Tag Archive for: body composition

Taking Charge of Your Health

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Flowers and trees have been winterized. The mulch has been spread throughout the yard. The leaves remain a continuing problem, but in short order the snow may take care of that. The one thing that I like about working in the yard is it gives me an extended opportunity to think. There are two things they have been on my mind.

Body Composition and Aging

I completely underestimated the change in body composition that occurs as we get older. I weigh about seven pounds more than I did about a year ago; the problem is that it’s all settled right around my waist. I’ve lost muscle mass in my arms, shoulders, and even my legs. From a strictly physical perspective, that’s the challenge I intend to address next. This will not be a “by the end of the year” thing because it’s going to take some time. I’ll write about how I intend to do it and then keep you posted on how it goes. Everyone is welcome to join me.

COVID-19 Isn’t Going Away

The second thing I’ve been thinking about is the COVID-19 virus. I’ve had the opportunity to read a lot of material I want to cover in upcoming memos that are not related to the pandemic. But the damage from this pandemic continues to increase, at least for the time being, and it would not be responsible for me to ignore COVID-19 all together. There’s some fascinating research that I think adds to the Swiss cheese approach in the last Memo.

Many people seem to be working themselves into a frenzy over possible state restrictions on activities and the insistence on wearing masks. Many of you know that attitude is everything. If we, as a nation, could just make up our minds that we’re going to do the best we can in each and every state, we could get through these temporary restrictions and get back to living our lives more completely than we are able to right now. If we don’t, then this is going to continue until we all decide to take things seriously.

The Bottom Line

Every morning, when I take Riley to school, we review our rules. The first rule is “Do the best you can.” It doesn’t have to be perfect. And you will make mistakes. Just do the best you can each and every day, because that’s all you can do. We review it after school on the drive home, and he gives me a thumbs up if he did his best that day. I hope we all can do the same thing in dealing with our health. The bottom line is that in all phases of our health, let’s do the best we can.

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What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

What’s Your Body Mass Index?

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You may be tempted to measure how you’re doing on the way to your health goals with body composition read-outs on scales and other outputs related to body fat analytics, but how accurate are they? If the device used is one that has you stand on a scale or hang on to handles of some sort, the accuracy of those numbers is very limited.

Those devices are based on impedance technology—the resistance of a very small current passed through your body. It actually can be very accurate when it comes to total body water, something very important for people with congestive heart failure. Everything else is based on algorithms that assume specific characteristics of the body. Those may be valid assumptions, but the variability is too great person to person. How do I know that? I worked on the impedance device as a grad student, so I know it well.

If you really want to track how you’re doing related to fatness, use the Body Mass Index. Every health insurance company uses that as a metric to assess your fatness.

“But I have bigger bones!” you say. Or maybe the weight recommended for you seems too high. In fact you may have a larger or smaller frame than average, and I explain how to know for sure with an easy measurement in the Health Info section titled Body Mass Index. Check it out today for an in-depth look at BMI.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Essential Tests: Bones and Body Fat

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After Saturday’s Memo, the logical question is: “How do I really know if I’m overfat?” This weeks Memos are going to be about tests. No, you don’t have to study for these tests. I’m talking about medical tests to talk about with your healthcare provider.

At this point, the best way to test for body fatness is using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). This process uses low-beam radiation and can identify the three main tissues that make up our body: bone mass, lean mass, and fat mass. Yes, DEXA is the same technology that’s used to determine your bone mass to test for osteopenia and osteoporosis. Instead of just doing the wrist and pelvis, the entire body is scanned to determine body composition.

If you want to know your bone health and your body composition, check out the medical services in your area. There’s one hospital that offers DEXA for both purposes in Grand Rapids. If you’re over 40, it’s a great idea to do both tests. The bone scan will most likely be covered by insurance while you may have to pay for the body composition. The cost is about $100 in this area. If you want the most accurate method for bone mass and body composition, check out the DEXA availability in your area.

The goal is to use this information to improve your health. Reducing body fat and increasing bone mass both end up using a similar strategy: Eat less. Eat better. Move more. On Thursday another simple test that’s too often ignored.

What are you prepared to do today?

Dr. Chet-