Normal Body Composition

[James L]

Can anyone tell me:

1. What percentage of a normal, healthy human body is water? (If I remember correctly, that is a high percentage number.) I guess that percentage by weight would be the most useful measure. And by normal, I mean not overweight or obese.

2. What percentage is protein?

3. What percentage is fat?

4. What percentage is carbohydrate?

Thanks in advance.

[Gaelen]

James, it's been a long time since human physiology...but this is what came up what I googled 'normal body composition.'

http://www.rowett.ac.uk/edu_web/sec_pup/body_comp.pdf

These people are trying to sell a machine that measures body composition, but the basic numbers they're using sound pretty close to what I remember.

[Mitra]

That was an interesting link - thanks, Pat.

Since the healthy body composition for women includes a bit more fat (20-30%), the other components would be a bit less for women.

[Gabriel Guzman]

I prefer to define 'body composition' in simpler terms, basically body mass and lean mass. The definition, of course, is just a practical one because it tells me more about where my body fat percentage should be. Lean mass, as we know, includes not only muscle protein but also bone, and other types of protein that are both, structural and non-structural. So, for those practical purposes, an 'ideal' body composition for me is one that has ~15% body fat (which varies with age and sex but we're talking about 'ideal'), regardless of what the total body weight is. Also, in terms of health risks, that gives more information that super accurate determination of body compartments.

[Mitra]

So, for those practical purposes, an 'ideal' body composition for me is one that has ~15% body fat (which varies with age and sex but we're talking about 'ideal'), regardless of what the total body weight is.

Gabe, most people (including the Drs Eades) give a number closer to 25% BF for women. I recognise that you were approximating, but do you really think ~15% is "ideal" for women as well as men?

[Gabriel Guzman]

Gabe, most people (including the Drs Eades) give a number closer to 25% BF for women. I recognise that you were approximating, but do you really think ~15% is "ideal" for women as well as men?

As I wrote, it varies with age and sex and that's why there are 'ranges' instead of individual numbers. I wouldn't expect that men and women would have the same 'ideal' number for body fat percentage. So, let me correct and say that for men, the 'ideal' number for fat mass, for me, is 15%.

[Viking Dan]

http://www.rowett.ac.uk/edu_web/sec_pup/body_comp.pdf

These people are trying to sell a machine that measures body composition...
Their machine must work horribly. According to the diagram, we store all out protein in our left leg. :p

[James L]

Thanks, everyone, for your replies. Gaelen, I liked the line drawing of an adult, with one leg symbolizing the amount of protein and the other leg symbolizing the amount of fat. And with carbohydrate symbolized by the small band of glycogen. A visual like that can be a useful aid to memory.

In simple terms, I'm thinking of the "you are what you eat" hypothesis, so:

1. If we are mostly composed of water, then we should probably consume plenty of water.

2. And if our dry weight is mostly protein and fat, then we should probably eat mostly [complete] protein and [high-quality] fat, using carbohydrates as a supplemental fuel source.

I realize this is a considerable over-simplification, but I think it has some merit.

[cmcole]

http://english.ohmynews.com/ArticleView/article_view.asp?menu=A11100&no=313597&rel_no=1&back_url=

Obesity: A Weighty Health Problem (http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?menu=A11100&no=313597&rel_no=1&isPrint=print)Dietary and lifestyle factors are main culpritshttp://image.ohmynews.com/images/articleview/i_email.gif Email Article (http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_email.asp?menu=A11100&no=313597&rel_no=1&isMail=mail) http://image.ohmynews.com/images/articleview/i_printer.gif Print Article (http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_print.asp?menu=A11100&no=313597&rel_no=1&isPrint=print) Njei Moses Timah (njemotim) http://image.ohmynews.com/images/common/articlepage/i_email_10.gif (javascript:memo_send('at_code=')) During the conference of the International Association of Agricultural Economists, which took place in Gold Coast, Australia, on Aug. 12 to Aug. 18, it was revealed that more than one billion overweight people live in the world today, a number that now exceeds the 800 million who are undernourished. Terminologies like "obesity epidemics" and "globesity" are now used to describe this phenomenon, which is rapidly gaining ground.

Obesity is a medical condition that is characterized by the storage of excess fat tissue under the skin, around the joints and organs. Obese people are more susceptible to certain diseases. The following are obesity-related diseases: Type 2 (adult onset) diabetes, hypertension, stroke, heart attack, gallstones, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, and certain types of cancers like colon, rectum, and prostrate cancer.

The Body Mass Index (BMI) and waist circumference are used to measure overweight and obesity. BMI equals weight in kilograms divided by height (meters) squared.

Overweight: BMI ¡Ã 25. Obese: BMI ¡Ã 30. For example, my current weight is 90 kilograms and my height is 1.66 meters. My height squared (1.66 x 1.66) is 2.7556. Therefore, my BMI is 32.66 (90 ¡À 2.7556). I am therefore obese and must initiate actions to reduce my weight. Alternatively, a waist circumference for women greater than 85 centimeters (35 inches) or for men greater than 102 centimeters (40 inches) is considered high risk.

The cause of obesity involves the interplay of multiple factors such as genetic predisposition, diet, and physical activity. Researchers, however, generally agree that the overwhelming number of overweight and obese cases is linked to dietary and lifestyle factors characterized by increased calorie consumption and reduced physical activity. As more and more people consume high calorie "junk foods" and spend more and more time performing sedentary activities like browsing the Internet, playing video games, or watching television, the obesity epidemics can only increase.

Another less-publicized probable cause of obesity is the role played by the food additive E-621, or MSG (monosodium glutamate). Scientists in Spain have established a link between MSG and increased appetite. The substance MSG (sometimes called hydrolyzed vegetable protein), which is used by the food industry as a flavor enhancer, was found to produce a 40 percent increase in appetite in experiments on rats.

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2006/08/26 ¿ÀÈÄ 11:00
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