AJCN North Carolina Research Campus
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Purchase Article
Right arrow View Shopping Cart
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Slinde, F.
Right arrow Articles by Rossander-Hulthén, L.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Slinde, F.
Right arrow Articles by Rossander-Hulthén, L.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Slinde, F.
Right arrow Articles by Rossander-Hulthén, L.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 74, No. 4, 474-478, October 2001
© 2001 American Society for Clinical Nutrition

Original Research Communication

Bioelectrical impedance: effect of 3 identical meals on diurnal impedance variation and calculation of body composition1,2

Frode Slinde and Lena Rossander-Hulthén

1 From the Department of Clinical Nutrition, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden.

Background: Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) can be used for estimating body composition. Earlier studies showed that the ingestion of meals lowers bioelectrical impedance, but none studied the effect of repeated ingestion of an identical meal in narrow intervals on impedance measurements during 24 h.

Objectives: The objectives were to study the effect on bioelectrical impedance of 3 identical meals and to compare the results from single-frequency BIA measurements with those from multiple-frequency BIA measurements.

Design: Bioelectrical impedance was measured 18 times during 24 h in 18 healthy subjects [10 women and 8 men; ± SD age: 31.5 ± 11.7 y; body mass index (in kg/m2): 22.2 ± 2.7]. An identical meal was given at breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Results: Bioelectrical impedance decreased after ingestion of a standard meal (P < 0.05). The decrease in impedance lasted 2–4 h after each meal. The decrease was additive during the day, although it was more pronounced after the first meal because of the combined effect of rising from the supine position and meal ingestion. This is an important consideration when calculating body composition: percentage of body fat varied by 8.8% from the highest to the lowest measurement in women and by 9.9% from the highest to the lowest measurement in men. The bioelectrical impedance at 50 kHz was identical when measured with multiple frequencies or a single frequency.

Conclusion: The ingestion of meals leads to an additive decrease in bioelectrical impedance and thus to a decrease in the calculated percentage of body fat.

Key Words: Multiple-frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis • single-frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis • diurnal variation • body composition • meal ingestion






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2001 by The American Society for Nutrition