NASA astronaut Sunita Williams finally broke her silence to address concerns that she had lost a large amount of weight while on the International Space Station.
Photos of Williams, 59, who has been on the ISS for 159 days, showed her looking “emaciated” with a much thinner body, leading experts to speculate that the stresses of space were taking their toll.
But Williams explained in a live video that it was the same weight as when it launched to the ISS in June and that the change in its appearance was due to the fluid change.
“I think things change quite a bit, you’ve probably heard of fluid change,” Williams said in a live broadcast from the ISS.
‘FPeople who are in space, you know, their heads look a little bigger because the liquid is distributed throughout the body.
Doctors have expressed concern about Williams’ appearance in a photograph taken on September 24, noting that his face was not swollen but “emaciated.”
Dr Gupta told DailyMail.com: “His cheeks look a little sunken in, and normally this happens when you’ve had a sort of total body weight loss.”
“I think what I can discern from his face and sunken cheeks is that he’s probably been in a significant (calorie) deficit for a while.”
Williams responded to the “rumors” by saying that he had actually gained muscle.
‘My thighs are a little bigger, my butt is a little bigger. “We do a lot of squats,” he said.
NASA astronaut Sunita Williams has broken her silence over fears her health has deteriorated since she became stranded on the International Space Station (ISS).
Williams spoke to the New England Sports Network Clubhouse Kids Show on Tuesday while more than 250 miles above the Earth’s surface.
During the interview, he addressed health concerns, calling them “rumors,” and talked about his food intake, such as dining at a Turkish fish stew with olives and rice.
Williams did not provide details about his caloric intake while aboard the ISS, but attributed the changes in his appearance to a phenomenon that occurs in space.
During spaceflight, weightlessness instantly shifts blood and fluids from the lower body to the upper areas, resulting in a puffy gait and thinner legs.
Concerns about her weight loss emerged after a photo emerged showing her with “sunken” cheeks.
Dr Gupta told DailyMail.com last week: “What you are seeing in that image is someone who I think is experiencing the natural stress of living at a very high altitude, even in a pressurized cabin, for prolonged periods.” .
