent body fat measures the amount of fat as a percentage of total weight. BMI measures your height and weight to get a score but does not take into account how the weight is distributed in the body (more muscle or more fat) and is therefore an unreliable measure of health.” 

Your body fat percentage is incredibly valuable because maintaining a healthy percentage throughout life is a key factor in sustained health. 

Recommendations:We suggest testing your percent body fat once a monthusing a body fat monitor like this one. Keeping body fat in the range of 10-20 percent for men and 20-30 percent for women is recommended. 

WEIGHT

Although weight is not included in the 4 Keystone Measurements, we wanted to mention it here. Many people track their weight but it’s important to remember that weight is just a ‘number on the scale.” It is not necessary to worry about small increases or decreases, but you should note dramatic or fast changes in your weight overtime. This is especially true if you have kidney, heart or liver problems, where weight fluctuation can be a sign of other issues. Every individual will have a different body weight that is right for them; the trick is to find your ideal healthy weight and maintain it with a healthy active lifestyle.

Monitoring your Keystone Health Measurements including blood pressure, fasting blood sugar, resting heart rate, body fat percentage will ensure a long and healthy life.

Want to learn even more?

Download Dr. Chavez’s ebook “The 5 Habits of Highly Healthy People”

A simple 5 step blueprint to living a long and healthy life