Why Use A Fat Analyzer?

Doctors agree that body fat percentage is more important in determining health than overall body weight, but many people are unaware of the necessity of a body fat analyzer and do not know how a conventional scale and a fat analyzer differ. If a person is interested in improving their health, it is important to have a proper body fat percentage analysis to know what steps are necessary toward achieving goals of healthy weight.

What you really want to learn with a body fat analyzer is the lean-to-fat ratio of your overall weight. You can, of course, learn your overall weight using conventional weighing techniques. You can't learn how much of your weight is comprised of lean tissue, muscle and bone (along with organs). A body fat analyzer can tell you how much of your overall weight is comprised of fat cells that can be harmful to your health.

Think of a bodybuilder. A bodybuilder can weigh close to 250 pounds or so and yet he or she may only have around eight or ten percent body fat. This does not mean that the bodybuilder is in any particular problematic health situation, but by many standards, one could say that he or she is "overweight". The importance of getting an accurate body fat measurement is in the fact that you can be "overweight" but still be extremely healthy.

There are different methods to determine a person's BCA, or body composition analysis, but the most accurate is using a hydrostatic fat analyzer. This analyzer sends electrical signals through the body to differentiate body fat weight from weight that is composed of other body parts such as organs, muscles and bones. Since electricity travels at a different speed through fat than muscle and other parts of the body, the hydrostatic fat analyzer can give a fairly accurate reading of a person's body fat percentage.

This method is expensive, however, so that makes it extremely rare. It isn't used in most casual cases, but doctors will recommend the test if they fear your body fat levels are detrimental to your health. Most doctors and physicians will use what is called a "skinfold measurement" instead. The skinfold measurement is exactly what it sounds like, as the doctor will determine, using body fat calipers, how much body fat you have relative to your overall weight.

Whether it is through hydrostatic methods or the more simply body fat calipers, it is important to get your body fat percentage if you fear that you may be in some sort of medical danger because of your weight. It's never a bad idea to look into it regardless of your weight, as you could be carrying around an awful lot of body fat and not even know it. Using a fat analyzer is the first step in good health in terms of your weight and can make all the difference in the world.