Body fat & Body water %
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chantel111184
Posts: 124 Member
Some information i thought might be useful to some of you, i have no scentific research and i am no expert all the information i am providing is from my salter weighing scale instruction book so take what you want from the information but i thought it would be helpful even as a guide line.
This salter scale uses BIA (bio impedance analysis) technology which passes a tiny eletrical impulse through the body to determine fat from lean tissue, the eletrical impulse cannot be felt and is perfectly safe. Contact with the body is via stainless steel pads on the platform of the scale.
Body fat
what does it mean?
The human body is made up of, amongst other things, a percentage of fat. This is vital for a healthy, functioning body- it cushions joints and protects vital organs, helps regulate body temperature, stores vitamins and helps the body sustain itself when food is scarce. However, too much body fat or indeed too little body fat can be damaging to your health. It is difficult to gauge how much body fat we have in our bodies simply by looking at ourselves in the mirror.
This is why it is important to measure and monitor your body fat percentage. Body fat percentage gives you a better measure of fitness than weight alone- the composition of weight loss could mean you are losing muscle mass rather than fat- you could still have a high percentage of fat even when a scale indicates ' normal weight'.
Body water
why measure it?
Body water is the single most important component of body weight. It represents over half of your total weight and almost two thirds of your lean body mass (predominantly muscle).
Water performs a number of important roles in the body
All cells in the body, whether in the skin, glands, muscles, brain or anywhere else, can only function properly if they have enough water. Water also plays a vital part in regulating the bodys temperature balance, particularly through perspiration.
The combination of your weight and fat measurement could appear to be normal but your body hydration level could be insufficient for healthy living.
Normal healthy range of body fat & total body water percentage
FOR THOSE USING ATHLETE MODE- note that athetes may have a lower body fat range and a higher body water range than shown below, depending on their type of sport or activity.
Male
Age Body fat Body water
18- 28 8-19% 60%
30- 39 11-21% 60%
40- 49 13-23% 55%
50- 59 15- 25% 55%
60-69 17- 27% 50%
Women
Age Body fat Body water
18-29 20-30% 50%
30-39 22-32% 50%
40- 49 24-34% 47%
50- 59 26- 36% 47%
60- 69 28- 38% 45%
Body water measurement results are influenced by the proportion of body fat and muscle. If the proportion of body fat is high, or the proportion of muscle is low then the body water results will tend to be low.
It is important to remember that measurements such as body weight, body fat and body water are tools for you to use as part of your healthy lifestyle. As short term fluctuations are normal, we suggest you cart your progress over time, rather than focus on a single days reading.
Why are the body fat percentage ranges for men and women so different?
Women naturally carry a higher percentage of fat than men, because the make-up of the body is different being geared towards pregnancy, breastfeeding etc.
What should i do if my body fat reading is very high?
A sensible diet, fluid intake and exercise program can reduce your body fat percentage.
What should i do if my water reading is low?
Ensure that you are regularly taking suffcient water and work towards moving your fat percentage into the healthy range.
Hope this is helpful to someone and as i stated above i am no expert and have no scentific research so take what works for you out of this information.
Happy reading.
This salter scale uses BIA (bio impedance analysis) technology which passes a tiny eletrical impulse through the body to determine fat from lean tissue, the eletrical impulse cannot be felt and is perfectly safe. Contact with the body is via stainless steel pads on the platform of the scale.
Body fat
what does it mean?
The human body is made up of, amongst other things, a percentage of fat. This is vital for a healthy, functioning body- it cushions joints and protects vital organs, helps regulate body temperature, stores vitamins and helps the body sustain itself when food is scarce. However, too much body fat or indeed too little body fat can be damaging to your health. It is difficult to gauge how much body fat we have in our bodies simply by looking at ourselves in the mirror.
This is why it is important to measure and monitor your body fat percentage. Body fat percentage gives you a better measure of fitness than weight alone- the composition of weight loss could mean you are losing muscle mass rather than fat- you could still have a high percentage of fat even when a scale indicates ' normal weight'.
Body water
why measure it?
Body water is the single most important component of body weight. It represents over half of your total weight and almost two thirds of your lean body mass (predominantly muscle).
Water performs a number of important roles in the body
All cells in the body, whether in the skin, glands, muscles, brain or anywhere else, can only function properly if they have enough water. Water also plays a vital part in regulating the bodys temperature balance, particularly through perspiration.
The combination of your weight and fat measurement could appear to be normal but your body hydration level could be insufficient for healthy living.
Normal healthy range of body fat & total body water percentage
FOR THOSE USING ATHLETE MODE- note that athetes may have a lower body fat range and a higher body water range than shown below, depending on their type of sport or activity.
