Lifestyle
I tried four trendy body scans. The results were … confusing.
I’ve stripped down to my sports bra and short-shorts. My feet are planted on a circular stand that is not unlike a human-sized tabletop lazy Susan. I hold my hands awkwardly away from my sides as instructed, and the lazy Susan slowly starts to spin me around — and carefully measures every inch of me in the process. It’s all part of the body scan process, baby.
Body composition scans have become the potentially useful yet often wildly expensive health trend of 2025. You may have encountered them on TikTok (or at your local luxury wellness clinic) and seen them attempt to assess people’s fat vs. muscle and more down to the most micro of measurements. Then there’s Prenuvo, a pricey full-body MRI that claims to even detect signs of early cancer.
This summer, Kate Hudson was criticized by followers after posting on Instagram about getting a Prenuvo scan (which costs around $2,500) along with her partner in the name of preventive health. Comments such as “Kate, babe, love that for you — but down here on Planet Earth, us Peasants are just trying to get our copays approved. Can Prenuvo scan for affordable health care too, or just vibes!?” hammered home just how much privilege (and funds) these scans require.
As a health and wellness journalist, I have my own unique privilege: I get offered to try these scans for free so that I can write about their pros, cons and inconsistencies. In the past eight months, I’ve tried four different body scans, five times total (I had to go back for a redo on one with outlier results). I did not try the Hudson-lauded Prenuvo, but I did dive into such brands as DEXA, InBody and Styku, whose scan costs range from about $40 to upwards of $300.
I gleaned some truly helpful takeaways — I need to focus on building muscle, aka lean body mass, rather than reducing fat; my left femur joint is on the cusp of osteopenia, so I’m implementing heavier weights to increase bone density — but I also left with many questions.
How body scans work
“Full-body scans can detect visceral fat and cancer in body organs,” explains Dr. Michael Aziz, an attending physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. He adds that scans like the DEXA — considered the gold standard of body composition scans, and one I experienced a few months ago at Canyon Ranch in Tucson, Ariz., focus on bone density and fat vs. muscle makeup. DEXA stands for dual X-ray absorptiometry and it’s essentially a lay-flat X-ray that examines everything you’ve got. Meanwhile, the Prenuvo scan A-listers like Hudson and Kim Kardashian have had is an advanced MRI that aims for comprehensive disease detection, including cancer.
Still, even that top-shelf pick can’t be trusted entirely: “While Prenuvo shows promise for early cancer detection, there are several limitations,” Aziz tells Yahoo. “It can have lots of false positive findings and leads to unnecessary biopsies or even surgeries.”
But this is a tale of many scan types, not just two. After my DEXA in Arizona, I tried a bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) scan at Spa Eastman in Eastman, Quebec. This type of body scan sends a low-level electrical current throughout your body in order to calculate hydration levels, fat mass vs. fat-free mass and more. The one I did in Canada was similar to an (also electrode-based) InBody scan I tried at Stat Wellness in Nashville.
My weight didn’t change much between all the scans, and they all pinpointed me as either “fit” or “athletic,” with a body fat percentage ranging from 18% (the InBody) to 24% (the DEXA). Then came the outlier: the Styku scan, which I tried during a fitness-focused weekend at the Farm in rural Tennessee. When I first tried the Styku, which uses 3D scanning to predict body composition based on the circumference of different parts of your body, it put me at 37% body fat — a higher percentage than 80% of my peers, and a metric that is considered obese. I’m 5’10” and weigh between 140 and 145 pounds.
The Farm team and I sorted out the error together, thanks to a redo scan that put me right back in that 18-24% body fat range (and fitter than 90% of 40-year-old American women, thank you very much). But what on earth could cause such a discrepancy? And how common is such an error? As another confused journalist once wrote: I couldn’t help but wonder.
Why scan accuracy varies so much
According to the experts, there are actually a whole host of reasons for a scan experience like mine. “It’s not uncommon for individuals to get different results” on body scans, says Dr. Elliott Dinetz, a board-certified physician specializing in metabolic, functional and family medicine. Some reasons include:
Scan timing. If you’re doing multiple scans, you’re likely “getting the scan at different times of the day, with different physiological states,” explains Dr. Jimmy Sung. That means what and how much you’ve had to eat or drink, how much you slept, whether or not you’ve exercised that day and other variables may affect body scan results.
Technician approach. “The accuracy of those scans also depends on radiologist experience and reading,” says Aziz.
All scans are not created equal. Dr. Hector Perez, a board-certified bariatric surgeon, emphasizes that the evidence base per scan brand is uneven. “DEXA for composition is well-validated,” he says. “3D optical and BIA are improving. But algorithm-dependent, full-body MRI for asymptomatic screening remains controversial and expensive.”
The machine itself. “Machine calibration and even positioning can impact results,” says Dinetz.
I asked Sung directly: So, my scan variance of 18% to 37% body fat is typical of different times of day or hydration levels?” He said it indeed can be. “There are so many variables that will affect the reading. That is why it is important to control and minimize those variables and standardize the measurement throughout the process.”
The bottom line
“These technologies give patients a sense of control and confidence — a chance to ‘get ahead of the curve’ rather than wait until disease progression forces treatment,” says Dinetz. But while these tools are powerful, “they are not infallible. Results should be interpreted by a physician who understands body composition, imaging nuances and patient-specific risk factors.”
And despite their limitations (and costs), when used correctly, scans can still be quite helpful in identifying risks — like my borderline osteopenia — early enough that you can take positive action. The best way to use them? Pick one method, and standardize your conditions. That means doing the scan in the morning, fasted, after using the bathroom, without exercising or taking in a lot of fluids for approximately three hours prior. Do that, “and track direction over time,” says Perez. Dinetz agrees: “If possible, patients should stick with one type of scan over time to monitor trends rather than compare across devices.” So basically … don’t do what I did.
As for those considering going the A-lister route, think about your price point and your personality. Perez warns that “celebrity-fueled ‘peace-of-mind’ screens (full-body MRIs) promise certainty in a very uncertain world.” Whereas in reality, average-risk, asymptomatic people who opt for a pricey preventive MRI may be “more likely to buy ‘scanxiety’ and bills” than substantive answers, he notes.
The good news: The body scan trend marks a cultural shift toward prevention. “No tool is perfect,” Dinetz points out, “but the combination of advanced detection and physician guidance can help people make better health decisions — and in some cases prevent disease progression or even save lives.”
If a $2,500 scan brings you peace of mind, go for it. As for me, I’ll be sticking to the $40 scans (and no longer jumping from brand to brand, whoops!).