How to Interpret Body Composition Analysis with Relish Health

Promoting good health and longevity is the goal of Relish Health, and research has shown that body composition is one of the best indicators to measure how well you are doing. Your weight is made up of muscle, fat, and water. Excess fat in relation to lean body mass, even if you are an “ideal weight,” can greatly increase your risks to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and more. Instead of tracking how heavy you are, Relish Health uses body composition analysis to detect health risks and allow for earlier intervention and prevention of illness. Understanding your body composition allows your health plan to be tailored to your needs, often focusing on losing body fat and gaining muscle while retaining the proper amount of body water in specific areas of your body. Body composition analysis is the key to tracking and maintaining effective muscle mass and strategic weight loss. 

Relish Health uses an InBody570 bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) machine to complete body composition analysis in the office. BIA is a non-invasive, safe measurement of fluid and body mass that can be a critical assessment tool for your current state of health. By standing and holding onto electrodes, the machine determines the resistance to the flow of the current through the body. In about 45 seconds, the InBody machine provides very accurate measurements of the following values.

• Lean Body Mass (fat-free mass) is the total weight of all your organs, your skin, your bones, your body water and your muscles. (It isn’t the same as muscle.) It is the total weight of your body minus all the weight due to your fat mass. Optimum levels are associated with healthy aging, vitality, and better resilience against stressors.

  • Skeletal Muscle Mass (SMM) is the total weight of your muscles. SMM is muscle that can be grown and developed through exercise. Unlike Lean Body Mass, which includes everything except body fat, you can confidently interpret an increase in SMM as muscle gain.

  • Dry Lean Mass is the weight of the protein and mineral content in your body. Dry lean mass is lean body mass minus the body water. When you build muscle, you are actually building new physical protein stores that will be reflected in an increase in dry lean mass. Increased dry lean mass is a strong indicator that you actually grew muscle.

• Body Water can be found inside not only your blood, but in your muscles, fat, organs, and inside every cell in your body. A healthy body water distribution has been estimated at a 3:2 ratio of intracellular water to extracellular water.

  • Intracellular Water (ICW) is the water located inside your cells. It makes up 2/3 of the water inside your body. Increased ICW indicate improved nutrition status and improved overall health, often correlating to increased lean body mass, energy use, strength, and immune health.

  • Extracellular Water (ECW) is water located outside your cells in your blood. This makes up about 1/3 of your body’s water. Increased ECW indicates health risks like toxicity, inflammation, acidity, infection, unhealthy fat mass, and/or mineral imbalance.

• Body Fat Mass is a measure of how much body fat, both surface level (subcutaneous/under the skin) and internal (visceral/around the belly organs), makes up your weight. Excess levels of visceral fat are associated with all major degenerative diseases. Additionally, fat stores toxins, converts healthy hormones to toxic hormones and triggers insulin resistance.

• Percent Body fat (PBF) is a division of your body fat mass by your total weight and a much better indicator of your risk of obesity than body mass index (BMI). BMI is determined by dividing your weight by your height squared. BMI is just a single value that does not differentiate between fat or muscle mass. If you use BMI to track your fitness progress, you will never know if the changes were in fat or muscle. Alternatively, PBF puts your weight into context by showing how much of it is fat mass. Tracking changes in your body fat percentage lets you focus on actual fat loss, not just weight loss, which can also come from losing muscle mass.

  For PBF, the ideal ranges differ for men and women, as women tend to carry more body fat than men due to their reproductive system and genetics. For men, the healthy range is between 10-20%. For women, the healthy range is between 18-28%.

Periodic BIA measurements allows Relish Health to track your progress as you improve your health. Improving your BIA measurement, or maintaining a healthy BIA measurement, can help keep your body functioning properly for healthy aging. Your BIA results can help guide Relish Health in creating a personalized dietary and exercise plan to help you maintain optimal health and wellbeing for a lifetime.

Body Composition Analysis with Relish Health

Promoting good health and longevity is the goal of Relish Health, and research has shown that body composition is one of the best indicators to measure how well you are doing. Your weight is made up of muscle, fat, and water. Excess fat in relation to lean body mass, even if you are an “ideal weight,” can greatly increase your risks to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and more. Instead of tracking how heavy you are, Relish Health uses body composition analysis to detect health risks and allow for earlier intervention and prevention of illness. Understanding your body composition allows your health plan to be tailored to your needs, often focusing on losing body fat and gaining muscle while retaining the proper amount of body water in specific areas of your body. Body composition analysis is the key to tracking and maintaining effective muscle mass and strategic weight loss. 

Relish Health uses an InBody570 bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) machine to complete body composition analysis in the office. BIA is a non-invasive, safe measurement of fluid and body mass that can be a critical assessment tool for your current state of health. By standing and holding onto electrodes, the machine determines the resistance to the flow of the current through the body. In about 45 seconds, the InBody machine provides very accurate measurements of your:

• Intracellular Water (ICW): Increases in ICW indicate improved nutrition status and improved overall health

• Extracellular Water (ECW): Increases in ECW indicates toxicity, inflammation, acidity, infection, and/or mineral imbalance.

• Fat Mass: Excess levels of visceral fat are associated with all major degenerative diseases. Additionally, fat stores toxins, converts healthy hormones to toxic hormones and triggers insulin resistance.

• Lean Body Mass (LBM): Optimum levels are associated with healthy aging, vitality, and better resilience against stressors.

