It is a common belief that the rate of our metabolism slows significantly as we age , leading to lower and lower basal calorie intake and consequent increase in body weight, but is this really the case? It seems that a new study has revealed curious facts about our metabolism and how it changes as we age .
How does our metabolism change as we age? Science has the definitive answer
The way in which our basal metabolism changes as we get older has been the objective of a recent study by Duke University in the United States in which it has been revealed that although it seems to be true that the metabolism slows down with age, a certain nuance must also be added in this regard.
The study examined the average daily calories burned by more than 6,600 subjects, aged between 8 days and 95 years , using a method called “double labeled water.” This approach consists in administering to the candidates water where the hydrogen and oxygen atoms have been partially replaced by rare isotopes of these elements, to use them as a tracer to verify the speed of their expulsion from the body.
The results showed that babies have a higher metabolic rate, with a preponderant energy requirement during the first months of life, and a peak at one year of age, where they burn calories 50% faster than an adult. Subsequently, our metabolism slows down approximately 3% per year, until it reaches our 20s , and then stabilizes and remains constant during our 30s, 40s and 50s. Only after age 60 does it begin to slow down, but at a rate of less than 1% per year , that is, less than previously believed.
In addition to these four fundamental periods of metabolism, the study has confirmed that there are no real differences between the metabolic rates of men and women in similar conditions.
About the study, study co-author Herman Pontzer, associate professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke University, said: » There are many physiological changes that result from the aging process, however these do not seem to correspond to significant changes in our metabolism. ».
These findings shed light on human development and aging and should help shape nutritional and health strategies throughout life.
Rozalyn Anderson, who studies aging as a professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, argues that “metabolism is not just about energy, it is about how the body handles nutritional fuel and converts it into usable energy. Something that also includes the synthesis, modification and exchange of all aspects of cell function. It is a sensor and a regulator. The energy demands of physical activity are superimposed with a widely integrated machinery ‘.
Therefore, it seems that there are no more excuses for weight gain ” When we weigh that is simply because we eat more calories than we burn.”
Children burn calories faster than they grow
In the case of children, the study reveals something that was unknown and that is that in children the energy expenditure is higher, but their energy expenditure increases more than expected in relation to the size and characteristics of the body. ” Something happens inside the baby’s cells that makes them more active and we still don’t know what the processes are ,” says Pontzer.
This finding on children’s metabolism may partly explain why children who do not eat enough during this developmental period are less likely to survive and become healthy adults.
