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  • Original Article
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Body composition, energy expenditure and physical activity

Time course of supine and standing shifts in total body, intracellular and extracellular water for a sample of healthy adults

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 69, pages 14–19 (2015)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/objectives:

Traditional tetrapolar bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS) is performed with the participant supine for 10 min. New vertical analyzers are penetrating clinical, home and fitness markets, but have body water values that differ from supine reference measures. The minimum time standing prior to assessment does not appear in the literature. We investigated the time course of body water shifts in healthy adults undergoing 30-min assessments in supine and vertical positions.

Subjects/methods:

While seated, participants were prepped for standard tetrapolar electrode placement. Starting position was counterbalanced and body water measurements were taken every 5 min for 30 min in both positions. Participants sat for 2 min prior to switching positions. Of the 64 participants, three were unable to stand for 30 min; their data were excluded. Body size differences were minimized via computation of relative (%) change between time intervals for total body water (TBW), extracellular water (ECW) and intracellular water (ICW).

Results:

ECW and ICW shifted in opposite directions while participants were supine; as ECW decreased at each time point, ICW increased (P<0.0125). Likewise, when participants stood, ECW increased incrementally (P<0.0125), but the decreases in ICW were not significant. At each time interval, the changes in supine ECW and ICW differed from the standing values (P<0.05). No postural or time differences were found for %change TBW.

Conclusions:

For TBW, 5 min appears sufficient for fluid stabilization in either position. Supine ECW and ICW stabilization require more than 30 min as does standing ECW.

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Acknowledgements

We thank those who volunteered for this study. Partial funding for this project was provided by the University of New Mexico’s Research Allocation Grant, 2009–10.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    A L Gibson, J R Beam & C M Mermier

  2. University of New Mexico/California State University-San Bernadino, San Bernadino, CA, USA

    M K Alencar

  3. University of New Mexico/Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI, USA

    M N Zuhl

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  1. A L Gibson
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Correspondence to A L Gibson.

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Gibson, A., Beam, J., Alencar, M. et al. Time course of supine and standing shifts in total body, intracellular and extracellular water for a sample of healthy adults. Eur J Clin Nutr 69, 14–19 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2013.269

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