Good to know. Maybe I am not as fat as it shows… lol. I have heard that the dexa scans are the gold standard.
I’ve never seen it available, but the gold standard as I understand it is the 4 Compartment Body Composition Model, separating the body into fat, water, mineral and protein. It requires four different measurements though. I’ve never seen it offered. I think it combines DEXA, BodPod, impedance and skilled use of calipers.
Yes, the 4C method typically requires at least two of the measures that require special equipment (DEXA and body volume or density measurement). Most of those offering body composition measures have at most one type of special equipment.
In terms of accuracy, there is probably a rank order of accuracy for individual assessment of body composition:
- 4C method. Appears to be mainly used in research, though a typical person could do two different measures in group 2 below and apply the formula themselves.
- Methods that require special equipment, like DEXA, body volume measurement, body density measurement. Probably the best commonly available to typical people, but not really convenient for every day or every week use.
- Some at home methods like impedance, circumference, and pinch caliper measurements. Probably good for tracking trends on a frequent basis, but may be off on absolute numbers.
- Weight or BMI.
Why would health care providers stay with 4 when some of the measures in 3 (e.g. waist divided by height) would be an improvement at no real cost or inconvenience to the provider or patient?
It varies depending many factors. I think calorie balance, exercise, genetics (or medical counters), and past history are some of the primary ones.
I’ve maintained a <10% body fat continuously for the past 20+ years. It’s been a long time since I did a caliper measurement, but at one time, I was regularly under 3% by caliper (likely notably underestimated).
I don’t think I have great genetics. Almost all my male relatives are very overweight/obese. My father is obese enough to make standing up or walking challenging. I was also somewhat overweight as a teen. My diet is also nothing remarkable/“radical” – not an unusually large about of protein or high % protein, no supplements./meds, no weighing foods, etc. It’s mostly healthy foods, but I also go through a large container of ice cream most weeks, eat pizza ~2x a week… sometimes a large pizza myself spread over multiple meals, no problem eating out at almost any restaurant, etc.
Instead what has worked for me is calorie balance , exercise, and consistency. Calorie balance involves eating several smaller meals throughout the day, and eating because I am hungry, rather than eating because of external circumstances.
Exercise involves both weights and cardio several times per week, some at high intensity. I’ve noticed that when maintaining the same calorie balance, my body fat is well correlated with amount of exercise. Before I began effectively exercising regularly, I did not have a low body fat , including when calorie balance, weight, and BMI were all at good levels. In contrast, when I was at my lowest body fat, such as the <3% caliper measure mentioned above, my workouts schedule was extreme. I was doing 3 weight workouts per 4 days period, and cardio ~2 out of 4 days. Intensity varied, but some sessions were quite intense, regularly achieving new personal bests in both weights and cardio.
Now that I am older, I require much more recovery time. I also like to spend more time on other activities. My current workout routine is a more reasonable 5 workouts per week – 3 days weights, 1 cardio, and 1 HIIT. This type of relatively lighter workout routine led to increased body fat % beyond the past. I adopted a dog last year, which has reversed this increased body fat trend due to increased walking. My dog and I go on multiple walks each day and longer hikes most weekends. Prior to the recent heat, we averaged walking/hiking over 150 miles per month. With this increased walking/hiking, my body fat decreased substantially while maintaining similar amount of lean body.
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There is actual research indicating that when dogs take their humans for walks, the humans are more likely to meet typical exercise guidelines: Dog owners are more likely to meet physical activity guidelines than people without a dog: An investigation of the association between dog ownership and physical activity levels in a UK community | Scientific Reports
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I love my doggie, but she’s a “stop and sniff” kinda dog. And in the evening, she does most of the work during our ball tossing sessions.
FWIW, I don’t eat pizza, cookies, donuts, ice cream, etc. To me, and I know alone on this one, they’re just “empty” (there’s some little value) calories.
I can’t eat most of them because I’m lactose intolerant. That said, they taste good. That’s why people eat them.
I wonder if the anxiety and stress of not doing anything unhealthy is in and of itself unhealthy.
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People often eat pizza and ice cream because they’re feeling stressed and anxious. And if you’re feeling stressed and anxious, then exercise can help reduce it, which it does for me.
If I wanted ice cream, then I’d might as wll just take a C&H pure white cane sugar box and down it straight. And the way the cheese on pizza coagulates kinda grosses me out.
But seriously, I can only speak for myself, I’m doing quite well w/o cake, cookies, pizza, ice cream, donuts, etc.
