For more information on how bio-impedancemetry works, we recommend reading the articles: The Bioimpedance and Values of BIA (Bioimpedance) - How to interpret them.
"Apparently attractive" - compared to professional bioimpedance meters - for the value for money, impedance scales are very sold items. Today it is well known that the evaluation of nutritional status cannot be based exclusively on the weight parameter, but must also take into account many variables - some of which are detected with other methods and tools. Let's see some of them:
- Ratio between fat-free mass and fat mass and relative percentages
- Amount of muscle mass
- Ratio between the so-called essential fat - necessary for survival - and adipose fat - visceral and subcutaneous - white and brown - and relative percentages
- Amount of abdominal fat and its circumference, with greater attention to the visceral fat - located inside the peritoneal cavity, around the organs
- Mass of the skeleton and importance on weight - called constitution
- Relationship between the latter and the height and / or body segments - called morphological type
- Amount of water, both inside and outside the cells
- Cell mass
- Electrolytes etc.
Ultimately, the correct use of the impedance balance associated with other measurements such as, for example, the lengths of body circumferences - waist, hips, limbs, chest etc. - and height, helps to accurately assess the state of nutrition. It remains to be understood what its real applications may be and, possibly, the cases in which the impedance balance may prove necessary or even irreplaceable.
, defedation, severe underweight etc .; for example, as occurs in patients with anorexia nervosa, functional insufficiency of important organs, etc.However, it should be specified that, being a clinical area, many do not neglect the precision of the instrument and focus on specific devices rather than impedance scales.
To be honest, not even an overweight person needs to use an impedance balance. If the fat mass is frankly excessive, it is not necessary to have instrumental confirmation; in the same way, if the presumed excess is slight, therefore harmless, there is no reason to deepen the investigation.
Then there are transversal applications. Several technicians and professionals suggest the use of the impedance balance in the case of slimming therapy to assess, specifically, that the weight reduction is frankly attributable to the decrease in fat mass, not water or muscle mass. On balance, since the therapy slimming must be balanced and respect certain safety limits to avoid dehydration and damage to the muscles, it would be sufficient to simply use professionalism or simple common sense.
Others argue that the impedance balance is essential to understand if, in an aesthetic culture protocol, there is really an increase in muscle mass and / or a decrease in fat. If the two processes occur at the same time, the weight may initially remain stable or slowly decline, distorting the evaluation of the necessary calories or the program of motor activity. Fortunately, everyone knows that when passing from a sedentary lifestyle to practicing sports, in particular by placing the emphasis on muscles, there is an immediate and significant - but only initial - global hypertrophy. It is therefore not worth asking the doubt.
There are also those who use the impedance balance to estimate only the improvements in the increase of muscle mass. Again it is difficult not to be perplexed. You know, that of natural bodybuilding is an "ungrateful activity; after only a few years of" serious "training you get so close to your physiological limit that gaining even just one kilogram of muscle becomes a real achievement. nothing more frustrating than getting on an impedance scale and seeing the same numbers every week, or being aware that any variation could be due to a measurement defect.
In the experimental and scientific research field, on the other hand, bio-impedancemetry can be considered very useful, above all to offer useful data for technical and technological improvement. On the other hand, the experimental ones require a lot of accuracy to offer reliable results and also in this case it would be preferable to have a real bioimpedance meter rather than a simple impedance balance.
