Healthy Weight Loss DEXA Scan

While many people with weight loss goals tend to focus on body fat percentage, DEXA scans break the tissue down into fat, muscle, and minerals in your bones.

Weight Management Goals

The body composition scan provides an additional tool to monitor weight loss and weight management programs

A DXA scan assessment can help patients lose body fat, not muscle mass, for a more successful and healthier long-term weight loss.

DXA scans can enhance weight loss programs data from the scan can help you understand your body composition—beyond the measurement on a scale—and allow your doctor to:

Precise DEXA Analysis in Kelowna

A body composition scan is a diagnostic tool used to measure body fat, muscle, and bone density. The scan provides a detailed analysis of the body's different tissue types, allowing individuals to see where weight loss is coming from (e.g., fat, muscle, or bone) and make adjustments to their diet and exercise routine as needed.

Detailed Measurements

DXA scans clearly differentiate between fat and lean muscle mass, providing more accurate and detailed measurements of body composition. These measurements are critical for accurately assessing the state of one’s health and defining successful treatment programs.

Result Tracking

Healthy weight loss involves losing weight in a manner that is safe, sustainable, and supports overall health. An initial baseline scan lets you see exactly where you are when you start, and then track how much body fat is actually lost, and how much muscle is gained.

Monitored Progress

Having regular DEXA scans can help track progress and monitor changes in body composition. By tracking these changes over time, individuals can gain a better understanding of their body composition and make adjustments to their diet and exercise routine as needed to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

Visual Body Composition Detail

The Advanced Body Composition assessment produces color images displaying the distribution of fat, lean tissue, and bone translating the information into an easy to interpret report.

Fat Loss

A post-DXA scan consultation can provide information about your current body fat percentage, target body fat percentage, recommended calorie intake, and estimated time frame for reaching the target.

The scan can provide information about the distribution and amount of body fat, which can be useful for tracking fat loss progress.
By measuring the different components of your body, you can get a more complete picture of your overall health and what changes need to be made to reach your weight loss goals.
By monitoring your progress over time, you will have a better understanding of the impact of your diet and exercise habits on your body composition.

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Visceral Fat

DXA (Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry) scans can measure both subcutaneous fat (fat under the skin) and visceral fat (fat that surrounds the organs in the abdominal cavity).

DEXA scans provide a 2-dimensional image of your body, which can give you a rough estimate of the amount of visceral fat you have.
The scan will assess your health risk and how much you need to alter diet and exercise.
Body fat percentage, as measured by DXA, can be used as a tool to diagnose obesity and monitor changes in body composition over time.

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Muscle Gain

Because DEXA measures body fat and lean mass separately, it can be used as the best method for calculating the calories you need for fat loss, muscle gain or body recomposition.

Body composition information can help to assess muscle mass, performance, and the potential for injury.
By comparing DXA scans taken at different times, you can see if you have gained or lost muscle mass, which can be a useful indicator of the effectiveness of your exercise and nutrition program.
Regular monitoring of body weight, body composition, and other relevant health markers, such as blood pressure and cholesterol levels, is recommended to help you reach your goals and maintain good health.

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Nutritional Strategies

Monitoring changes in body composition through regular DXA scans, can help to maximize the effectiveness of a nutritional plan. This information can then be used to adjust as needed to meet an individual's specific health and fitness goals.

Regular body composition scans can help you see how changes in diet and exercise are affecting your body composition, allowing you to make adjustments to your weight loss plan as needed.
The effect of nutritional changes, such as a diet, can be observed via changes in body fat and lean mass distribution.
The initial scan can be used as a baseline, and performance can be tracked with additional scans throughout the duration of the training or weight loss program.

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Am I Overweight?

Are you in the healthy range? Use this tool to calculate your Body Mass Index (BMI) now to know your risk for obesity-related diseases.

How Healthy Are My Bones?

Take the 1-minute quiz to determine your risk for developing osteoporosis.

DexaCan Plan Options

The DEXA scan is the gold standard procedure for body composition analysis. We offer multiple plans for you to choose from.

