{"id":155326,"date":"2025-11-26T22:09:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T22:09:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/155326\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T22:09:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T22:09:14","slug":"i-tried-a-full-body-scan-heres-how-it-changed-my-approach-to-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/155326\/","title":{"rendered":"I Tried a Full Body Scan. Here\u2019s How It Changed My Approach to Health"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s 11 a.m. on a Monday and I\u2019m in my underwear<\/a>, standing inside a sci-fi-like version of an airport security scanner. This is my first body scan. I\u2019m about to have my insides documented in a process that takes more than 2,000 photographs in a single second.<\/p>\n

I stand there thinking: Why did I wear these boxer shorts? And also: Why did I let my diet<\/a> slip this much? But then, that’s why I’m here: To confront uncomfortable truths about my health. An automated voice warns me to close my eyes, it\u2019s photo time. A white flash, then it\u2019s over.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve wanted to undergo a complete body scan<\/a> for some time now. As someone who writes a lot about wellness, experts I speak to are constantly reminding me to lift weights<\/a>, run<\/a>, eat fiber<\/a>, and sleep well<\/a>. And I try, but there\u2019s no real way of knowing whether it makes a difference in my health. The number on a weighing scale might go down as you exercise. You might have less aches and pains as you focus more on recovery<\/a>, and you may feel less stressed the more you meditate<\/a>, and rest. But other than going by how we feel, how can we know for sure that we\u2019re actually healthy?<\/p>\n

In the last decade my remaining grandparents have died from a grab bag of illnesses like cancer, Alzheimer\u2019s, stroke, and heart disease. My father was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. I\u2019m immunocompromised. Which means there\u2019s potentially a lot of nasty stuff in my future. I figured a body scan might help me course correct before it’s too late.<\/p>\n

What does a body scan entail?<\/p>\n

My scan takes place at the flagship clinic of the preventative health care clinic Neko Health<\/a> in Spitalfields, east London. Stepping through their doors is like walking into a cross between 2001: A Space Odyssey and an episode of Black Mirror<\/a>. After being led upstairs, I’m given a pair of rubbery, angular slippers and am asked to change into a peach gown. From here, I meet a friendly nurse named Katie in a small room with a bed and various medical apparatus descending from the ceiling. Katie talks me through the procedure. I\u2019ll begin with the full-body scan mentioned above, with thermal cameras looking for signs of inflammation, then I\u2019ll undergo a grip test\u2014a great marker of the ability to recover from illness in later life. After that, an eye pressure test, like at the opticians, to look for signs of glaucoma, a blood test, and then some more scans.<\/p>\n

To distract myself while she takes my blood, I tell Katie I\u2019m mostly worried about being at risk of diabetes, given my sweet tooth and the fact I\u2019m currently a little heavier than I\u2019d like. She sympathizes, and it\u2019s good to hear that even a health care professional at a high end clinic like this is a chocoholic too. \u201dExercise will do you so many favors,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s 11 a.m. on a Monday and I\u2019m in my underwear, standing inside a sci-fi-like version of an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":155327,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[14652,565,134,4195,64873,111,139,69,15593,5510,14651],"class_list":{"0":"post-155326","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-digital_syndication","9":"tag-fitness","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-heart-health","12":"tag-life-advice","13":"tag-new-zealand","14":"tag-newzealand","15":"tag-nz","16":"tag-textbelowcenterfullbleed","17":"tag-wellness","18":"tag-working-out"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}