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Bioelectrical Impedance Testing

Bioelectrical Impedance is measured when a very small electrical signal carried by water and fluids is passed through the body. Impedance is greatest in fat tissue, which contains only 10-20% water, while fat-free mass, which contains 70-75% water, allows the signal to pass much more easily. By using the impedance measurements, Melissa will be able to calculate two very critical measurements, Phase Angle and BCM.

  • Phase Angle is a measurement of your body’s overall health. Phase angle is based on total body resistance and reactance and is independent of height, weight and body fat. Lower phase angles appear to be consistent with either cell death or a breakdown of the cell membrane. Higher phase angles appear to be consistent large quantities of intact cell membranes and body cell mass.
  • Body cell mass (BCM) is the measure (given in pounds and as a percentage of body weight) of all the living metabolically active tissue in the body – muscle, organ and blood cells. Contained within BCM are all the body’s intracellular water (ICW), and proteins and other solids. With serial testing, a change in body cell mass is due primarily to a change in muscle mass. Changes in BCM can be picked up within 72 hours. Increases in BCM equate with anabolism – the process of converting food into living tissue. Decreases in BCM are involved in catabolic (breaking down) processes. BCM is the tissue that is consumed (with negative consequences) in illness, disease, aging, under-nutrition and athletic overtraining.