2660: Q&A - Your Body Water Percentage versus Body Fat and Lean Body Mass

[00:00:00] Delicious meets nutritious in the snack that packs a real protein punch, Wonderful Pistachios. Each one-ounce serving of Wonderful Pistachios has 6 grams of protein, giving you over 10% of your daily value and making Wonderful Pistachios one of the highest protein nuts. But perhaps more

[00:00:17] than that, I love all of the flavors they have. Their sea salt and vinegar ones are my favorite when I'm craving that flavor but want to keep it healthy. But that's just the tip of the iceberg.

[00:00:27] Wonderful Pistachios come in a variety of flavors like chili roasted, honey roasted, smoky barbecue and jalapeno lime, perfect for enjoying with family and friends or taking them with you on the go. Whether you're a pistachio purist who loves cracking open every nut or you

[00:00:44] prefer the convenience of no-shells pistachios, Wonderful Pistachios has got you covered. Grab Wonderful Pistachios and elevate your snacking game today. So fill up with a healthy snack when hunger strikes. Visit wonderfulpistachios.com to learn more. That's

[00:01:01] wonderfulpistachios.com. It's another Q&A edition of Optimal Health Daily, episode 2660. And I'm Dr. Neal, your host of the show. Hey there, welcome back to another Friday show where I answer your

[00:01:15] questions. On all the other days, I read health and fitness blogs to you like an audiobook but with permission from the authors, of course. Now I'll let you know how you can send in your own

[00:01:25] question at the end of the show and get a copy of our workbook for free. But for now, let's hear today's question and start optimizing your life. Today's question came via email. Jessica writes, I just got a smart scale which measures body water percentage. Why is body water

[00:01:47] percentage important to know? And what's a good percentage? Thanks. Hi, Jessica. Thank you so much for your question. So many of these new fangled scales provide us with so much more information than just our body weight. These scales are so advanced that in addition to telling us how

[00:02:05] much we weigh, it will calculate our body mass index or BMI, tell us our body fat percentage, how much lean mass we're carrying on our bodies and Jessica as you mentioned, our body water

[00:02:18] percentage. So do we really need all of this information? When it comes to body water percentage, I would file this in the good to know section but knowing your body water percentage doesn't provide us with information that's all that useful. It's just FYI. We might initially believe

[00:02:39] that knowing our body water percentage would be helpful in telling us whether we're dehydrated or adequately hydrated. Well, not really. There are other more accurate ways to determine whether we're actually dehydrated. There are blood tests we could look at for example. We could look at how much

[00:02:56] sodium your body is holding on to. This can help determine a person's hydration status but that's just one of the ways. Beyond getting blood tests to determine whether you're hydrated or not, looking at the color of urine is one of the best ways to determine actual hydration status.

[00:03:14] If someone's urine is a pale lemonade color, then they're probably adequately hydrated. If their urine is darker than that, they're probably dehydrated. The darker the urine, the more dehydrated the person is. If a person's urine is clear, they're probably over hydrating meaning

[00:03:32] they're consuming too much fluid. So if body water percentage isn't the most accurate way of determining our hydration status, what is it good for? Well, not a whole lot. Again, it's basically FYI for your information only. Some sources claim that body water percentages for women

[00:03:51] will fluctuate between 45 and 60 percent whereas adult men will fluctuate between 50 and 65 percent. So for both men and women, body water percentages can range by about 15 percent. That's quite a wide margin. Instead, when it comes to choosing which information to pay attention to when using

[00:04:11] these smart scales, I would say body weight would be the first followed by body fat percentage. Of course, there's no need to panic or on the other side of the spectrum overly celebrate when

[00:04:23] you notice small changes to either of those especially when they happen over a short period of time. That's because our body weight and body fat percentages change all the time even over the

[00:04:34] course of a day. Checking our body weight once a day can be helpful for weight loss and weight maintenance but unless you're a competitive athlete, there's no need to weigh yourself multiple times

[00:04:45] each day. Instead, we would want to look at our progress over time. In which direction have our weight and body fat percentage changed over the past few weeks? What about over the past few months?

[00:04:59] If, in general, they're moving in the direction you want them to, then you're on the right track. Just don't be surprised when there are little blips in either direction here and there. Oh, and to increase the accuracy of these measurements, there are two more things you can do.

[00:05:14] One, weigh yourself at the same time each day. If you typically weigh yourself first thing in the morning after urinating wearing only your pajamas, then be sure to repeat this exact same pattern each time you weigh yourself. And two, don't forget to take circumference measurements.

[00:05:34] What I mean by that is, measure the areas around your waist, belly and hips every so often. As I mentioned, sometimes the numbers we see on a scale, yes even a smart scale, aren't always accurate.

[00:05:47] But we can use a backup, measuring the width around our waist, belly and hips. The way to do this is to hand a standard tape measure to someone you trust and have them measure these three areas of

[00:06:00] the body. To measure the waist, find the narrowest area between your chest bone and your belly button. To measure the belly, wrap the tape measure around your belly right at the area of the

[00:06:11] belly button. Finally, to measure the hips, find the widest area just above where your behind meets your hamstrings. This is called the gluteal fold. Ideally, do this either without wearing any clothing or wearing clothing that fits snugly. Then stay consistent, wear the same clothing or

[00:06:32] birthday suit each time. These sources of information are far more useful than just looking at body water percentage. Thank you again so much for the question Jessica! Now if you want a physical

[00:06:48] copy of our Optimal Living Daily Workbook shipped to you for free and you're in the US, send in a relevant health-related question. It can be about diet, fitness, nutrition, stress management, anything along those lines. And your question will be answered right here on the show. Now if you're

[00:07:05] outside the US, we'll send you a digital version of the workbook. So to send in a question, you can email one to health at oldpodcast.com or if you want to send one in via audio and have your voice

[00:07:19] played on the show, come by oldpodcast.com slash ask to record from your computer. Or you can do it the old-fashioned way and call in your question. The number is 1-61-ILOVE-OHD. That's 1-614-568-3643.

[00:07:41] Thank you so much for taking the time to send in your questions. Answering them is my favorite part of the show. Alright, that'll do it for another Q&A edition of Optimal Health Daily. Thank you

[00:07:50] so much for listening every day and all the way through. I hope you have a great start to your weekend and I'll see you back here tomorrow where your optimal life awaits!