FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions | How can we help you?
What makes biozoom devices so unique?
biozoom is the world's leading manufacturer of medically validated wellness trackers for monitoring nutrition. For this purpose, the devices measure antioxidants in the skin and blood. Since they simultaneously check heart rate and heart rate variability, biozoom devices have a unique position on the world market compared to similar systems. This also applies in comparison to wearables and smartwatches. In addition, the patented measurement technology (MSRRS) enables a very precise measurement of the substances to be examined. This helps you to bring nutrition and lifestyle into a reasonable balance. This way you stay young, vital and fit and permanently improve your well-being as well as the protection against premature aging processes.
How does measuring work?
LEDs are used to shine light into the heel of your hand. The light scattered back from the skin is detected and analyzed by several sensors, because it contains information about the amount of antioxidants in your body, for example. The corresponding measurement starts automatically as soon as detectors have recognized the placing of your hand on the sensor. Biozoom uses medically validated algorithms to evaluate the measurement. The results are displayed and explained on an easy-to-understand scale. Coaching hints, which help the user to improve his result, complete the explanations.
What are antioxidants?
Antioxidants are all substances that can neutralize free radicals and thus protect the body from their damaging effects. This succeeds because they have free electrons that the free radicals lack for stabilization. The body's own antioxidants include enzymes and small proteins such as catalase or melatonin. Those that must be taken in through the diet include vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals such as vitamins A, C, E, flavonoids, selenium and carotenoids.
What do antioxidants do?
Antioxidants are natural substances that the human body needs to function properly. The name comes from their main function, the prevention of unwanted oxidation, which often leads to the damage or destruction of the biological cells of your body. The substances that attack the cells are called free radicals.
Where are antioxidants in?
- Beta-carotene: carrots, bananas, peaches, apricots, nectarines, plums, lettuce, tomatoes, spinach, kale, melons, papaya, mango, oatmeal, peas and peppers. - Lutein: carrots, pumpkin, spinach, green leafy vegetables, oranges and yellow peppers - Lycopene: tomatoes, tomato paste, watermelon and pink or red grapefruit - Selenium: Brazil nuts, walnuts, garlic, brown rice and whole grain breads - Vitamin C: asparagus, berries, broccoli, cabbage, melon, honey, watermelon, lemons, oranges, cereals, kiwi, potatoes, spinach and tomatoes - Vitamin E: wheat germ oil, almonds, sunflower seeds, sunflower oil, safflower oil, hazelnuts, peanut butter, peanuts, corn, spinach, broccoli, soybean oil, kiwi and mango.
What are free radicals?
Free radicals are molecules that are missing at least one electron. They are highly reactive. In order to stabilize themselves, they procure electrons from other molecules, which thereby become a free radical themselves, triggering a chain reaction. In this process, healthy cells of the body are also attacked and damaged. This promotes the development of various diseases and premature aging processes. Free radicals are formed in the normal metabolic process, during the formation of energy in the mitochondria, as a result of inflammatory processes, through UV radiation or toxins. At the same time, they also perform important functions in the immune defense against viruses and bacteria. Their damaging effect therefore only arises when they are present in excess.
What is oxidative stress?
Oxidative stress occurs when too many free radicals are produced in the body or not enough antioxidants are available to neutralize them. Oxidative stress is therefore considered a trigger of diseases and premature aging processes.
What leads to oxidative stress?
- Smoking - Exposure of the skin to sunlight - High blood pressure - overweight - professional and private stress - diabetes - insufficient intake of fruits and vegetables - stress due to unbalanced physical activity - lack of sleep
What does HRV mean?
The adaptability of the heart (heart rate variability) refers to the ability of the organism to change the frequency of heartbeats and adapt to any situation. The heart is one of the most important organs in the human body. However, it does not beat exactly regularly like a clock, but slightly irregularly, because it is constantly exposed to external and internal stimuli to which it must constantly adapt. The higher the HRV, the better the body can adapt to a wide variety of external and internal stimuli in a short time. In contrast, a low HRV may indicate a health and age-related limitation. HRV is influenced, among other things, by age, psyche, as well as heart rate, breathing and training condition. But even within a day, HRV can change due to a wide variety of environmental factors, such as noise and the internal physiological and biochemical processes taking place in the body.
How do I achieve the greatest possible precision in a measurement with the biozoom scanner?
If you want to measure the effect of even small changes in your diet, or determine the effect of a dietary change as quickly as possible, you need the maximum measurement accuracy that the scanner can give you. Unfortunately, nature has set up a few hurdles that make perfect precision impossible, no matter how good the sensor is. But if you know these, you can do a few things to optimize the accuracy of the measurement.
Use the slower measurement mode when measuring antioxidants
Many biozoom devices offer two modes for measuring antioxidants. A fast mode, which is less precise but takes only 15 seconds to measure, and a detailed mode, which takes longer to measure and requires you to place your hand on the sensor several times. Use the slower mode if you have time. The main advantage is that it detects many small handling errors and gives you tips on how to avoid them.
