STICK IT REAL GOOD

A new wave of slap-on biosensors garner insights that aren’t just skin deep.

LEVELS

Keeping your blood sugar levels in check can improve sleep, better regulate mood, aid weight loss and boost athletic performance. Levels tracks blood sugar levels around the clock and lets you manually log meals, exercise and even stressful moments on the app to see how your body responds at a granular level to specific foods, stressors and physical strain so you can course-correct in real time and stay in more optimal zones. $399 for one month; levelshealth.com

IN THE NOT-SO-DISTANT PAST, wearing a computer on your wrist felt futuristic. What feels more like sci-fi now is beaming biometrics—like blood sugar levels, heart rate and sweat makeup—to your phone via stick-on biosensors. Diabetics have been using sensors for decades to track glucose levels. A continuous monitor uses a filament the width of two or three human hairs to penetrate just below the skin, explains Marc Taub, PH.D., divisional VP of technical operations for Abbott Laboratories. “An enzyme on that sensor generates a current proportional to the amount of glucose in the fluid surrounding your cells,” he says.

Earlier this year, Abbott announced Lingo, a line of consumer biowearables—still under development—that uses the same tech to track ketones (to monitor ketosis and provide dietary insights) and lactate buildup (to inform performance). These sensors are typically more accurate than wrist-based sensors. “They’re not susceptible to interference or positioning and don’t require calibration.” Intrigued? Here’s where to start.

NIX

Figuring out how much water you need during exercise is like trying to solve for X in an algebraic equation. As you work out, Nix—a watch-face-size sensor that sticks to your upper arm— streams your sweat rate, electrolyte loss rate and sweat composition data to an app, which provides personalized notifications to help you stay hydrated. It even integrates with Apple Watch, Garmin watches and bike computers. $99; nixbiosensors.com

LIEF

Stress is inevitable, but chronic stress leads to increased risk of heart attack, stroke, weight gain and more. Stick Lief under your pectoral muscle, and the medical-grade ECG hardware tracks heart rate variability (time between heartbeats) and breath to assess real-time stress. It vibrates when levels are higher than normal, a kind of cognitive behavioral therapy that teaches you to identify triggers, then self-regulate. $99/month; getlief.com