I'm considering getting a body composition scan which supposedly accurately tells you your fat/muscle/bone composition of your body. Not exceedingly expensive. Sample report. Has anyone had one before? Was it useful? I'm just curious :)
Update: results
My (unprofessional) analysis is:
- 11.4% body fat including my head, 10.7% excluding head.
- Low visceral fat 290g (R1 region), < 900g is supposed to be low-risk.
- Bone mineral density normal, but slightly below average for my age.
- I've got a fat right leg (13.2% fat right vs 11.8% fat left) and a fat bum 13.8% :)
So, low body fat but not a particularly huge amount of muscle. Not surprising given that I can see all the veins popping out of my arms. I've still got a little bit of fat on my lower back and stomach.
I've recently started doing weights to build some muscle on my chest and improve my bone mineral density. Lots of eggs and dairy …. mmmmm.
In 4 months time I'll do another scan to find out how well I've been doing.
My blood pressure is low, typically <= 100/60 sitting around at the computer.
My set of ALDI fat scales are grossly inaccurate, saying I've got over 20% body fat (I suppose it measures the fat in my legs).
Sep 2013
Total Chol 3.7 mmol/L (3.9-5.5)
HDL-C 1.13 mmol/L (0.9-1.5)
LDL-C 2.3 mmol/L (0-4.0)
Trig 0.6 mmol/L (0.3-2.2)
Fasting blood gluc 4.8 mmol/L (0.6-2.0)
Sep 2014
Total Chol 3.3 mmol/L (3.6-6.9)
Trig 0.8 mmol/L (0.3-2.2)
Fasting blood gluc 4.7 mmol/L (3.0-6.0)
This was for moderate carbs, high fibre (50g+/day) + adequate protein to preserve muscle. No refined carbs (pasta, bread, wheat, flour), no added sugar, no added salt, no frutcose besides fruit. Nuts + berries + legumes + fish + chicken + dairy + oat bran + eggs + veggies + a couple of pieces of fruit per day (100-150g carbs/day). I dropped heaps of weight very easily (hopefully mostly fat).
Feb 2015
Total Chol 4.7 mmol/L (3.6-6.9)
Trig 0.5 mmol/L (0.3-2.2)
Fasting blood gluc 4.3 mmol/L (3.0-6.0)
Testosterone level 45.2 mmol/L (11.0-40.0)
This was for high fat + moderate carbs (100-150g) + adequate protein (100-120g). I was worried that my total cholesterol was very low (which is associated with a greater risk in terms of overall mortality) so I added 50g of coconut oil + 50g of olive oil each day to my diet. The coconut oil (90% saturated fat) has bumped up both my HDL-C and LDL-C considerably (no individual measurements unfortunately).
Never mind! Answered my own question