Male
Age Body fat Body water
18- 28 8-19% 60%
30- 39 11-21% 60%
40- 49 13-23% 55%
50- 59 15- 25% 55%
60-69 17- 27% 50%
Women
Age Body fat Body water
18-29 20-30% 50%
30-39 22-32% 50%
40- 49 24-34% 47%
50- 59 26- 36% 47%
60- 69 28- 38% 45%
Body water measurement results are influenced by the proportion of body fat and muscle. If the proportion of body fat is high, or the proportion of muscle is low then the body water results will tend to be low.
It is important to remember that measurements such as body weight, body fat and body water are tools for you to use as part of your healthy lifestyle. As short term fluctuations are normal, we suggest you cart your progress over time, rather than focus on a single days reading.
Why are the body fat percentage ranges for men and women so different?
Women naturally carry a higher percentage of fat than men, because the make-up of the body is different being geared towards pregnancy, breastfeeding etc.
What should i do if my body fat reading is very high?
A sensible diet, fluid intake and exercise program can reduce your body fat percentage.
What should i do if my water reading is low?
Ensure that you are regularly taking suffcient water and work towards moving your fat percentage into the healthy range.
Hope this is helpful to someone and as i stated above i am no expert and have no scentific research so take what works for you out of this information.
Happy reading.
1
Replies
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The missing component of the charts is muscle mass, which if you look at the chart figures above is 30%-20% and not effected by age or sex!
I have similar type scales and according to your chart need to convert 15% fat into water. I have noticed so far that as I'm loading weight and body fat my water and muscle are going up.
Thanks for the info.0 -
This is crazy, but my hydration never strays from the range 30.4 to 31.0 no matter how much water I drink and I drink over 80 oz daily. Yesterday, as an experiment, I drank only 24 oz, but my water went up to 31.2, We recently got one of those scales that measures pounds, fat %, water %, muscle mass and bone. Of course, I'm obese at 208 lbs, 39.6 fat... but my water stays the same. It's also extremely frustrating to not be finding information on what the water percentage should be other than "drink at least 64 oz daily" or "drink half your body weight in ounces daily" - nothing really addresses actual figures except what I found in the booklet that came with the scale and your post.0
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To Stacifitness,
Good question. I looked for that answer too and found a nice calculation in Paula Radcliffe's book 'How to run'
It' your weight in kilograms by 0.033. So I for example am 62.1kg so that is
62.1x0.033=2 litres of water per day, plus in general extra one litre for every hour you run ( or work out I would add)
Hope this helps. Good luck on your journey ;o)0 -
I also got a question about water %.
I just bought one of those bmi scales. Current readings are :
28 years old, 5'11, 221lbs
29.8% fat, 54.8% muscle and only 47.6% H2O
I've been on a pretty strict diet the past 3 weeks and it looks like ive lost about 12lbs.
my first 2 weeks of diet were mainly fresh fruit/vegetable juices made at home with my juicer. Ive also had some decent (not large) sized meals of home made coconut curry soup. I returned to work a week ago (construction) and have been having some pretty large fish taco salads at chronic tacos for lunch all week. I've also been skipping dinner and breakfast for the most part the past week plus I've been pretty lazy with the juicer. On average I'm drinking probably 4-6l of water a day, but I'm also sweating like crazy at work. Is there any way to get my water % up without the obvious? Am i doing something wrong here? I know my daily calorie intake is probably way too low (guessing around 1000 a day) but I've been feeling healthy and havn't had much problems with hunger pains.
On a side note I had a drug test at work today and the lady informed me my ketone levels were really high (80), which is usually a sign of diabetes. After some googling it looks like high ketone levels are produced when your body (non-diabetic) is burning fat instead of glucose. That with the weight loss I'm taking as a good sign my diet is working...
I also read something about stalls in dieting where your fat cells shrink then expand with water giving the illusion that your diet/exercise isnt working, then all of a sudden youll loose like 4 or 5 lbs as the water leaves the cells. Is there any way to know if this is happening based on the fat% or h2o%?0 -
Thanks for posting this. I lost my scale instructions and was trying to figure out what hydration level I'm supposed to be at.0
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oooh....the idea of passing a small amount of electricity through your body sounds scary. what if something goes wrong?
oh well, i guess i'll get over it...... does anyone else think this idea is scary?0 -
Women
50- 59 26- 36% 47%
This ^^ would be my age/sex range. My BF is a little lower than the low end of that range and my body water just a little higher, according to my fancy new scale. The BF% is backed up by a DEXA I had not too long ago, but I have no idea if the water % is correct, but my urine color is consistent with proper hydration.1 -
This is crazy, but my hydration never strays from the range 30.4 to 31.0 no matter how much water I drink and I drink over 80 oz daily. Yesterday, as an experiment, I drank only 24 oz, but my water went up to 31.2, We recently got one of those scales that measures pounds, fat %, water %, muscle mass and bone. Of course, I'm obese at 208 lbs, 39.6 fat... but my water stays the same. It's also extremely frustrating to not be finding information on what the water percentage should be other than "drink at least 64 oz daily" or "drink half your body weight in ounces daily" - nothing really addresses actual figures except what I found in the booklet that came with the scale and your post.
