Why are DEXA Scans the key to a long healthy life?

There are numerous factors that appear straightforward when considering how to improve one’s health and achieve a long lifespan.

These include having an effective exercise program and a well-balanced nutrition. However, there are also important factors such as bone density and body composition that are often overlooked.

DEXA divides body composition into three compartments: – fat, bone and lean mass.

These parameters are highly predictable of overall health and therefore longevity, and DEXA is the most accurate way available to measure body composition.

Full body dual-energy Xray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan is a powerful tool originally designed to analyse our bone density to track the progression of osteoporosis.

However, it has since been recognised for its longevity benefits.

In essence, DEXA Scans take Xray images of the entire body, displaying not only the bone density, but also the composition of fats and lean mass – parameters that are crucial for maintaining health and longevity.

When it comes to body composition, weight alone is not a good indicator for health, nor is BMI which only consists of two parameters, weight and height and is not an appropriate tool for measuring weight, muscle mass or health improvements overall.

BMI may in fact provide an inaccurate status of health. For instance, a bodybuilder may have the same BMI as an obese person, despite having a different body composition.

DEXA Scans are the most precise method for assessing our body composition.

Why is body composition important?

Body composition, which comprises lean mass and fat and bone density have a significant impact on how we look, feel, and our overall health, and are a great indicator for longevity, when measured in a DEXA scan.

Body fat

Our body fat can be classified into two main categories: visceral fat and subcutaneous fat. Subcutaneous fat is the fat that surrounds your body and lies just under the skin.

Visceral fat in contrast is located just under our abdominal muscle and protects our internal organs.

Too much of both can harm our health.

For health professionals and individuals DEXA scans have become the gold standard for assessing visceral body fat. An excess of this can threaten one’s life and results in reduced lifespan.

Visceral fat is a hormone-active tissue that produces hormones and chemicals that lead to inflammation, high blood pressure, arteriosclerosis¹. This leads to an increased risk of developing chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and stroke² , and therefore to a reduced lifespan. Even more concerning, thin people who have too much visceral fat, are at risk for these chronic diseases as well!

The good news: A greater percentage reduction of visceral fat can be achieved through exercise and nutrition than in subcutaneous fat . Furthermore, exercise can even reverse the adverse effects of visceral fat.

It is worth noting that, the average fat mass should just be around 3-6kg for men (5-9 kg for woman); if you own just a few more kilograms of fat mass (4-6kg) obesity range just starts.

Losing weight is very important in preventing non communicable diseases such as diabetes or CVD. With the right routine and a strong enough why everybody can accomplish this. To ensure optimal weight loss, we have to focus on monitoring our muscle mass.

Lean mass

Your DEXA scan calculates two indices for lean mass, which are known as the Lean Mass Index (LMI) and the Appendicular Lean Mass Index (ALMI)⁵.

Lean mass refers to your body weight without fat, so it includes your bones, skin, inner organs and most important your muscle.

The LMI provides the total indication of lean mass per height. The ALMI calculation is performed on the arms and legs only, so that it’s not blurred by the lean mass of our intestinal organs. You can therefore call ALMI the BMI for muscle.

Maintaining sufficient muscle mass is crucial for preserving good health particularly in older individuals. The metabolism of skeletal muscle can regulate your glucose levels and play a key role in preventing insulin resistance and diabetes mellitus that shortens life⁶.

Furthermore, muscles play a central role in whole-body protein metabolism by serving as the principal reservoir for amino acids, which are utilized for protein synthesis in vital tissue and organs. Muscles can even provide stored energy or amino acids to the body when absorption from the gut is not sufficient, by supplying hepatic gluconeogenic precursors.⁷

Unfortunately, muscle mass decline with age with a reduction of up to 3 to 8 % per year after the age of 30.⁸ This is a cause of concern, particularly if we want to live better for longer. It therefore is essential to enhance our muscle mass to the greatest extent as possible.

