Consuming a low-calorie amount of routine food and drink does not affect bioimpedance body fat percentage in healthy individuals.

Objectives: Bioimpedance analysis is a simple, safe, and relatively inexpensive method to assess body composition. The bioimpedance guidelines recommend that the test be performed after fasting and avoiding the consumption of liquids. Studies have verified the effects of consuming liquids and food on bioimpedance; however, these studies used preestablished meals and hydration. The aim of the present study is to identify whether ad libitum food and liquid intake interfere with body composition parameters estimated via bioimpedance.

Methods: The evaluations were carried out over 2 d. On the first d, the hydration protocol was applied and on the second d, the food protocol. In both cases, bioimpedance was performed after an 8-h overnight fast. The test was repeated 30 min after the intake of liquids or food depending on the protocol. The reproducibility between the pre- and posttest evaluations was assessed using the Bland-Altman method. We considered deviations of up to 5% in the limits of agreement to be clinically acceptable.

Results: In the hydration protocol, the mean difference in fat percentage (FP) was -0.50 (P = 0.05), the lower limit of agreement was -3.60%, and the upper limit of agreement was 2.61%. In the food protocol, the mean difference in FP was 0.002 (P = 0.99), the lower limit of agreement was -3.20%, and the upper limit of agreement was 3.20%.

Conclusions: Our study shows that ad libitum food and liquid intake do not cause a change above clinically acceptable levels in the FP estimated by bioimpedance.