Fasting Journal 6

Saturday, July 14, 2018

"Life in the Fast Lane"

Fasting Journal 6: DEXA Scan

What is a DEXA total body composition scan? First off DEXA stands for Duel-Energy-X-ray-Absorptiometry. This is a scan that measures fat and lean tissue mass. It also scans your bones for mineral content.

As I mentioned before, curiosity lands me in the weirdest places and so I'm compelled to find out exactly how much fat I have and where it's located in my body. And being post-menopausal, it will be good to know how my bones are doing too!

Mostly I want to know if my excess fat is located in non-threatening places, like hips, butt and thighs or if there's fat surrounding my organs which is very unhealthy (visceral fat). If you carry your fat around your belly this is an example of carrying fat in an extremely unhealthy place.

What's interesting is that you don't need to be overweight to have this unhealthy visceral fat. That's why the scan, in my opinion, can be a life saver. Visceral fat is stored much deeper inside the body and it actually wraps itself around organs. Yikes!

There are people who are very slim but carry dangerous fat without even knowing it! They're known as TOFI, Thin Outside Fat Inside.

The list of risks to your health from carrying around this visceral fat is long. Here are just a few of these risks:

- Heart disease
- Diabetes
- Cancer
- Stroke
- Depression
- Arthritis
And the list goes on.

It's interesting to note that visceral fat messes around with your body's normal hormonal functions. And hormones pretty much rule all bodily functions, so no wonder this unhealthy fat can do so much harm.

I wish I had done this scan before I lost the previous forty pounds. However it will be cool to have this baseline done and check back again when I'm at my goal. As it stands, to be healthier, I need to lose about one more inch from my waist. So it looks like I do have some visceral fat.

So far I've learned the following about what you can expect when you're getting the scan done.

As I understand it, it only takes a few minutes for the scanner to go over the entire length of the body. I wonder, since I'm only 5'1", will it go that much faster? Kidding!

You don't go inside a machine, instead the scanner passes over you at close range as you lie on a scanning table.

There's no need to get undressed. You just wear comfy clothing without metal objects like buttons, zippers, underwire bra, etc. A good idea is to wear sweats or yoga attire.

Where I live in Canada, the scan costs $100 and it's about the same in the US. Follow up scans cost a little less.

That's really all I know so far. When my appointment is scheduled I'll learn more and share that with you. Let's see where this adventure leads!