However, it is not all about the muscle mass, studies have shown a positive correlation between high midlife grip strength and resilience to the effects of ageing.⁹

Looking at ALMI data, body builders achieve a score up to 14kg/m2,¹⁰ whereas the ALMI cut-off point for sarcopenia was <7.0 kg/m2 for men (<5.7 kg/m2 for women). Sarcopenia is the medical term for muscle atrophy or loss of muscle mass that occurs with ageing and immobility, which leads to a significantly shorter life span.¹¹

In conclusion, lean mass, and in particular, the ALMI Score is an excellent indicator for longevity. However, it’s also important that it is not sufficient to simply have large muscles, it is essential to have strong muscles as well.

It is crucial to exercise with caution when attempting to gain muscle mass, particularly in middle age. There are numerous ways, to do it vastly wrong. Your number one priority in the gym should always be avoiding injury, so it is highly recommended to educate yourself before lifting heavy weights or have a chat with our health professionals!

Bone mineral density

Having strong muscle is not the only thing needed, to ensure a long and healthy life. It is also necessary to have a robust skeletal structure that supports our body, can carry our weight, and withstand impacts such as falls.

It is crucial to have healthy and strong bones.

Osteoporosis is a disease characterised by a reduction in bone density often observed in postmenopausal women due to hormonal changes and in older individuals due to declined bone metabolism. The term ‘osteoporosis’ is used if your bone density is lower than 2.5 standard deviations below the average for a healthy 30-year-old population. A reduction in bone density leads to weaker bones, that break faster.

Studies found, that 50% of women and 30% of men over 50 years will experience a bone fractur due to osteoporosis during their lifetime.¹² From a longevity-based perspective, this is the most disadvantageous scenario, as a fractured bone results in a loss of 1 to 7 years of lifetime in adults over 60.¹³

A fall is often the start of the end for many, but maintaining high bone density could be the difference in whether or not one continues their day after a fall.

Furthermore, the earlier you catch low bone density in progressing, the more optimal the outcome will be.¹⁴ Additionally, treatments are relatively straightforward, with vitamin D, calcium and hormone therapy being common examples of prescribed therapies. And as you have already surmised, physical activity is again an effective method of improving one’s conditions!

Why is it important to measure on a regular basis?

As demonstrated, DEXA scans can provide you with a great depth of information about your health. If you discover any deficits, you probably want to start exercising and improving your body, in accordance with your data. While losing weight is a great focus, it is essential to focus on the correct approach and type of weight loss: namely by reducing fat. Research into common diet programmes indicates that, on average 25% of the weight loss is attributed to the loss of lean mass.¹⁵ It is therefore important to monitor our progress in order to assess whether we are on correct path. The optimal approach is to adopt a healthy diet, engage in cardiovascular exercise, resistance training and build lean muscle mass while reducing fat.

Longevity is not simply a matter of adhering to a healthy lifestyle; it also requires an understanding of the factors that contribute to longevity. A DEXA scan provides you with a comprehensive analysis of your body composition consisting out of lean mass, with muscle, bones and fat.

If you are seeking to lose weight, build muscle or improve your bone health, the DEXA scan is an effective tool to support you in achieving a long, healthy and vital life!

The best way to achieve these goals is through regular exercise. Maintaining a minimum quantity and quality of exercise has been proven to decrease the risk of death, lower the risk of osteoporosis and increase longevity.¹⁶

If you would like to learn more about how to improve your health, contact us and arrange a free discovery call.

We can provide you with a personalised programme that focuses to your personal goals with the aim of helping you to live better for longer! – The Longevity Lab.

¹ https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Mechanisms-of-visceral-and-ectopic-adipose-tissue-contribution-to-hypertension-and_fig1_344086185

² https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5619737/

³ https://www.nature.com/articles/ijo201731

⁴ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344086185_The_Role_of_Exercise_in_Patients_with_Obesity_and_Hypertension

⁵ https://bodyscanuk.com/blog/dr-peter-attias-dexa-metrics-3-muscle-mass/#:~:text=Your%20DEXA%20scan%20then%20calculates,of%20your%20Bodyscan%20DEXA%20report.

⁶ h https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5446383/

⁷ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002916523290450

⁸ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2804956/

⁹ https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11357-011-9256-y

¹⁰ https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00394-016-1279-9

¹¹ https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jcsm.12651

¹² https://elifesciences.org/articles/61142