Get Body Fat Burning Updates On Your Smartphone

Researchers in Japan have developed a portable, pocket-sized device that can instantly detect if your body is burning fat.

Asian Scientist (Jul. 26, 2013) – Fitness fanatics may soon be able to gauge if their hard work is paying off without the need for weighing scales thanks to a new device that can instantly tell if your body is burning fat.

The portable, pocket-sized sensor, produced by a group of researchers from NTT DOCOMO Research Laboratories in Japan, works by measuring increased levels of acetone on the breath – a good indicator of when the body has begun to break down fat.

Acetone is primarily produced in the blood when fat is broken down; however, it is also expelled through tiny sacs, called alveoli, in the lungs during exhalation and is therefore present in exhaled breath.

This new device, described in a paper published in the Journal of Breath Research, is capable of detecting acetone concentrations in the range of 0.2 to 50 parts-per-million. It is just 10 cm long, weighs 125 g and requires two AA batteries to operate.

After a user blows into the device, the acetone concentration levels can be calculated and sent to a smartphone, either by Bluetooth or a cable, within 10 seconds.

The researchers tested their device on 17 healthy adult volunteers (11 men and six women) who were split into three groups: the first group carried on with their normal life and were not restricted to a specific numbers of calories in their diet nor were they required to take part in any exercise.

The second group were required to take part in light exercise, such as jogging or fast walking, for 30-60 minutes a day. The final group were required to take part in the same exercise routine and also consume a limited number of calories in their diet each day.

The experiment lasted 14 days and on each day before breakfast, the volunteers were required to have their body weight, body fat percentage and breath acetone concentrations measured using both the portable device and a standard instrument.

The researchers found that the volunteers who belonged to the groups leading a normal life and performing daily exercise failed to lose significant amounts of fat. Their breath acetone concentration readings were found to remain constant.

However, the volunteers in the third group who followed the exercise regime and had their calorific intake restricted were able to lose significant amounts of fat. The device was able to record a significant increase in breath acetone concentrations in this group, showing that fat is being burned.

“Because obesity increases the risk of lifestyle-related illnesses, enabling users to monitor the state of fat burning could play a pivotal role in daily diet management,” said Satoshi Hiyama, principal investigator of the study.

“Current standard methods, however, are still not practically suitable for point-of-care instrumentation for diet-conscious people who wish to monitor their own fat metabolism at home or outside.”

“Considering that the effect of dieting could be estimated from changes in breath acetone concentrations, we’ve shown that our prototype is a practical and alternative checker that can be used in individual dieting programs.”

According to the researchers, the device could also be used to monitor patients with diabetes as elevated levels of breath acetone may indicate that the disease is out of control.

The article can be found at: Toyooka et al. (2013) A Prototype Portable Breath Acetone Analyzer For Monitoring Fat Loss.

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Source: Institute of Physics. Photo: NTT Docomo.
Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.

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