Basic Body Composition Scan - $249

45 mins | Whole Body Scan + Dexafit Ai App Results
Accurate measurement and detailed visual imaging of body composition provides valuable information giving detailed breakdown of your whole body mass: weight of your bones, fat, muscle and visceral fat.
Calculations and measurement of total body mass – lean mass and fat mass (breaks down your total body mass by region, including arms, legs, trunk (left and right), android-apple shape (breast and belly), and gynoid-pear shape (below the waist).
Estimated amount of visceral fat – the type of fat around the internal organs stored
within the abdominal cavity.
Bone health screening of your whole body bone mass can give a good indication if
you are most likely to have bone loss or bone decrease.
Visual comparison of gradual changes in body mass over time.
Scores compared to your gender and age group.
Ideal for those seeking weight management, athletes, fitness enthusiasts,
bodybuilders and to gain the best possible insight regarding body composition.
Monitoring progress over time has never been so easy. Download the Dexafit AI App
on Google Play or Apple App Store for your results.
Our Technologists will guide you through the application and provide you with basic
information based on your results.
Patients will receive an emailed copy of the report.

Advanced Body Composition Scan - $499

45 mins | Whole Body Scan + Dexafit Ai App Results + Physician Review
Accurate measurement and detailed visual imaging of body composition provides valuable information giving detailed breakdown of your whole body mass: weight of your bones, fat, muscle and visceral fat.
Calculations and measurement of total body mass – lean mass and fat mass (breaks
down your total body mass by region, including arms, legs, trunk (left and right),
android-apple shape (breast and belly), and gynoid-pear shape (below the waist)
Estimated amount of visceral fat – the type of fat around the internal organs stored
within the abdominal cavity.
Bone health screening of your whole body bone mass can give a good indication if
you are most likely to have bone loss or bone decrease.
Visual comparison of gradual changes in body mass over time.
Scores compared to your gender and age group.
Physicians review the results in approximately 1-2 weeks, may advise on lifestyle
modification, recommend further testing, treatment, or referrals to specialists if necessary.
Ideal for those curious about health, planning to get healthier, losing weight and gain
the best possible insight regarding body composition. Breast health screening based
on BMI and body fat.
Monitoring progress over time has never been so easy. Download the Dexafit AI App on Google Play or Apple App Store for your results.
Our Technologists will guide you through the application and provide you with basic
information based on your results.
Patients will receive an emailed copy of the report.

Bone Densitometry Scan - $499

45 mins | Osteoporosis Screening + Results + Physician Review
Evaluation of bone density loss or low bone mass in the hip, spine and sometimes the forearm to determine the risk of osteoporosis.
Values are compared to others of the same age and gender (Z-scores) or healthy
young adults at peak bone mass (T-scores).
Results help track bone health changes over time:

Early detection: Can identify bone thinning (osteopenia) at an early stage,
before it progresses to osteoporosis, allowing for timely intervention.
Risk assessment: Helps predict your risk of future fractures.
Diagnosis: Diagnose osteopenia (low bone mass) and osteoporosis.
Monitoring: Tracks the effectiveness of osteoporosis treatment.

Physicians review the results in approximately 1-2 weeks and provide recommendations, treatment, or referrals based on the findings.
Patients will receive an emailed copy of the completed report.

LAB WORK – Additional cost approximately $200 paid to the lab (subject to change)

Your blood can also determine your bone health. In addition to the scan, lab work is ordered as part of bone health screening and risk assessment.
We will provide you with a bloodwork requisition and instruction at the scan
appointment.

Heart & Stroke Risk Scan - $499

45 mins | Abdominal Aortic Calcification Scan + Results + Physician Review
Screening to detect and identify individuals at higher risk for heart disease by assessing Abdominal Aortic Calcification (AAC).
Lateral DXA is non-invasive, has low radiation exposure, and is relatively inexpensive compared with CT, a helpful screening tool for vascular calcification.
Measurements can help detect anomalies earlier. The image captures the presence of abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) associated with cardiovascular disease in older individuals.
The build-up is the hardening of the abdomen’s largest artery. When calcium deposits build up in its walls, it hardens and restricts blood flow.
Physicians review the findings in approximately 1-2 weeks. Provide recommendations, medical intervention, and may advise on lifestyle modifications
that can help manage or prevent medical conditions.
Patients will receive an emailed copy of the completed report.