It's because there is no medical recommendation. How much water is needed can vary greatly from person to person. More than 50% of the average person's water intake comes from food, your diet can have a huge impact on how much you need to drink. Lifestyle can as well. If you sweat a lot through work or exercise or because of a hot climate, you will need more water than a sedentary person living in a cold climate.
The best guage is usually your urine. If it is pale to clear, then you are getting enough moisture.0 -
Mine runs off a 9V battery - I'm not concerned.oooh....the idea of passing a small amount of electricity through your body sounds scary. what if something goes wrong?
oh well, i guess i'll get over it...... does anyone else think this idea is scary?0 -
oh ok, 9 volts makes sense, i was thinking regular wall voltage is dangerous.
Mine runs off a 9V battery - I'm not concerned.oooh....the idea of passing a small amount of electricity through your body sounds scary. what if something goes wrong?
oh well, i guess i'll get over it...... does anyone else think this idea is scary?0 -
My scale wouldnt read btw properly until I got to 193lbs. Just FYI to others.0
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According to the instructions that came with my scales, those with a higher than average body fat percentage (myself included) will get a lower body water reading. Hopefully that explains some of the strange readings! I stay well hydrated but my reading is low. I'm guessing it will change as I lose fat and gain muscle. Hope that helps!0
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I found whilst dieting with Slimming World that my hydration levels were static in the low 40's%. I have recently been on a juice diet and my hydration levels have jumped up to 50%. I believe this is down to all the fruit and veg I have been juicing, which are absorbed very easily into the blood stream.0
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I'm confused by how these percentage add up. Shouldn't it add up to 100% and if not, then that reflects an error in the measurements, doesn't it?
I noticed in someone's post above that theirs add up to much more than 100% as well. Mine are as follows:
fat 22%
bone 6.7%
water 58.6%
muscle 37.2%
for a total of 124.5%. How can that be right? I understand at home scales that measure using an electrical current are not entirely accurate, but this seems like a huge inaccuracy.0 -
I just got a new scale and my water % is at 20%. I am way below the chart. I drink literally all day. About 90-120 oz of water and the same in iced tea. I work out daily, my urine is light in color. I am at 60% body fat so I know that's a huge factor but how can I increase it more because that seems extremely bad.0
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stacifitness wrote: »This is crazy, but my hydration never strays from the range 30.4 to 31.0 no matter how much water I drink and I drink over 80 oz daily. Yesterday, as an experiment, I drank only 24 oz, but my water went up to 31.2, We recently got one of those scales that measures pounds, fat %, water %, muscle mass and bone. Of course, I'm obese at 208 lbs, 39.6 fat... but my water stays the same. It's also extremely frustrating to not be finding information on what the water percentage should be other than "drink at least 64 oz daily" or "drink half your body weight in ounces daily" - nothing really addresses actual figures except what I found in the booklet that came with the scale and your post.
This is possibly because you are taking water percentage as an individual reading. All of these readings will adjust as each changes in relation to another. In your case, you mention that you are obese and your fat is 39.6. Fat contains only 10% water whereas muscle is around 75%. This means that if you were to lose weight, your fat %age goes down in relation to your muscle %age, thus your water %age increases. According to "Stronglife" your fat percentage should be around 25 to 30%. Using this logic drinking more water will not increase your water percentage, only losing fat can do that. Drinking more water only has an effect if you are dehydrated to any extent; otherwise excess water is only passed through as urin (which should be pale to clear) or as sweat. I am not a scientist and these comments are from my own readings. If you want to lose weight, I suggest you invest in a fitness tracking device that will integrate with your scales and with My Fitness App. My fitness has a very good dieting diary that will help guide your eating in conjunction with excercise. I am using this and am losing weight steadily but surely. Personally, I don't believe quick loss is the answer but a steady regime that will form good habits to keep it off once it is lost. I hope this is useful1 -
hannahlore04 wrote: »I just got a new scale and my water % is at 20%. I am way below the chart. I drink literally all day. About 90-120 oz of water and the same in iced tea. I work out daily, my urine is light in color. I am at 60% body fat so I know that's a huge factor but how can I increase it more because that seems extremely bad.
I have posted this previously but it applies here as well.
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Such scales are not accurate. Same as the hand held devices. The more expensive models can be off +- 5%. Cheaper models even more.1
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I am 63, and my salter body scale shows I have 13% fat and 60% water. Is this realistic? I know at times the fat% has gone up as high as 17%. But this does not seem realistic. However, I feel I carry most of my excess weight on my upper body in breast, abdomen and back.0
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Such scales are not accurate. Same as the hand held devices. The more expensive models can be off +- 5%. Cheaper models even more.
This. Bioelectric impedance is a highly inaccurate way to measure body fat % (ditto water %, if memory serves). Unless you're willing to spend thousands of dollars on a machine that accurately measures body fat, calipers are the best way to go. I don't even bother paying attention the body fat or water % numbers my Withings Body Composition scale gives me.1
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