Make sure you are measuring in the right place and that there is good contact between the skin and the sensor
The place where you should measure is called the thenar. This is the ball of the hand on the side of the thumb. Right next to where the thumb attaches to the hand, you can see and feel a round and usually soft area that is between the wrist and thumb. It typically has a bulge that is between a golf ball and a tennis ball. Measure right in the middle of it. The active area of the sensor is highlighted by flashing LEDs. These LEDs must be completely covered by the skin of the thumb. It is better if the complete sensor and even a part of the area around the sensor is covered. To make it easier and faster to find the right position for measuring, the newer biozoom scanners have a 3-D line (groove) as a positioning aid. If you align your hand position with this groove, it will be well placed on the sensor. The following typical errors can cause you to not cover the sensor well, get inaccurate results or have to repeat the measurement: Part of the sensor is not covered by your skin and light is leaking out. There is air between your skin and the sensor (which often happens if you measure too much towards the center of the palm, where your hand is no longer bent outwards). There is bright light hitting the back of your hand (see below)
Put your hand on the sensor in the same way
You can add a little precision by placing your hand on the sensor in the same way and with similar contact pressure. The ideal contact pressure is achieved by letting the hand rest on the sensor with its own weight. Do not use the muscles of the arm to lift the hand or press on the sensor. The ideal contact pressure corresponds to a weight of 800 g, i.e. about two pounds. This is because your blood contains antioxidants. If you press too hard against the sensor, you will push some blood out of your skin, changing the actual antioxidant level at that location. The sensor has a function that compensates for the effect of contact force. So you don't have to worry about getting a perfect contact pressure. But if the contact pressure is ideal, you will still get a slightly more accurate result.
Measure at the same time of the day
During sleep your body relaxes and recovers. You can also see this in the antioxidant level. Most people have a higher value in the morning and during the activity and stress of the day the value decreases and is lowest in the evening. For some people, it goes up right after a healthy meal and a lunch break. The changes between morning and evening typically have a magnitude of 0.1 to 0.5.
Always measure with the same scanner
Even if all sensors are calibrated, there are small differences between different scanners. To accurately see how, for example, antioxidant levels reflect changes in your diet, you should only compare measurements taken with the same scanner. This is a general rule. Therefore, it also applies to other measuring devices. For example, you should always use the same scale when checking your weight.
Measure only on dry skin
If your skin is wet, this may confuse the sensor and the results may be inaccurate. Therefore, measure only on dry skin. Even if you wash your hands and then dry them thoroughly, there will still be some water left on the skin. It will have a small effect on the measurement, so it is better to wait 30 minutes after washing your hands to get the most accurate results.
Relax during the measurement and don't move your hand
It is important that you keep your hand still during the measurement. The sensor takes a series of different measurements and compares the results. If the hand moves between measurements or the contact with the sensor varies, the comparison will work less well.
Do not measure on areas of skin that have been treated with cosmetics, especially sunscreen
Lotions, cosmetics, self-tanning products and sunblocks often contain optically active substances. If we take sunblocks as an example, it is obvious that they are made to block light from entering the skin. The biozoom scanner uses light for measurement and must be very sensitive to measure the antioxidants. If this light is blocked, the measurement will not work. Even if you don't use cosmetic products to protect your hands, you need to be mindful. For example, if you use sunblock, you probably used your hands to apply it (unless you use a spray or have someone else do it for you). Be aware that this can lead to false readings.
Measure only on healthy skin
If you suffer from a skin condition, the sensor probably cannot measure properly because it is only calibrated for healthy skin.
Avoid physical activity immediately before the measurement
If you are physically active immediately before the measurement, this usually affects your measurement result. A comparison with previous measurements is then hardly possible. If you want maximum measurement accuracy, you should take the measurement one hour after physical exertion as a precaution.
Avoid sunlight when measuring
Bright light can penetrate through your hand. You can try this out by turning on your smartphone's LED flashlight and placing a finger on it. You will see that especially red light penetrates all the way through your finger. Sunlight is even stronger and can penetrate your hand completely. That's why the biozoom scanner refuses to measure in direct sunlight. If you want maximum precision, you should make sure that no bright light hits the back of your hand during measurement. Normal ceiling light is not a problem.
Do you wear gloves at work?
Wearing gloves at work sometimes has a significant effect on the result of the antioxidant measurement. You will get better results if you always measure before work.
Do you work outdoors a lot?
If your skin is exposed to the sun for a long time during work, the antioxidant measurement values usually drop as a result of UV radiation. You should therefore measure in the morning to avoid this influence.
Do you have a tattoo on your palm?
The color of the tattoo will affect the results. How about the measurement on the left hand?
Are you sick?
When you have a cold or other illness, it puts stress on your body. Be aware that your readings will usually drop in such a case. Wait until you have recovered before comparing results.