Body composition tests - collecting data

Today is an interesting day in my quest for healthy living!

As several of my cronies know, I am a sucker for participating in medical studies. I’ve been a healthy control subject for a PMS study, I’ve had my brain photographed with MRI scanners for a variety of reasons, I’ve given blood samples, and I’ve carried out psychological tests. I find these studies quite fun and interesting. It is a way to donate some of my time and capabilities (being a relatively healthy person) to good scientific and educational causes. As a very welcome bonus, I often receive procedures or information that would otherwise be very expensive to obtain, and I often get paid for my troubles!*

The study I’m participating in right now is of particular interest because it is to improve ways to measure body composition. The oncologists at our local cancer institute are hoping that they can find a way to use body fluids to determine muscle/fat ratios. The standard they are measuring their study against is the Dual Energy X-ray Absorbtiometry (DEXA) scan, which is a low-radiation scan that measures regional body fat and also lean tissue mass with ridiculous accuracy. Skin fold calipers be gone! Electric pulse scales move aside! Water displacement shove over! The DEXA scan is the most accurate measure of your percent of lean muscle tissue and percent fat available. It’s painless and non-invasive. It is also very expensive, which is why they’d like to find a different way of achieving the same accurate measurements.

I’m not getting paid for this study, but I am getting a full DEXA scan, will be told my body composition, and get a short consultation for a nutritionist based on my test results and my diet diary.

So aside from sitting on an x-ray slab for five minutes, what else do I have go do?

-Record my diet for one day (and it has to be a truthful record of my normal diet, no cheating about measurements or fibbing about treats, but I’ve done this before and have no problems being truthful).

-Get a fasting blood sample, which means that I can’t eat for 12 hours before my 9:40 am blood test. THAT is going to be the tricky bit – I’ll do the fast, but I won’t like it. I usually have some tea before bed or a small snack after my evening dance classes, and I’m a monster without my breakfast. Unless I eat within about fifteen minutes of actually getting out of bed, I’m a wreck. This is why I take my thyroid meds so early in the morning, a full hour before I actually get out of bed.

-Do a 24 hour urine collection. That means that I’ve had the privilege of peeing into one of these:



all day (no that is not the actual jug. My jug was opaque orange with a white cap, had a wide opening, and can hold 2 litres of fluid).

I’m thoroughly keen on seeing what the results of my test are. A couple other girls from the dance studio are also participating. How often do you get the chance of finding out your exact body fat/lean muscle composition with an incredibly accurate and expensive test FOR FREE?

Once the results of the tests come in, I’ll let you know what the verdict is. Too fat? Too thin? Just right? It will all be revealed!

Seeing as we are on the subject of body composition and food and whatnot, I would like to share the link that Stacey sent my way:
Drop 10 Pounds by Snacking

The article certainly reinforces why it is a bad idea to habitually chug back calorically dense drinks (juice, pop, wine, etc) without being mindful of how much we are actually drinking. Personally, I tend to stick with drinking water at meals and only drink water or herbal teas that don’t require milk or sugar while at work. My downfall is chocolate milk. Honestly, I can slam back a jug of chocolate milk in the blink of an eye. We rarely have it in the house, though, and when we do get it as the odd treat I usually pour it into either very small glasses or into wine glasses that are filled with ice.

*Trust me, the pay isn’t much and not all of the studies have the budget to fork over for their research subjects. But I do get a little bit of pocket money every now and then, which is always fun.

**Peeing into the jug is much easier than I initially thought it would be. Actually, peeing into a cup is more difficult than voiding into that sucker. But it definitely is not pleasant. Besides, I’ve had to tote around a big soft-sided beer cooler filled with ice packs and pee jugs around my office all day. I’m certain that people are wondering what the heck is going on, but happily they are too polite to inquire. I’ve never been so grateful for single toilet bathrooms with lockable doors.