Bodycomp helps you manage your health risks

It seems that barely a week goes by without seeing a new article on the front page of the paper associating too much fat with a host of nasty diseases. It is not a new concept that carrying excess fat is not beneficial to ones health, but what is shocking is the sheer number of types of cancer being associated with too much fat, specifically in the abdominal region. Unfortunately, the mechanism behind the link of too much fat and increased cancer risk is not entirely understood. However, as Dr. David Lau, professor of medicine at the University of Calgary and president of Obesity Canada says, "the leaner we are, the better off we are in terms of health status".

That is a pretty convincing statement that the scientific community associates reduced body fat with reduced risk. Of course, there are lower limits in the healthy range of percent body fat, but a very small number of our clients have a percent fat that approaches this lower level of safety. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that men maintain a minimum of five percent body fat and that women maintain a minimum of fourteen percent body fat. Although we do on occasion scan individuals that are close to these lower limits, the bulk majority of our clients are trying to reduce their fat mass for reasons of health, performance and aesthetics and they do not have immediate concerns regarding this lower limit.

So we have a clear understanding that too much fat is dangerous for our health despite a lack of a clear understanding on why this is. The good news is that a bodycomp scan is one of the most accurate and easy methods of measuring the amount of fat on your body. We have a saying at Bodycomp "What gets measured gets managed". It is a simple concept - to assess change and reduction, we need an accurate tool to provide the measurement. Traditionally, people have been hopping on weigh scales to measure their weight - the pull of gravity upon an individual's fat mass, but also upon their muscle and bone tissue. This is not the best way to measure risk as it doesn't differentiate between the weight of the healthy tissue versus the unhealthy tissues.

A bodycomp scan measures the grams (or pounds) of fat, lean tissue and bone individually. A follow-up scan several months after beginning a new fitness regime or making some some sensible changes to your diet can provide the required measurements that lets you see what is helping to reduce your health risks and what is not. So come and get bodycomp'd - it's a great measure of your personal risk, and an even better measure of your personal change and successes.