Hi , how are you ? This is Damaris Maria Grossman , dr Grossman from Mindfully Integrative Health , and I am talking about the discussion of . I am very lucky to be able to go and do a DEXA scan and I'm going to be going to my local DEXA fit scan and I will be getting a bone density scan . So what is a DEXA scan ?
And what it is is a dual energy absorption that accurate the body . It basically is a way of getting your body's composition and it's also helps measure the bone density , mineral density within the body . So most of the time the scan has been used to check for your stage of osteoporosis in the body and that's the original use .
Now it has been shown to have great results for individuals on their movement , on their body's skeletal muscle versus body composition . It is included on a way of seeing if you have any risk of fractures in the body and how your long-term skeletal muscle versus fat and lean body mass are .
It's a really amazing test and I'm quite excited to be able to get one for myself and just to really kind of see even though I have lost a lot of weight and I've started to improve my health and physical goals am I really fully healthy or could I be better , and that will give me a gauge of that .
So I'm going to be doing a DEXA scan , which is an FDA-approved scan that will help with detecting your lean versus your fat , versus your bone mass and your visceral fat , which is kind of that belly fat or the fat that surrounds your organs , and this kind of gives you an idea if you have more morbidity issues or chronic disease like obesity , diabetes , chronic
illnesses , cardiac illness or even peripheral terrestrial disease . So there's many things that may come up , that may show , and I want to kind of do this testing to get a gauge of where that it is for me today . So the reason why it's pretty cool is that the test is available for everyone to go do on their own .
Granted , I would recommend my clients will be able to get a code called I'll have that at the end of the show notes , but it's code mindful and they'll be able to get a discount on the scan . So you can go in and get this kind of scan and just see how you're doing .
Now , if you go and get the scan anywhere else in the outside of this company I think that they have it it's like around $1,500 , since your lens is covering it doesn't charge us . And now it's like you can get it because it's cleared for about I'd say I think it's around $400 . And then with the discount it's even cheaper .
The other reason I'm in very big fan of this is that it's a diagnostic tool . It's a way of finding out where you stand right now and then are you going to make actionable steps . So I'm going to go and see how I do in this scan and I will send results in part two and where I am .
Now , additionally to this DEXA scan , I'm going to be doing a VO testing and what that is is that it's the maximum rate of oxygen consumption during incremental exercise . Now , I'm not a big crazy exerciser because I used to have a back injury and I never really exercised very strenuous like I used to .
But the V stands for volume , the O2 stands for oxygen and the max means that you're at your maximum rate of oxygen consumption during aerobic exercise .
So what this is gonna do for me is gonna give me a gauge of what my aerobic power is , what's my body's ability to get through that exercise and how long can I last with my oxygen that I'm able to consume . Or is there an irregularity there ? What this does ?
It lets me know what my cardio vascular and my lungs , my respiratory system , is doing in the fitness , and has it been improved or do I have some irregularities ? Do I have endurance or do I not ? I would say I'm maybe , probably average . I'm not a elite athlete , I'm not a pro athlete , I'm not even really athletic , not like I used to be .
So I really kind of would like to know where I stand , and do I have any sort of adorns ? Or am I really really struggling ? I did have a series of asthma when I was a kid and I wonder if that will come up in this as my cardio respiratory health , and how can I improve it .
So , as a provider too , and as a functional medicine integrated functional medicine provider , I really think this is important as a diagnostic tool because it lets me know is there an inflammatory process here ? Is there something that we can improve in a person's exercise and ability so that they can actually circulate more oxygen throughout the body ?
What can we do ? And then the last test that I'll be doing is a full body scan to check for fat and visceral fat again . In addition , I'll be doing a RMR , which is RMR and a BMR . So you got the basal metabolic rate and then you've got the resting metabolic rate .
So I'll be doing a resting metabolic rate , which is that I had to fast at least five hours before the test and I will be checking what my actual metabolic rate for my body is . So you may have heard about metabolic basal metabolic rate , which is the minimum number of calories we need for rest . What's our basic , essential function ?
Can we pump the blood through the body and breathing , digestion and our body Like ? What's the basics that you need , very bare minimum . Now , what's your resting metabolic rate ? What does that mean ? Like at low effort , low walking , eating , go into the bathroom , walking short periods of time , shivering , eating , consuming caffeine , regular things what does effort ?
Is that for you ? So think of it even as when someone checks your pulse and if you're , or your blood pressure , that bottom number is that resting rate or your resting number . But in this occasion I'm looking at what's my overall body's use of that effort and how can it be measured .
And the difference between this versus the basal metabolic is that the BMR is usually slightly lower and the RMR is a little bit higher because you're doing a little bit more functions in your day to day . So it's gonna try to check to see how I'm doing and I think the five hour fasting is part of that equation .
So usually when you're testing a basal metabolic rate , that's usually without a fast . So this one is kind of seeing how am I doing now . So I will do a part two of what my scores are from these tests and see how it's been and if there is any improvement .
So stay tuned for part two and stay tuned for being able to do this test on your own and maybe , if I work with you , at some point I'll send you to one of these centers to get your test done and we can get a better picture of where you are and where you wanna be and see where your transformative self is .
So make sure you find a mindful way each and every day and have a wonderful blessed day .