Comments on: Too Fast a Metabolism Accelerates Ageing

By: Mike OD

Mike OD — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:17:15 +0000

Neil - The wrinkles don’t start showing till at least 30. Actually I am a so called “hardgainer” as well….but do find it easier now to put on muscle using IF probably due to a slower metabolism…because I don’t want to have to eat 5000cal a day in the process. Enjoy the youth while you can….or put it in a bottle, sell it and make millions!

By: Neal W.

Neal W. — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:10:52 +0000

I feel as though I have a fast metabolism because I’m a hardgainer and my body radiates much heat (just ask the GF). But I don’t seem to be aging very quickly because I sometimes get carded for rated R movies and have actually had people in the past year believe I was only 16. I’m 26.

By: IF: "Long on promises, short on delivery?" | Modern Forager

IF: "Long on promises, short on delivery?" | Modern Forager — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:02:42 +0000

[...] lean body mass despite low caloric intake. There is an excellent post recently on the IF Life, Too Fast a Metabolism Accelerates Ageing, which covers many of the relevant issues of a slowed [...]

By: Mike OD

Mike OD — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 21:44:43 +0000

Chainey - I’m sure you get a bit of athletes that bloat up big time because they are no longer training 4 hours a day….but keep the same eating habits. But you are right in seeing some in prime shape that just get diseases associated with ageing such as MS, cancer, and heart diseases. Hard to say, but like an engine in a car….if you only have 100k till the motor dies on you…do you drive it 1000 miles a week or do smaller trips and keep it longer? CR studies already show that less cal can extend life…but it may not make you a great athlete or be able to handle all recovery needs associated with excessive training and multiple games. So there has to be awareness of both factors. Whether it’s thyroid output, metabolic enzyme depletion, free radical overproduction and damage, or just too much wear and tear…it’s definitely a whole body equation with multiple variables.

By: chainey

chainey — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 21:38:53 +0000

I have actually noticed the athlete mortality thing - not that I’m ghoulishly devouring the obituaries every day, but sport is a big part of my national culture (New Zealand) and every time I see a feature obit on some former sporting great, he seems to have popped his clogs before 60.

I always assumed that it was just that ex-athletes might think, “Been there, done that” and never do another bit of exercise their whole lives, but your theory sounds more plausible. Maybe a bit of both.

By: Mike OD

Mike OD — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 20:24:55 +0000

Scott - Good point. As we need amino acids, essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, etc for healthy functions. There’s no such thing as “essential” carbs, so why do we think we need so many? So makes sense the higher quality foods you eat, potentially the less you really need for healthy cellular rebuilding and immune function. While our body may be causing a signal to say “Hey I need more Magnesium”…we think “Oh, must be time for ice cream”. Needless to say we lost the user handbook a long time ago and our initial primal signals were made long before all those easily available carbs and fried foods came along. I would say though that for obese people it’s overabundance of fat cells that are doing the signaling that mess with our hormones overall. In the end, we need quality for maximum health as deficiencies usually cause something to go wrong. Meat and veggies (and some fruit) win again! (with some EFAs too….which would already be in leafy green vegetables and in the meat if it was high quality natural grass fed type…funny how it all comes full circle to the basics!)

By: Scott Kustes

Scott Kustes — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 19:13:14 +0000

Nice post MOD. Y’know, the talk of getting in enough nutrients triggered a thought in my head. I’ve heard before (and this makes sense to me), that the body is looking for nutrients, not calories. Therefore, you see lots of obese people eating junk food and being constantly hungry because the body isn’t receiving the vitamins and minerals it needs, so it keeps the hunger mechanism turned up. On the contrary, I find IF extremely easy when I’m eating nutrient-dense foods like meat and vegetables. Obviously it’s not the whole equation, but it makes sense for it to be part of the equation. Thoughts?

Scott Kustes
Modern Forager

By: Mike OD

Mike OD — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 18:18:02 +0000

David - I’ve always believed this too in that it can’t be healthy burning 4000+ cal a day as people usually just exercise more to “be healthy”. Of course there is a personal choice of what people want to do in their life. I may live longer if I never played sports, weighed 30lbs less and just walked around the mountains all day…but it’s not something I want to do. Of course I am not also out daily doing 2 hours of intense cardio activities thinking I am making myself healthy…which in my mind is pretty much the opposite of the real truth. People are getting convinced to do excessive endurance activities every day as a way to health…but is it really worth it? I love to get out a run 400-800 meter intervals…or even an occasional 5k trail run…but it’s cycled and not every day. In the end if a consistent activity takes eating 1000+ additional cal every time to recover from it, then it is not a positive factor in longevity.

By: DavidC

DavidC — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:55:19 +0000

Thanks for posting on this interesting subject. I’ve always believed a slower metabolism is a major key to longevity. I’m at about 1800 calories/day which for a 5′10″ 155lb male is prob. on the lower end. When arguing with others, I usually make reference to turtles which have slow metabolisms and live very long (150+ years). Also, for example, “an elephant lives about 69 years and a mouse 4 years. Yet the elephant lives a slightly shorter life when measured by a metabolic clock. Indeed, the elephant gets somewhat less than a billion heartbeats and the mouse slightly more”

By: Mike OD

Mike OD — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:51:51 +0000

Sarena - you can also look up “hypothyroidism” as many people may suffer from it. Eat for a healthy thyroid function…with getting enough vitamins (esp A,D,B) and minerals (potassium, calcium, magnesium). Lots of other factors including lifestyle stresses too. Being wired all day long on caffeine is not a good idea and can actually lead to CNS burnout when it comes to performance factors. It’s a whole body process so need to look at doing everything to keep it healthy.