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The best Google Home commands for health, nutrition and fitness

Use Google Home to track workouts, count calories, put you to sleep and more.

Amanda Capritto
6 min read
Future Publishing/Getty Images

The complete list of commands for Google Home keeps growing, and while you may already use it to turn your lights on and off or stream TV, you can also employ your Google Assistant as personal trainer, food diary and meditation teacher.  

This guide is a list of all of the best Google Home commands for the many facets of wellness: fitness , healthy eating, mind, medical and sleep .

Fitness

If you're running low on workout ideas, need to know your heart rate on a whim or want to track a workout, Google Assistant has you covered.

Get fitness inspiration

A few apps and devices integrate nicely with Google Home, including Fitbit. You can:

Watch this: The Apple Watch Series 4 delivers on its fitness promises

Get info on your vitals and activity

Google Fit syncs with an impressive collection of apps, including Lifesum, Runkeeper, Strava, MyFitnessPal and more. It can also sync with fitness trackers such as a Fitbit or Wear OS Google smartwatch.

The Google app can collect data from these apps and devices, and you can use Google Fit to monitor your progress throughout the day by asking it things like:

  • "What's my heart rate?"
  • "How many steps have I taken?"
  • "How many calories have I burned?"

Use the BMI Buddy app to keep track of your body mass index. Just say, "OK, Google, ask BMI Buddy about my BMI."

Track your workouts

You can also use Google Fit to track workouts. Tell it to:

  • "Track my run"
  • "Start a bike ride"

Depending on which apps you use, Google Fit keeps track of stats like how fast you ran or cycled, how long you worked out for and how many calories you burned during your workout. It may also store location data if you allow your integrated apps to use your location.

Healthy eating

Get new recipes on a whim, learn about nutrition information for your favorite foods and track your nutrition goals with Google Home.

Get nutrition facts

Google Assistant can tell you nutrition information for single-ingredient foods, such as an apple or eggs. Ask your Google Home:

  • "How many calories in…"
  • "How much sugar in…"
  • "How much protein in…"
  • "How much vitamin C in…"

You can also ask it to break down nutrition information in prepared meals by saying, "How much protein is in meatloaf?" or similar questions.

How the Google Home Hub can help you cook a delicious meal

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Get recipes

Feeling uninspired in the kitchen? Just tell Google Assistant, "Hey, Google, show me recipes." You can get more specific and say, "Show me a lasagna recipe," or insert the food you want to cook.

Google Assistant will offer up a list of recipes from Google Home's supported cooking partners, such as Epicurious or Food Network. Note you must have a smartphone or tablet for this function to work, as it isn't compatible with a desktop. The Google Home Hub makes this feature even more powerful because it has a built-in screen that show you step-by-step directions.

Track calories

Use Calorie Tracker to easily keep track of your food intake with Google Home. Say, "OK, Google, talk to Calorie Tracker."

If you log nutrition and hydration with a connected app, like Lifesum or Fitbit Plus, Google Home will also track that data. It can store information about your caloric intake, water intake, macronutrients and micronutrients.

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You can get healthy recipes from the Google Home Hub

Chris Monroe/CNET

Mind

Again, getting Google Home to help out with your daily mindfulness practice is all about using the right apps.

Meditate

Currently, you can initiate a new meditation session by telling Google Assistant to:

  • "Talk to Calm"
  • "Talk to Headspace"

Headspace offers a larger suite of commands, including:

  • "Tell Headspace I'm ready to meditate"
  • "Ask Headspace for today's meditation"
  • "Tell Headspace I want to wind down"
  • "Ask Headspace to help me fall asleep"
  • "Tell Headspace to connect my account"

Your app of choice will guide you through a meditation after connecting to your account. Keep in mind that these apps require paid subscriptions, but even if you don't pay for it, you can access a small selection of free meditations.

Relax

Relax Guru is a Google Home-integrated app that helps with daily relaxation and stress. You can say:

  • "Talk to Relax Guru"
  • "Ask Relax Guru to help me relax"
  • "Ask Relax Guru to help me deal with anger"

Personal care

Personal care is one area where Google Home can use some improvement, as there aren't many apps that integrate with the smart speaker on the personal care front.

