When we’re young, we don’t exactly worry about what we are consuming in terms of calories and fat. And for a good reason; kids should not be thinking about things that we spend most of our adult years contemplating considering they’re busy playing among other important kid things.
Once we’re adults, however, our diet becomes a little more prominent in our minds, especially once we notice that our metabolism is slowing down.
Despite a very socially accepted belief that our metabolisms lose speed once we are middle-aged, as it turns out, this idea is completely false, explains an article by Good News Network.
“Most of us remember a time when we could eat anything we wanted and not gain weight. But a new study suggests your metabolism—the rate at which you burn calories—actually starts its inevitable decline much later than we all assumed.
“Additionally, we tend to think of our teens and 20s as the age when our calorie-burning potential hits its peak. But the researchers found that, pound for pound, infants had the highest metabolic rates of all.
“Duke University associate professor Herman Pontzer joined an international team of scientists to analyze the average calories burned by more than 6,600 people ranging in age from one week to 95 as they went about their daily lives in 29 countries worldwide.
“Midlife was another surprise. Perhaps you’ve been told that it’s all downhill after 30 when it comes to your weight. But while several factors could explain the thickening waistlines that often emerge during our prime working years, the findings suggest that a changing metabolism isn’t one of them.
“In fact, the researchers discovered that energy expenditures during these middle decades—our 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s—were the most stable. Even during pregnancy, a woman’s calorie needs were no more or less than expected given her added bulk as the baby grows.
“The data suggest that our metabolisms don’t really start to decline again until after age 60. The slowdown is gradual, only 0.7% a year. But a person in their 90s needs 26% fewer calories each day than someone in midlife,” the article says.
I am mind-blown after reading this information, and I imagine a lot of us would be surprised to learn our metabolisms do not slow down nearly as quickly as we think they do.
There has never been a better time to have second helpings, my friends.
ontheedgeofeverything 