Body Composition Analysis

Body scan analysis is a scientifically backed method used to assess body composition. It provides detailed insight into fat mass, muscle mass, fluid content, and other key indicators of your metabolic health.

Unlike a weight measurement or BMI calculation, body composition analysis offers a more accurate and meaningful view of what is happening inside your body.

This data plays a critical role in developing an effective and personalized weight loss plan tailored to your individual needs. It helps determine whether the focus should be on reducing excess fat, preserving lean muscle mass, or improving metabolic function to support effective weight loss.

Understanding your unique body composition can help ensure your weight loss plan is aligned with your physiology, goals, and medical history.

At Inclusa Health & Wellness, we use the SECA mBCA, a clinically validated device, to perform comprehensive body composition assessments. The data collected helps our team monitor progress and adjust your plan based on how your body responds to changes in nutrition, activity, and other lifestyle factors.

Body scan analysis is a non-invasive method used to measure your body composition. Body composition refers to the ratio of fat, muscle, and water that make up your body. 

Healthy body composition generally means having a lower percentage of body fat and a higher proportion of lean muscle mass relative to your weight. This balance supports better metabolic function, stable energy levels, and overall well-being. Optimal ranges of healthy body composition can vary based on factors like your age, sex, and health history.

Body composition analysis provides a detailed understanding of how your body is structured and built. The scan evaluates several key components of your body.

• Fat Mass: The total amount of fat tissue in your body, including both subcutaneous and visceral fat.
• Muscle Mass: The amount of lean muscle in your body, essential for strength, metabolism, and long-term health.
• Total Body Water: Includes both intracellular and extracellular water, which can reflect hydration status and inflammation.
• Visceral Fat: Fat stored deep in the abdomen around internal organs, associated with increased risk for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic conditions.
• Phase Angle: This is a measurement derived from the body’s resistance to electrical current during the scan. It reflects the integrity of your cell membranes and overall cellular health. 

When designing a weight loss plan, these values help determine your overall body composition, which is far more useful than knowing your weight or BMI measurement alone.

Evaluating these internal markers can help identify imbalances, track physiological changes over time, and guide more precise lifestyle or clinical interventions. 

It is especially useful in uncovering hidden health risks, such as excess visceral fat, which is linked to conditions like insulin resistance, cardiovascular disease, and inflammation.

At Inclusa Health & Wellness, we use the SECA mBCA (medical Body Composition Analyzer) to perform body scan assessments. 

This advanced, clinically validated device uses a method called bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), a safe, non-invasive, and scientifically supported technique for evaluating body composition.

Bioelectrical impedance analysis works by sending a small, painless electrical signal through your body to estimate the distribution of fat, muscle, and water in the body. 

Different types of tissues, like fat and muscle, conduct electricity at different rates. Muscles, which contain more water and electrolytes, conduct small currents more easily than fat, which resists them.

With the SECA mBCA device, we can measure how much the electrical signal slows down as it passes through your body, a concept known as “impedance". It uses a multi-frequency and segmental BIA approach. That means it checks different parts of your body (like your arms, legs, and torso) and uses various frequencies for each region to get a more precise result.

Please note that BIA does not directly measure fat or muscle like an MRI might. Instead, it calculates estimates based on how your tissues respond to the electrical current. That is why the accuracy of the device’s algorithm matters with a body scan, making it valuable clinical data. 

To improve precision, the SECA mBCA also factors in your height, weight, age, sex, ethnicity, and body type. These variables help ensure that your results are personalized and clinically reliable, something not all BIA devices can offer.

In fact, SECA is one of the few systems whose results have been validated against medical gold standards like MRI and the 4C model in peer-reviewed studies.

The body composition measurements provide critical insight into your metabolic health and fitness level. Let’s look at how each element helps guide your care:

• Fat Mass: Knowing your total and visceral fat levels helps us assess your risk for chronic conditions often associated with excess weight like hypertension and type 2 diabetes. If your body has elevated fat levels, we may recommend interventions such as targeted nutrition strategies or anti-inflammatory lifestyle changes.
• Muscle Mass: Maintaining a healthy muscle mass is essential for metabolism, mobility, and long-term health. Low muscle mass can slow down your metabolism and make weight loss more difficult. We use your muscle mass data to decide whether your plan should include resistance training, protein intake adjustments, or muscle-preserving weight loss strategies.
• Fluid Content: Your body’s fluid content, both intracellular (inside your cells) and extracellular (outside your cells), reflects hydration and fluid retention. An imbalance may point to underlying issues, such as poor recovery, metabolic stress, or inflammation. This can influence our recommendations around hydration habits, electrolyte balance, and overall recovery strategies.

Together, these measurements provide a 360-degree view of your internal health and guide our team in creating a weight loss plan that’s personalized to your body’s unique needs. 

Here is how body scan analysis supports your weight loss journey. 

1. Provides a Clear Baseline: The SECA body scan provides a comprehensive baseline of your current body composition. This helps define realistic and personalized goals based on your body.

2. Tracks Progress Beyond the Scale: Weight loss is not always linear. Sometimes the number on the weighing scale does not reflect meaningful improvements. A body scan allows you to monitor what type of weight you are actually losing or gaining (fat vs. muscle vs. water), so you can see true progress, even if your body weight does not change.

3. Personalizes Your Weight Loss Plan: We use body scan results to create an individualized weight loss plan with strategies and interventions to match your body’s specific needs. 

At Inclusa Health & Wellness, the body analysis scan through SECA mBCA is designed to be quick, comfortable, and informative. 

The entire body scan analysis process typically takes less than a minute, and no special preparation is required. However, we may ask that you avoid food, caffeine, and exercise a few hours beforehand for the most accurate results.

During the scan, you will be asked to step barefoot onto the SECA mBCA platform and hold the hand electrodes. 

The device will send a series of low-level electrical signals through your body. Rest assured that this is completely painless. You remain still for a brief moment as the device gathers data. In under a minute, the scan is complete.

Your results are generated instantly and reviewed by our clinical team. 

At Inclusa Health & Wellness, this scan is often the first step in your personalized health and weight loss journey and is typically performed alongside your resting metabolic rate (RMR) test. Together, these two assessments give us a detailed view of your internal health and metabolism, so we can design a plan that works for your body.

Understanding your body from the inside out is the first step toward lasting, effective weight loss. At Inclusa Health & Wellness, we are committed to an evidence-based and customized approach to weight loss built around your unique physiology and goals.

We use the SECA body scan analysis to gain medically accurate insights into your body composition. This allows us to make informed and personalized decisions that support weight loss.

To schedule your body scan analysis, please call us at (509) 367-4209 or book your appointment online.