You’ve undoubtedly been told that as you get older, you can’t eat like you used to.
This is because your metabolism slows with age, making it simpler to gain weight and more difficult to lose.
Muscle loss, less activity, and the normal aging of your metabolic systems are all factors.
Fortunately, there are several things you may take to prevent this age-related decrease in metabolism.
This article discusses why your metabolism slows as you get older and what you can do about it.
What Is Your Metabolism?
Simply put, metabolism is the collection of chemical processes that keep your body alive.
It also calculates how many calories you burn each day. The more calories you burn, the quicker your metabolism.
Four significant elements impact the rate of your metabolism (1):
- Resting metabolic rate (RMR): The number of calories burned when resting or sleeping. It is the bare minimum required to keep you alive and functional.
- Thermic effect of food (TEF): The number of calories burned when digesting and absorbing meals. TEF is typically 10% of your daily calorie burn.
- Exercise: The number of calories burned when exercising.
- Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT): The number of calories burned by non-exercise activities such as standing, fidgeting, dishwashing, and other home duties.
Age, height, muscular mass, and hormonal variables can all impact your metabolism (1).
Unfortunately, studies suggest that your metabolism decreases as you get older. Less exercise, muscle loss, and the aging of your internal components are some of the causes behind this (2, 3).
People Tend to Be Less Active With Age
Your level of exercise has a significant impact on the rate of your metabolism.
In reality, exercise and non-exercise activity — accounts for around 10-30% of your daily calorie burn. This figure can be as high as 50% for particularly active persons (4).
Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) refers to calories burnt by non-exercise activities. This includes jobs such as standing, dishwashing, and other home chores.
Unfortunately, older folks tend to be less active and burn fewer calories via physical activity.
According to research, more than a fifth of Americans aged 50 to 65 do not exercise outside work. Over 75s comprise more than a third of the population (5).
According to research, NEAT also burns around 29% fewer calories in elderly persons (6).
Maintaining an active lifestyle can help avoid this reduction in metabolism.
According to one research of 65 healthy young individuals (21-35 years old) and older persons (50-72 years old), regular endurance exercise protects metabolism from slowing down with age (7).
People Tend to Lose Muscle With Age
After 30, the average adult loses 3-8 percent of their muscular mass (8).
Studies reveal that after you reach the age of 80, you have around 30% less muscle than when you were 20. (9).
Sarcopenia is the loss of muscle with age that can lead to fractures, frailty, and mortality (10).
Sarcopenia also lowers your metabolism since increased muscle boosts your resting metabolic rate (11).
A study of 959 participants discovered that adults over 70 had 20 pounds (9 kg) less muscle mass and an 11% slower resting metabolic rate (RMR) than people under 40.
Because muscle mass is impacted by activity level, becoming less active is one of the reasons you lose more muscle as you age (13).
Other factors include ingesting fewer calories and protein and decreasing hormone syntheses, such as estrogen, testosterone, and growth hormone (13, 14).
Metabolic Processes Slow Down With Age
Chemical processes within your body affect how many calories you burn at rest (RMR).
Your sodium-potassium pumps and mitochondria are two biological components that drive these events (15, 16).
The sodium-potassium pumps assist in the generation of nerve impulses and muscle and heart contractions, while the mitochondria provide energy for your cells (17, 18, 19).
According to research, both components lose effectiveness with age and slow your metabolism.
One research, for example, examined the rate of sodium-potassium pumps in 27 younger and 25 older men. The pumps were 18% slower in older persons, resulting in 101 fewer calories burned daily (16).
Another research evaluated mitochondrial alterations in 9 younger persons (average age 39) with 40 older adults (average age 69). (20).
Scientists discovered that elderly persons had 20% fewer mitochondria. Furthermore, their mitochondria were about 50% less effective in converting oxygen into energy – a function that helps fuel metabolism.
However, compared to exercise and muscle mass, these internal factors have a minor impact on metabolic speed.
How Much Does the Metabolism Slow Down With Age?
Your exercise level, muscle mass, and other factors influence your metabolism. As a result, the metabolic rate differs between individuals.
For example, one research evaluated the RMR of three age groups: 20-34, 60-74, and above 90. People aged 60-74 burnt around 122 fewer calories than the youngest group, while those over 90 expended approximately 422 fewer calories.
After accounting for variations in gender, muscle, and fat, investigators discovered that persons aged 60-74 burnt just 24 fewer calories per day on average, but those over 90 burned 53 fewer calories.