Periodic BIA measurements allows Relish Health to track your progress as you improve your health. Improving your BIA measurement, or maintaining a healthy BIA measurement, can help keep your body function properly for healthy aging. Your BIA results can help guide Relish Health in creating a personalized dietary plan, including nutritional supplements when appropriate, and exercise to help you maintain optimal health and wellbeing for a lifetime.

Vitamin D for COVID-19 Prevention and Treatment

I am so grateful for the many publications discussing preventions and treatments of COVID-19. Last week a randomized controlled trial looking at vitamin D treatment in COVID-19 was published in The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

The results are exciting. In summary:

• A group of researchers in Spain randomized a small group of COVID-19 pneumonia patients to receive high dose vitamin D as part of their otherwise standardized treatment. 

• Of the 50 patients that received the vitamin, only 1 patient (2%) was admitted to the ICU. There were no COVID deaths in this group. 

• Of the 26 patients who did not receive vitamin D as part of their treatment, 13 patients (50%) were admitted to the ICU. There were 2 deaths in this control group. 

The researchers found that the difference in ICU admission rate (but not death rate) was highly significant between the treatment groups. This is just one small study that needs to be replicated, but the findings may change how we treat and prevent COVID illness. 

Vitamin D for virus prevention

The study released last week looked specifically at Vitamin D as a treatment for COVID-19 pneumonia, however vitamin D has been researched since the early 1930’s as a potential way to prevent viral illnesses. Meta-analysis of vitamin D studies shows a modest protective effects of vitamin D against acute respiratory infections. Vitamin D helps regulates the body’s early response to a virus and subsequent inflammatory phases as the viral illness evolves. 

What is an adequate level of vitamin D?

An ideal vitamin D level has not been formally established, but most laboratories report a range of 30-100 ng/mL as normal. New emerging research has associated low levels of vitamin D with a variety of illnesses including  Alzheimer’s disease, poor physical function, higher markers of inflammation and even schizophrenia. The studies cannot differentiate whether low vitamin D levels caused these disorders or the disorders themselves contribute to the low vitamin D levels, but these associations have renewed interest in identifying optimal levels of vitamin D. 

According to data collected between 2005-2006 by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), insufficient vitamin D levels were found in 41.6% of US individuals sampled. Obesity, race, education level and lack of dairy consumption were additional risk factors for low levels. African-American adults had vitamin D deficiency rates at 82.1% and Hispanic adults had a deficiency rate of 62.9%. There is a striking overlap between risk factors for severe COVID-19 and vitamin D deficiency. And indeed, in a new study published in JAMA also this week, vitamin D deficiency was a risk factor for COVID-19 infection.

Should you supplement with Vitamin D?

Given the high prevalence rate of vitamin D deficiency, I believe new and established research support judicious supplementation with vitamin D for most people. However, vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin and can become toxic if overconsumed. Here is what to consider when starting vitamin D supplements:

1. Know your vitamin D level. NHANES data suggest that at least 40% of the US population is deficient. Knowing your current vitamin D level will help you identify your proper supplement dose. Dosing needs vary between individuals based on their current blood levels, body weight, health status, skin color and gut health/nutrient absorption. Since many of these factors are not easily known, most people can safely target a dose of 2000-4,000 IU daily. If your vitamin D levels are well below 30 ng/mL or you have other health conditions, then you may need high doses.

2. Consider a higher dose of vitamin D if you contract COVID-19. If you happen to contract COVID-19, you may consider taking a higher dose of vitamin D for a short period of time—especially if you don’t know what your D levels are, or if you know you’re deficient. Please consult Relish Health or your physician to determine what is appropriate for you. (In the study, the doses used during the first week of treatment were about 20,000 IU on day 1, then about 10,000 IU on days 3 and 7 and weekly thereafter until patients were discharged from the hospital.) 

3. Consider taking a multivitamin. Vitamin D requires adequate levels of cofactors like magnesium, vitamin C, calcium, and vitamin K2 for optimal absorption and function. Eating a diet rich in veggies, fruits and high quality proteins while minimizing sugar and processed foods can help minimize risk of additional nutritional deficiencies.

Need help assessing your vitamin D need?

Dr. Leazenby has created a hand-picked list of supplements to support immunity. Review or purchase the Relish Health approved supplements through Fullscripts. Discuss all supplements with your medical provider before starting.

A PLAYBOOK FOR SOCIALIZING DURING SARS-COV-2

BOOST YOUR IMMUNITY WITH FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE

The Power of Functional Medicine Verified

Exciting news was released in the Journal of American Medical Association—JAMA Network Open this month. The highly esteemed journal just published the first-ever retrospective cohort study of the functional medicine model from the Center for Functional Medicine at Cleveland Clinic.

What is a functional medicine model? It’s not a new medical specialty, but rather a philosophy used to look at the body with a system-based approach to care. Functional medicine aims to understand how all the different parts of the body work together. It looks at a symptom as a sign of dysfunction and aims to identify the root cause of the problem rather than simply tame the symptom with medications. 

The recently released cohort study demonstrated that this model of care works! In fact, patients receiving care with a functional medicine model exhibited significantly larger improvements in patient-report quality of life outcomes at 6 months compared to propensity-matched patients that received conventional medical care. The results were sustained through 12 months and were reported as less likely to decrease over time. This is exciting news documenting the power of functional medicine!

Would you like to embrace this modern model of medical care? Schedule an appointment with Relish Health to get started.