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While there are clearly healthier and more nutrient dense foods than pizza, I think calling pizza just empty calories is a stretch. The core ingredients of pizza are bread, cheese, and tomato sauce; all of which can have a place in a reasonable diet. A nutritional lookup for 1 slice of cheese pizza (285 cal) shows little/no added sugars and the following % of FDA nutritional daily value.
39% selenium
30+% many B vitamins
24% protein (I realize many would recommend more protein than FDA DV)
18% phosphorous
17% maganese
15% calcium
15% iron
13% zinc
…
In surveys, roughly half of Americans say they eat a pizza meal at least once a week, making pizza one of the more common meals in the United States, as well as the world as whole. I doubt that eating pizza is primarily compensation for feeling stressed and anxious. Instead pizza is a standard meal that many eat while in good/normal mental health. I expect key reasons why Americans eat pizza so often are instead most people enjoy the taste, it’s inexpensive, and it’s simple/available.
One could make a better case for some of your comments with ice cream. Ice cream is no doubt less healthy and less nutrient dense than pizza, and some do vary when they choose to eat it based on mood… A small and controlled amount is unlikely to derail your long term goals. However, many do not limit themselves to just a small and controlled amount. A similar statement could be made about food in general – both eating based on mood and poor calorie balance.
I eat ice cream in conjunction with certain types of my workouts . I get key nutrition pre-workout, and get quick calories from the ice cream post workout. It produces the blunted insulin response that I desire post-workout. I find the cold temperature refreshing when I am warm from the workout on a hot summer day. It can be useful to increase positive associations with workout. And perhaps most importantly, I especially enjoy the taste. I don’t claim that it’s the best possible post-workout food choice, but in my experience, it works well for my goals. I’m actually writing this in between sets of a workout now, after which I plan to eat marionberry pie ice cream. I discovered this flavor last week, and it may become my favorite.
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One slice of pizza? Please raise your hand if you only have ONE slice of pizza. 
Did you miss my quotation marks and verbiage in parentheses? As I mentioned there’s some limited nutritional value.
And oil, sometimes lots and lots of oil. On top of the cheese and bread. Slathered all over. And let’s not forget Chicago-style or deep dish pizza. Any nutrients in bread (empty calories), cheese (fat and protein), tomato sauce (sugar) and oil can found elsewhere with less nutritional problems.
Doubt all you want, but Americans feel anxious and stressed. And they eat when they feel stressed and anxious. And, 42% of the US is obese and somewhere around 70% are overweight (including obese). And I question the health of some of the other 30% (the TOFI, thin outside, fat inside) too. 
America, it’s time to put down the pizza and ice cream.
First, if you’re speaking to MY personal long term goals, then you obviously don’t know me, my body or my long term goals.
My long term goal is increasing my “healthspan,” which is discussed in the book by Dr. Attia. In the short term, I compete in running, OCR and weightlifting competitions. Gotta increase my Wilks and DOTS scores, you know. And PR’s make me very happy! I’m still getting PR’s.
If folks want to eat pizza and ice cream, and/or drink alcohol, then that’s great for them, go for it. I stopped eating them and drinking alcohol a very LONG time ago and I haven’t missed them one bit. Anyway, they slow me down performance-wise, physically and mentally.
I quoted the full statement I was referring to in my post, which I’ll requote. The point was there is more than “just empty (there’s some little value) calories,” as one can see in the decent percentages of a variety of minerals, in addition to significant protein being in just “ONE slice of pizza.” If you want to compare eating n slices instead of ONE slice, then multiply the listed percentages of nutrition DVs by n.
There are a wide variety of possible toppings and means of preparation, making it difficult to generalize. Some types of pizza are more/less healthy than others. If we are talking about typical canned tomato sauce, it does not have sugar added beyond what occurs in the tomatoes. As an example, the first image in a Google search is at https://■■■■■■■.com/4pks3ab8 . The ingredients are Imported Italian Tomatoes (Whole Peeled Tomatoes, Tomato Puree, Sea Salt, Basil), Onions, Olive Oil, Sea Salt, Basil, Garlic, Oregano
Similarly while a small amount of olive oil (many consider olive oil to be desirable from a health perspective) may or may not be used, pouring lots of additional oil on a pizza is not standard. I suspect you are instead thinking of some types of pizza appearing greasy, which generally relates to the ingredients melting when being cooked, such as cheese and toppings. Some toppings have a high fat content, producing a greasy appearance when melted. Some types of toppings do not. For example, toppings can also include things like vegetables.
