Clinic Services | Testing Methods

Bio-Impedence Cellular Analysis (BIA) - Vitality, Longevity and Healthy Ageing

Discover the missing pieces to your ongoing health and wellbeing with Bio-electrical Impedence Analysis (BIA). BIA is a scientifically validated computerised test and may be used to assess:

• Body Composition
• Fluid Balance
• Cellular Performance

This space-age science used by NASA to monitor the body composition of astronauts in flight, can determine a person’s real, or biological age. It takes an internal snapshot to reveal a person’s cellular health and then gauges how quickly or slowly a body is ageing on the inside. While this all sounds confronting, here’s the good news: having discovered what is making your body old, it may be possible to reverse the process, slow ageing, and make yourself young again.

If you are tired of diets that fail, or sick of exercising for little or no result, BIA can make all the difference. The theory is basic: the key to your fitness level lies in the ratio between the body’s fat and muscle stores a healthy person will have an increased muscle to fat ratio.

Most people today are wrongly obsessed with the bathroom scales, which can’t provide these pivotal figures. By measuring the way a low dose of electrical current flows through the body, body composition can be determined. Lean tissues like muscles are great conductors of electricity, while fat and bone are not. BIA is a ground-breaking system in that it is the first method to accurately assess the weight of your body-cell mass the weight of your muscle and organ tissue, plus red cells and tissue cells. This information is vital as, although it is a little known equation, maintaining and/or building muscle mass is the best way to combat ageing.

The test itself is painless and takes only five minutes.

Parameters assessed using BIA include the following:

Phase Angle represents the quantity and quality of active tissue. It is a key bio-marker of healthy ageing. Factors which increase active tissue include resistance exercise, sufficient high quality dietary protein, and nutritional support for the mitochondria. Loss of active tissue mass can be a result of the ageing process, low protein/high carbohydrate diets, lack of exercise, inflammation, insulin resistance, stress (high cortisol), hypothyroidism, and increased body fat.

Active Tissue Mass (ATM) represents the amount of metabolically active tissue including: organs, nervous tissue, visceral and skeletal muscle. Changes in ATM are generally due to changes to the skeletal muscle mass. Factors which increase ATM include resistance exercise, sufficient high-quality protein, and adequate rest. Deficiency of quality dietary protein, lack of exercise, malabsorption, inflammation, elevated cortisol (stress), insulin resistance and hypothyroidism can contribute to loss of active tissue mass.

Fat Mass is the total mass of adipose tissue, including visceral (internal organs) and subcutaneous (beneath the skin) deposits. Factors which increase Fat Mass include excess calorie consumption, dietary high carbohydrate to protein ration, insulin resistance, elevated insulin levels, inflammation, hypothyroidism, elevated cortisol (stress), lack of exercise, and low ATM.

Intracellular Water (ICW) represents all of the water which is contained within the ATM cells. Higher levels of ICW are correlated with anabolic cellular processes and better health. Factors which increase ICW include large ATM (a larger muscle mass holds more water), sufficient intracellular electrolytes (potassium, magnesium) and proteins, which exert an osmotic effect, and good cellular energy production to maintain electrolyte pumps. Dietary deficiency of protein or electrolytes, catabolic factors (inflammation, stress, hypothyroid) leading to a loss of ATM, lack of energy production, and cell membrane damage (toxicity, oxidative damage, lack of essential fatty acids) can all contribute to a decrease in intracellular water.

Extracellular Water (ECW) includes all of the body water that is not found in the ATM. This includes water in plasma, tissue spaces and lymph, and is commonly referred to as edema. The ECW also includes all water which is stored in the body fat. Higher levels of ECW are associated with poorer health. Factors which increase ECW include increased body fat levels, inflammation, toxicity, immune activation (infection, allergy), injury, increased sodium consumption, lymphoedema, renal failure, aldosteronism, Cushing’s disease, heart failure, flying, and hypothyroidism. A reduction in body fat will generally reduce ECW. Other factors decreasing ECW are dehydration, diuretics, alcohol and caffeine intake (acutely).

BIA gives information on the body’s cell function, energy production and fluid balance. This allows your Naturopath to monitor your energy levels, toxicity, inflammation and response to treatment.

BIA is also a very accurate tool for measuring biological age, as well as body fat and muscle levels, two of the most important bio-markers of ageing. No other test provides all of this information so quickly and easily.