LAB WORK – Additional cost approximately $200 paid to the lab (subject to change)

Your blood can also determine your cardiovascular health. In addition to the scan, lab work is ordered as part of screening and risk assessment.
We will provide you with a bloodwork requisition and instruction at the scan appointment.

DexaCan is more than your average medical clinic.

Health Risk Evaluation With The Body Composition Scan

By measuring the amount and distribution of lean tissue mass, fat mass, and bone mineral density, a DXA scan provides valuable information about an individual’s metabolic health, risk for chronic diseases, and physical function.

The body composition scan can distinguish between visceral fat and subcutaneous fat, giving clinicians a unique understanding of the potential diseases that could be putting their patients at risk.

VAT estimate, or an estimate of visceral adipose fat tissue (VAT), provides a more convenient way to estimate a patient’s visceral fat in the abdominal region, which is often associated with diseases like diabetes, hypertension, impaired fasting glucose, impaired glucose tolerance and metabolic syndrome.

A higher body fat % or body mass index (BMI) has been associated with an increased risk of breast cancer in some studies. A DEXA scan can potentially be used as a tool to identify women who may be at a higher risk for breast cancer - electing earlier or more frequent screening for the disease.

Sudden changes observed with regular body composition scans may indicate health problems. For example, female athletes who have very low BMIs (18 and below) may be at risk of developing female athlete triad - a relatively common condition among young female athletes involving a combination of disordered eating, amenorrhea (menstrual dysfunction), and low bone mineral density.

Who Should Get a DEXA Scan?

A DXA assessment is suitable for people on weight management programs, athletes in training as well as men and women at risk of osteoporosis and bone fracture.

It is also used for monitoring certain diseases such as Sarcopenia and Lipodystrophy and the effects of some medical therapies.

Why choose DexaCan for your private DEXA body scan?

Leading Expertise

Advanced body composition analysis delivered by our experienced practitioner

Rapid Access

Innovative Diagnostic Imaging

The best technology available for assessing obesity, cardiovascular, and other metabolic diseases.

Safety & Comfort

Quick 3-5 minute scan. No injections, non-invasive, painless with no patient preparation required.

FAQS

Why are other methods of measuring body fat?

Skin calipers: Measures only fat under the skin, high likelihood of technical error, not good for lean or obese people
Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA): High rate of false positive and false negative results, too many variables to control
Underwater Weighing: Being submerged in water requires heavy equipment and is time consuming
Bod Pod: Only a two dimensional reading based on air displacement, not readily available, very expensive
CT: Very high dose of radiation and expensive, not readily available for body fat measurement
MRI: Extremely expensive, not readily available for body fat measurement

What causes visceral fat?

A caloric surplus can result in excess visceral fat. Unsurprisingly, visceral fat develops as a result of adopting unhealthy lifestyle habits. Some of these factors include:

Little or no exercise or avoiding functional exercises that build muscle
Poor diet high in carbohydrates, saturated fat, and empty calories
Poor sleep habits
Stress
Excessive alcohol consumption
Smoking

For people living sedentary lifestyles, it is quite easy to pick up several of these unhealthy habits. Over time, these habits will lead to increased amounts of body fat, including visceral fat.

How accurate are DEXA scans?

DEXA scans offer a high degree of precision and accuracy. Medical experts consider DEXA scans to be an accurate test for diagnosing osteoporosis.

Unlike x-ray machines, DEXA machines are checked daily for their ability to measure bone mineral accurately, and no two DXA machines are exactly alike. That is why your healthcare provider will insist that you have all of your DEXA tests done on the same machine.

Why is body composition important to measure?

Most diet and fitness goals focus on weight loss or gain, overlooking that two people of the same sex and body weight may look completely different from each other because they have different body compositions. Measuring your body composition will tell you your own body’s unique makeup and help you identify areas to work on to improve your overall health and wellness.

Getting a better insight into your overall wellness starts with measuring your body composition and going beyond the number on the scale. You will know whether you need to gain more lean mass or lower body fat percentage to achieve a healthy body composition and a better level of health.

Does a DEXA scan provide a snapshot of my health?

Yes, a DEXA scan will shed light on bone health and risk of osteoporosis, visceral fat and risk of chronic disease, muscle imbalances and risk of overcompensation and injury. It also compares your results to others in your demographic (height, weight, age, sex.)