I am not claiming that pizza is the most nutritional food option or most optimal way to obtain the listed ingredients. My claim is instead there is more than “just empty (there’s some little value) calories,”
Doubt all you want, but Americans feel anxious and stressed. And they eat when they feel stressed and anxious.
Most people eat meals every day, even when they don’t feel anxious and stressed. While emotions can and do influence eating, I certainly wouldn’t assume “eating pizza is primarily compensation for feeling stressed and anxious,” such that a family choosing to have pizza for dinner means they are anxious and stressed. It’s fine that you decided to stop eating pizza a very LONG time ago. It sounds like it’s working for you. However, the reported 83% of Americans who eat pizza at least monthly and haven’t made the same choice have many reasons for making a different choice beyond suffering from psychological issues.
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Don’t be so quick to insult ice cream.
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My point was there was limited nutritional value in pizza, which is exactly what I said.
In general, protein “daily values” (DV) are woefully low and there are much healthier alternatives to get your protein DV than ONE slice of cheese pizza or worse, “meat lovers” pizza. Besides the bad fat and cholesterol, there’s the sodium too. IMO, pizza is a diet disaster, which is why I don’t eat it.
We have an obesity problem in the US (and the world too) and a surge in Type 2 diabetes is predicted in the future among young people, so I’d say exercise more, put down the pizza and ice cream and eat more lean protein and veges.
Yes, emotions do influence our eating habits, whcih agin, is what I said. But I didn’t say emotions are the primary reason for eating pizza and ice cream. I said people often eat pizza and ice cream when stressed. Humans eat bad food, such as pizza, for many reasons.
We have a health problem in the world, which Dr. Attia discusses in his book. The “four horsemen” of chronic disease. The odds are overwhelming that humans will die as a result of one of the chronic diseases of aging: heart disease, cancer, neurodegenerative disease, or type 2 diabetes and related metabolic dysfunction.
Absolutely, fast food tends to be relatively cheap and taste good. So what? That’s not in dispute here. OTOH, as a society, we’re getting fatter and will have more chronic disease. So, I choose not to eat pizza, ice cream, donuts, cakes, cookies, etc., because I’m trying hard not to die a “slow death,” which again, is what the author’s book is about.
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How wrong is it to be eating 
watching this back and forth? 
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My point was there was limited nutritional value in pizza, which is exactly what I said.
That is not exactly what you said. Saying pizza is "just empty (there’s some little value) calories” is not the same as saying pizza has “limited nutritional value.” Had you said the latter, I would not have disagreed enough to reply. In any case, I listed the specific percentages of DV. You may consider a 3-slice serving of pizza with ~half of recommended daily value of a wide variety of minerals and a significant amount of protein is just empty calories, with some little nutritional values, making it nutritionally comparable to ice cream and doughnuts. I do not.
I said I doubt that the quoted statement – " I doubt that eating pizza is primarily compensation for feeling stressed and anxious." and you replied back by saying “doubt all you want…” implying that you disagreed and believed eating pizza is primarily compensation for feeling stressed and anxious.
Absolutely, fast food tends to be relatively cheap and taste good. So what? That’s not in dispute here.
It is in dispute when you imply a different primary reason for eating pizza.
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This is a non-sequitur for @Data10 as they are fit.
There isn’t anything inherently wrong with homemade pizza nutritionally.
Read more Attia. He’s certainly no longer dogmatic about diet, so long as the ingredients are clean. Pizzeria and homemade pizza absolutely can be.
A thin whole wheat + cauliflower crust with light amounts of cheese and lots of vegetable and lean protein toppings may be a healthy meal, but it probably is not representative of the typical pizza most people choose that leaves a big grease stain on the box.
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Agreed! I don’t think it’s fair to blanketly condemn pizza. Homemade pizza in Italy is pretty simple and clean. One could argue with the carbs, but we all process carbs differently. The hazard ratios for different clean (meaning no highly processed ingredients) diets from keto to strict vegan aren’t that compelling. Everything is pretty similar.
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I disagree. Cheese, bad fat, bread, sodium and oil. But again, I’m doing what works for me.
At least Chapters 5 and 6 deal with diet. I’m not there yet, I’ll be sure to report back.
It’s simple and MAYBE can be made clean, but there are far better alternatives than bread, cheese, oil, etc.
And few of us will be going to Italy to eat pizza. Most go to Round Table, Domino’s, etc.