Create a skincare routine

Liv at Estée Lauder is virtual beauty assistant that can help you create your ideal skincare routine based on your skin goals, your skin's current condition and how much time you have. Liv recommends products, offers beauty advice and helps you get into a regular skincare routine.

Tell Google Assistant:

  • "Talk to Liv at Estee Lauder"
  • "Ask Liv at Estee Lauder about skincare"
  • "Ask Liv at Estee Lauder about nutrition"
  • "Ask Liv at Estee Lauder about sleep."

Medical

Google Home can help you find information on nearby doctors, fill or transfer your prescriptions and offer advice on symptoms and conditions.

Get information on health providers

Google Home can't (yet) actually make phone calls or book appointments online for you, but your Assistant can help speed up the process. If you have MetLife as your health insurance provider, you can use the MetLife app. First, say, "OK, Google, talk to MetLife."

The, instead of browsing the web yourself, ask Google Home:

  • "Find a dentist"
  • "Find an eye doctor"
  • "How much does a root canal cost?"

You can get more specific with MetLife and ask Google Home things like, "How much does a cavity filling cost in New York City?"

If you aren't insured under MetLife, you can  try Google's Health Services Finder app to find available nurses, physicians and specialty providers. Try, "Hey, Google, find an optometrist near me" or "Hey, Google, find a hospital near me."

Fill a prescription

If you use NowRx, you can fill and transfer prescriptions via Google Home. Tell Google Home:

  • "Talk to NowRx"
  • "Ask NowRx to fill a prescription"
  • "Ask NowRx to transfer my prescriptions"

You must be a current NowRx customer to use this function, because new customers must complete a pharmacy consultation. You'll have to contact the NowRx pharmacy directly to do that.

If you use CVS, you can check store and pharmacy hours, as well as check for specific services such as drive-thru pharmacy or immunizations. You can also check for a MinuteClinic and get wait times. Say, "OK, Google, talk to CVS" to get started.

Here's everything that works with Google Home and Home Mini

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Get information on symptoms and conditions

While Google Home is not a replacement for sound medical advice from a professional, you can use it to get an inkling of what your symptoms might be. You can directly ask Google Home by activating the listening feature ("OK, Google") and then saying:

  • "What are the symptoms of…"
  • "How to treat…"

Just insert whatever condition you're curious about, for example, "How to treat a sore throat" or "What are the symptoms of diabetes?"

You can also talk to WebMD. Say, "I want to talk to WebMD" or "Ask WebMD" followed by common health questions such as:

  • "What are the side effects of ibuprofen?"
  • "How can I treat the flu?"
  • "What is hypertension?"

Sleep and routine

Sleep is a chronically underrated part of health – it's often the answer to common wellness woes, such as moodiness and constant sugar cravings.

Play white noise

Google Home can act as your white noise machine, playing everything from the sounds of a crackling campfire to a rain storm to ambient sounds.

If you don't care what it plays, just say, "Hey, Google, play ambient sounds" or  "Hey, Google, help me relax." If you're looking for a new sound, ask, "What other ambient sounds do you know?"

Get sleep tips

Remember Relax Guru from the Mind section? You can also use this app to get help falling asleep. Just say, "Ask Relax Guru to help me sleep better."

Read more: How to tell if you have sleep apnea

Watch this: 7 ways smart home devices can help you sleep better

Create routines

Another underrated way to improve your overall well-being is creating routines and sticking to them. By following a routine with the same bedtimes and wake-up times each day, you'll feel more rested and productive.

Google Home can help with this: You can create a routine of tasks to be completed when you say, "Hey, Google, good morning" or "Hey, Google, goodnight."

Here's an example sequence using "Hey, Google, goodnight."

  • Reminder to take medications
  • Lights turn off
  • TV turns off
  • Thermostat turns down by 5 degrees

The extent of your Google Home's capability ultimately depends on which integrated apps and compatible products you use with it.

Remember that while these wellness commands can be helpful for keeping track of fitness progress and implementing healthy habits, information from Google Home is never a suitable replacement for advice from a health professional. 

The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.