Withings BodyFit, a smart one-handle scale that promises “DEXA-level” body composition scanning, is now available in the UK – and it has features aimed at GLP-1 users

The Withings BodyFit range is finally landing in the UK and Europe following its launch in the US
Its body composition scanning capability is said to be ‘DEXA level’, which implies precision
The scale is also supposedly ideal for GLP-1 drug users who prioritize maintaining muscle and losing fat

Health technology company Withings announced that it will launch the Withings BodyFit smart scale in the UK and Europe, priced at £229.95. Said to be a “segmental body composition scale”, the smart scale will calculate your ratio of fat, muscle and bone using a technique called Bioelectrical Impedance Spectroscopy (BIS).

Similar to biometric impedance analysis used by several of the best smart scales, BIS tech sends a harmless electrical current through your body that moves through fat, muscle and bone at different speeds. Using this information, Withings BodyFit can calculate how much of each material is in your body. Skilled.

Withings BodyFit uses a retractable handle for multiple contact points that is said to provide body composition measurement as accurate as a medical-grade DEXA scan, calculating fat mass with up to 99% accuracy and muscle mass with up to 98% accuracy. The scale provides fitness goals, a calorie tracker, cardiovascular insights, nutrition logging and more. It’s essentially a wearable fitness tracker that takes you on a ‘personal health journey in body composition’ with tips available in the Withings app.

The GLP-1 compound

What’s interesting is that Withings recommends its scale to a group of people who are most concerned about maintaining muscle mass, and no, it’s not bodybuilders. It’s GLP-1 users who take drugs like Wegovy (the UK’s most common GLP-1, equivalent to the more famous Ozempic in the US) to help dramatically slow weight loss. Wegovy contains the same active ingredient as Ozempic – semaglutide – which stabilizes blood sugar and signals to the brain that you are full.

With muscle analysis based on six ‘zones’ of your body, Withings says ‘For GLP-1 users, Withings BodyFit provides the precise, actionable insights to ensure weight loss targets fat while actively protecting crucial muscle mass’.

The idea is that while you’re taking these drugs and dramatically losing weight, you can maintain the functionality of your body by creating exercise programs that prioritize maintaining and gaining muscle mass, and checking that you’re on track with the scale’s advanced muscle scanning technology.

Muscle and fat

Building and maintaining muscle is an important part of any healthy weight loss journey. While some people will welcome the help of GLP-1 drugs, especially those who are unable to burn calories with intense exercise due to joint or disability problems, others will want to do it the way it’s always been done – sweat properties.

Muscle weighs more than fat, so a reliable smart scale like BodyFit can help shift the measures of weight loss (and weight gain) success from a simple number on a scale to adjusting your body fat and muscle percentages.

While such details can create obsessive behavior in some extreme cases, for most people it will make it easier to get healthier in the long run, since it’s more about having some functional muscles than it is about how much you weigh.