Body fat scales. How do it work?

Intelligent bathroom scales that aren’t only able to weight body mass but also measure body fat, muscle and water percentage is a perfect gift for all the healthy lifestyle followers. How do body fat scales work? Is it worth having one at home?

It’s been long known that the progress made in slimming body down shouldn’t be accessed only by the lost pounds. It must be remembered that two people of the identical height and body mass might look completely different (more or less athletic) – it’s because their muscle tissue and fatty tissue mass differ. With this in mind, there are many parameters that must be taken into consideration when we begin laying our interest in our body state.

How to measure condition of the body? This task is simplified due to advanced body analysis scales.

Body analysis scales

It wasn’t that long ago when devices such as body fat and muscle scales could be found only at a dietician’s or in medical centres. Today, this type of modern scales are available for everyone – the choice is wider, they are definitely more convenient to use, and their price got significantly lower. Does it mean that every person should have this type of scales at home?

Gadget not for everyone

Advanced body analysis scales will be found useful when healthy lifestyle is considered as important. If the subject of balanced diet and physical activity don’t lie in the interest area, then such scales should be found redundant. However, this device is find useful if you wish to lose weight without jo-jo effect and when you plan to lead healthier lifestyle. Moreover, body fat scales are also designed for those who suffer from various diseases that require constant monitoring of body condition.

Body analysis – Parameters

Body analysis is a modern technique that offers the possibility of having easier and more precise control over total body mass, which is divided into fat body mass and others (water, bone and muscle mass). There are specialistic diagnostic scales used to analyse:

• Body Fat Percentage, which is the value of fatty tissue; its optimal amount equals 20-32% in adult women and 14-25% in men (with age the percentage increases).
• Body Muscle Percentage, which is the value indicating how much muscle is in our entire body mass (note: a person with bigger muscle content will look slimmer than the person who weighs exactly the same but has lower body muscle percentage).
• Bone Mineral Density equals the mineral content that build bones such as calcium, which translates into skeleton mass value as well as its quality (the bigger mineral value, the harder the bones are).
• Hydration Level, which is water percentage that should range from 45-60% in women and 50-65% in man (these values decline with age).
• Visceral Fat Percentage, which is inner fat that is stored around a number of important internal organs (the higher the level of visceral fat percentage, the higher the risk of circulatory system diseases, etc.).

How to assess body condition?

Using the above parameters the intelligent scales is able to estimate two values that significantly facilitate assessing condition of the body. This also helps to realize if we should change our daily habits.

1. Body Mass Index (BMI) which is the simplest method of measuring the level of obesity; it’s calculated by analysing total body mass and height (note: this shouldn’t be the only factor to rely on).
2. Metabolic age, which provides the information about the present condition of organism together with our factual age; it’s measured by using the following values: muscle weight, fat and water amount, as well as metabolic rate.

How do body analysis scales work?

The specialistic device to analyse body constituents – commonly named as ‘body fat scales’ (despite being able to analyse other parameters) – perform measurements on the basis of Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA). This Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis is a non-invasive diagnostic method enabling us to precisely define particular parameters of our bodies. How does this procedure look like?

Obviously, the scales can’t x-ray our bodies. Instead, the device sends a delicate electric impulse to our bodies that is insensible by the organism. In this way, the tissue resistance value is measured by analyzing time that the impulse needs to return to the sensors that are built in the scales. Muscle and fat conduct electricity differently therefore this method enables to precisely state the percentages that each type of tissue makes.