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Daily energy expenditure through the human life course

research.brighton.ac.uk

31–40 of 256 posts

Re: Daily energy expenditure through the human life course

#31

Anecdotally: I havent changed diet one bit, actually I eat way healthier than when I was younger. And still weigh much more than when younger.

I think thats basically true for most people, hence the belief that metabolism slows with age.

Proving that its not metabolism would imply that our weight gain in later life is a combination of other factors. I would bet good money on the increase in sedentary leisure activities, the reliance on motorised vehicles and a lack of energy to be active.

I would bet on those long before anything as nebulous as diet or intake volume.

Re: Daily energy expenditure through the human life course

#32

This doesn't seem to line up anecdotally; The first outlier I see is female health and PCOS, starting in mid 20s for women. The next outlier I see is insulin resistance and pre and diabetes based metabolism decline. From a hormone perspective, nose, ear, chin (femalr), and head hair seem to be going under significant change.

Mid 20s with when your lifestyle shift just starts to catch up to you.

You go from a more active young person that eats just enough to get back to hanging with friends to binge drinking in an instant. Then you go from that to a much lazier, snackier lifestyle of 9-5.

Yeah, people on the whole do get fatter in their 30s, but that’s very easily linkable to lifestyle.

Re: Daily energy expenditure through the human life course

#33
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TRT is great for people who have true hypogonadism that can’t be fixed by other means. I had a friend growing up whose testosterone was under 100ng/dL no matter what he tried with his doctor. Finally got TRT and felt normal again. However, after the honeymoon period the experience made him realize that not everything is explained and fixed by testosterone. He still had some mental health issues, he still had to work…

I had low testosterone due to a brain injury, and going on TRT was absolutely life changing. I do wonder if it could be largely beneficial for older men in the same way hormone replacement therapy for post menopausal women is. That said, permanently messing with your hormones as a younger person for no good reason is insane and I would try to talk anyone I knew out of it. Fun fact: I had an endocrinologist at the Uni…

I'm only 30 and no plans on going on TRT soon, but I definitely plan to if my levels start to get below the normal range for a substantial period of time just based on all the positive effects being in the normal range brings.

I am highly into fitness myself, but I know plenty of either friends or people I've met who are already getting TRT mostly because they want it to help them, but many of them have so many other issues that its just masking when it comes to things like diet, training, consistency, etc.

Additionally in the fitness world many go on TRT even when they already have normal test levels partly because they don't see it quite as "cheating" as other performance enhancing drugs are seen.

Re: Daily energy expenditure through the human life course

#35

This doesn't seem to line up anecdotally; The first outlier I see is female health and PCOS, starting in mid 20s for women. The next outlier I see is insulin resistance and pre and diabetes based metabolism decline. From a hormone perspective, nose, ear, chin (femalr), and head hair seem to be going under significant change.

This is caused from eating too much, not a decline in “metabolism”

Insulin resistance and PCOS absolutely have effects on metabolism. It’s very well studied.

Re: Daily energy expenditure through the human life course

#36
post #13

This was completely expected, at the macro level this is easily observed by measuring the outputs of metabolism and bodily function, mainly heat and physical activity. All humans have a baseline bodily temperature, meaning that the inner metabolism also is the same across all humans.

Your body can change the temperature gradient near its surface to retain or expel heat without a change in metabolism.

Re: Daily energy expenditure through the human life course

#37

Muscle burns more energy than fat. As people age, their muscle mass declines without sufficient exercise, so we'd naturally expect the average person's metabolism to decline via this even if "metabolism per kg muscle" didn't change.

This is exactly the kind of clear headed reasoning from prior knowledge I love coming to Hacker News to see. You're right. Thank you for the extra bit of gym motivation.

Re: Daily energy expenditure through the human life course

#38
This is interesting for me to see. For the longest while I was wondering why through my 40s and later I didn't seem to be hit with middle-aged weight gain, all while living my sedentary life in the computer chair. I wouldn't classify myself as average though, I've always had low heart rate/low blood pressure and low blood sugar. Swimming in salt-water is fun because I can float without much effort.

I did notice a decline in metabolism/muscle mass in the past several years, so I took to walking rather than driving in the city/neighbourhood and eating more and regularly which seems to have brought my levels back up somewhat. Now I look like someone who only goes to the gym on leg days.

Re: Daily energy expenditure through the human life course

#39

Another sobering result for the fitness industry, that convinces 30 year old men to be on TRT.

Never mess with the endocrine system! the real killer for mens T levels, ie the perception of low T, is sitting around all day. I'm convinced that most people, men and women, feel terrible because they simply don't do nearly enough physical activity day to day. 20 hours of screens a day is not normal.

Re: Daily energy expenditure through the human life course

#40

Anecdotally: I havent changed diet one bit, actually I eat way healthier than when I was younger. And still weigh much more than when younger.

Are you eating with the same consistency as when you were young? Are you walking the same amount as you used to? Are you partying with the same frequency? Etc.
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