What Age Does Your Metabolism Slow Down?
Updated: Feb 10
Ever felt like your metabolism is betraying you as the years roll on? A lot of people believe that as we age, our metabolism takes a nosedive. I question that.
Recent research in Science, involving over 6,400 people from 29 countries aged 8 days to 95 years, found that your metabolism doesn't just slack off due to age alone. The truth is - your metabolic rate peaks during infancy and then takes a gradual dip until you hit 20. It then plateaus until you're about 60. Only then does it start to decrease again, but at a modest rate of roughly 0.7% annually. This means that by the ripe age of 95, our metabolic rate could be around 20% lower than in our late 50s.
The plot thickens when they found that menopause doesn't put a dent in metabolism.
That was actually pretty shocking to me.
It also showed negligible differences between men and women's metabolism when body size and fat-free mass were factored in. Again, mind blown.
So, here's what I want you to do if you think your metabolism changed:
Take an honest evaluation of your lifestyle over the years. I, personally, know that my daily activity dropped during the Covid shutdowns. Now that I'm mostly working from home, my daily activity has changed drastically compared to before those shutdowns. I used to get in 20K steps per day on average. Now I actually WORK to get 10K steps in each day.
Your body adapts to your lifestyle. You have to be real with yourself. It's easy for a more sedentary life to sneak in as we age, start families, and shift our socializing habits.
Ultimately, I want you to feel good about this information. You have more control over your metabolism and overall health than you may realize.
Seriously. Isn't it more empowering to know that something you can't control, like your age, plays a MUCH smaller role in your metabolism than factors you can manipulate, like your lifestyle?
For tips on lifestyle habits, download your free copy of The SPARK Method!
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