Latest Research On Metabolism

Recently, there was some research published which seems to disagree with the normally accepted view of metabolism.  Traditionally, we've heard that as we age our metabolism slows down so it is not as effective at 45 as it was at 20 but this new paper indicates that belief is wrong. According to this study, our metabolism is pretty stable until we hit the age of 60 and then it slows down.

This new discovery will change the way professionals look at metabolic health and recommendations will change. This study looked at over 6,400 people spread out over 29 countries of all ages from new born to extremely old. They used a method that is considered the best way to determine how fast each person burned calories and how many calories were burned through out the day from brushing teeth, thinking, or exercising.

What they discovered is that there are four stages of metabolism in life but they do not correlate with stages of life such as puberty, pregnancy, or menopause. In addition, your metabolism peaks earlier than previously thought and begins slowing down much later.  As far as controlling body fat and muscle percentage, women's metabolism is the same as men's. Finally, in the larger population clusters,  individual metabolic rates could be as much as 25 percent higher or 25 percent lower than the average for each age.

This is not everything they discovered.  They found that a new born's metabolism mirrored it's mother's but within a month, their own metabolism increased so it became about 50% faster than adults. Furthermore, metabolism peaks when people are toddlers and then begins losing about 3% of the metabolism until the age of 20. It remains at this rate until you reach the age of 60 when it begins to decline, slowing down at a rate of about 0.7% each year.  

There are other factors that cause adults to gain one to two pounds a year over time.  These factors include stress, schedule, hormone levels and energy levels and they change during your 40's and 50's which is where the idea that your metabolism was slowing. In addition, it appears that metabolism and weight are not as closely related as previously thought. The bottom line is that you need to be burning more calories than you partake of in order to keep your weight down. 

It turns out this new research can impact other areas such as does of medicines because of the ability of the body to metabolize it. It could also change the way the medical profession treats cancer because the cancer cells metabolize energy when they grow and divide so the rate at which they grow may be different as people age. This study provided a map of how the changes occur at a metabolic level and can be used to look at the the age related decline works across all body systems.

So if you are having weight issues, know that they might not be caused by your metabolism but by other factors.  I know I've gained a few pounds in the last five years and this new research helps me understand why this is happening and how I might go about getting rid of those few extra pounds.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a good day.