Using fitness trackers to assess the effects of physical activity and sleep on BMI, cardiovascular function, and salivary glutathione concentration

Increasing exercise duration and frequency can result in excessive production of reactive oxygen and subsequent oxidation of reduced glutathione (GSH). Sleep deprivation can also induce oxidative stress, leading to increased GSH oxidation. It was hypothesized that chronic sleep deprivation and a sedentary lifestyle would have negative impacts on body mass index (BMI) and cardiovascular (CV) function. It was also hypothesized that GSH would be upregulated in response to increasing physical activity and sleep deprivation to neutralize the effects of reactive oxygen. Based on 3 months of data obtained from bracelet-embedded fitness tracking devices, 20 subjects were placed into minimum, moderate, and maximum activity groups as well as minimum, moderate, and maximum sleep groups. There were no significant differences between the 3 activity groups in terms of GSH concentration, indicating an upregulation of GSH in response to increased activity. BMI and heart rate decreased with increasing activity. There were no significant differences between the 3 sleep groups in terms of GSH concentration, which suggested an upregulation of GSH in response to sleep deprivation. There were also no sleep-related differences in BMI or CV function. Key Words: Aerobic Exercise, Sleep Deprivation, Oxidative Stress