This demonstrates the critical need for muscle maintenance as you age (21).
Another research monitored 516 older persons (aged 60 and above) for twelve years to see how much their metabolism decreased every decade. Women burnt 20 fewer calories at rest every decade after accounting for muscle and fat variations, whereas males burned 70 fewer calories.
Interestingly, men and women were less active, burning 115 fewer calories every decade of exercise. This demonstrates the need to be functional as you age to preserve metabolism (3).
Despite this, one study discovered no change in RMR between women of various ages. However, the oldest group of persons in the research lived unusually long (over 95 years), which is assumed to be due to their higher metabolisms (22).
In short, being less active and losing muscle has the most detrimental impact on your metabolism.
How Can You Prevent Your Metabolism Slowing Down With Age?
Although the metabolism slows with age, there are several things you may do to combat this. Here are six strategies for dealing with the impacts of aging on your metabolism.
1. Try Resistance Training
Resistance exercise, often known as weight lifting, is excellent for reducing metabolic slowdown.
It provides the advantages of exercise while keeping muscle mass – two aspects influencing your metabolism rate.
One research of 13 healthy males aged 50 to 65 discovered that 16 weeks of weight exercise three times per week boosted their RMR by 7.7 percent (23).
Another research of 15 persons aged 61 to 77 indicated that six months of weight exercise three times per week boosted RMR by 6.8 percent (24).
2. Try High-Intensity Interval Training
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) can help avoid metabolic slowdown. The training method alternates between strenuous anaerobic activity and brief rest periods.
HIIT also burns calories long after you’ve finished exercising. This is referred to as the “afterburn effect.” It happens because your muscles require extra energy to recuperate from activity (25, 26).
Studies have shown that HIIT may burn up to 190 calories after 14 hours of exercise (26).
According to research, HIIT can also help your body gain and maintain muscle mass as you age (27).
3. Get Plenty of Sleep
According to research, a lack of sleep might cause your metabolism to slow down. Fortunately, a good night’s sleep can counteract this impact (28).
According to one study, 4 hours of sleep decreased metabolism by 2.6 percent compared to 10 hours. Fortunately, a whole night’s sleep (12 hours) helped to recover metabolism (29).
It also appears that lack of sleep contributes to muscle atrophy. Because muscle regulates RMR, decreasing power can reduce your metabolism (30).
If you have trouble falling asleep, consider disconnecting from electronics at least one hour before bed. Alternatively, consider taking a sleep supplement.
4. Eat More Protein-Rich Foods
Eating more protein-rich meals can aid in the battle against a slowed metabolism.
This is because your body expends more calories when ingesting, digesting, and absorbing protein-rich meals. This is referred to as the thermic impact of food (TEF). TEF is greater in protein-rich diets than in carbohydrate- and fat-rich ones (31).
Studies have shown that eating 25-30% of your calories from protein can increase your metabolism by up to 80-100 calories per day compared to lesser protein diets (32).
Protein is also required to combat sarcopenia. As a result, a protein-rich diet can help counteract aging metabolism by retaining muscle (33).
An easy method to increase your protein intake is to include a protein source at each meal.
5. Make Sure You Eat Enough Food
A low-calorie diet might cause your metabolism to slow down by putting your body into “starvation mode” (34).
While dieting provides advantages when you are younger, keeping muscle mass becomes more essential as you age (35).
Older people also have a weaker appetite, reducing calorie intake and delaying metabolism (36).
If you find it challenging to get enough calories, consider eating smaller meals more frequently. It’s also a good idea to keep high-calorie snacks on hands, such as cheese and almonds.
6. Drink Green Tea
Green tea can boost your metabolism by 4-5%. (37).
This is due to caffeine and plant chemicals in green tea, which has been found to raise your resting metabolism (38).
A study of ten healthy men discovered that drinking green tea three times a day boosted their metabolism by 4% over 24 hours (39).
The Bottom Line
According to studies, your metabolism slows down as you become older.
Slow metabolism is caused by becoming less active, decreasing muscular mass, and the aging of your internal components.
Fortunately, there are several strategies to prevent aging from decreasing your metabolism.
Weight lifting, high-intensity interval training, eating adequate calories and protein, getting plenty of sleep and drinking green tea.
Try incorporating a couple of these tactics into your everyday routine to help maintain and possibly enhance your metabolism.
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