Unknown facts of calorie consumption such as 'computational problem consumes a lot of calories' and 'infants consume a large amount of calories' are revealed
People who are on a diet or who are concerned about their health should be conscious of their daily 'calorie consumption' when working on their diet and exercise. However, there are many mysteries about calorie consumption, and many studies on calories have been conducted. Among such many studies, the scientific journal Science summarizes the results of Mr.
This scientist busts myths about how humans burn calories—and why | Science | AAAS
https://www.science.org/content/article/scientist-busts-myths-about-how-humans-burn-calories-and-why
◆ Brain function and calorie consumption
Animals, including humans, consume oxygen and emit carbon dioxide when producing energy from sugar. Therefore, it is possible to calculate calories burned by measuring carbon dioxide emissions. However, it is necessary to collect exhaled breath all day to check the 'daily calorie consumption' using this method, which puts a heavy burden on the subject. In addition, it was difficult to determine the calorie consumption of animals by this method because it is dangerous to collect the exhaled breath of non-human animals.
Therefore, Mr. Pontzer used a method called '
The blue bars in the graph below show the daily calories burned by male and female orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees and humans. Looking at the graph, you can see that the calories burned increase in the order of orangutan, gorilla, chimpanzee, and human. Also, the red bar shows the weight of fat, and it can be seen that male humans store about twice as much fat as other apes, and females store about three times as much fat. ..
From the above results, Pontzer hypothesized that the work of the brain consumes a lot of calories. In addition, it is speculated that humans have evolved to store more fat as they burn more calories.
In order to investigate the relationship between brain function and calorie consumption, Mr. Pontzer conducted an experiment to measure calorie consumption while having subjects solve computational problems and answer questions. As a result, it became clear that they consumed 1.3 times more calories when answering questions and 1.4 times more calories when solving computational problems than when they were at rest. 'Think about the amount of exercise you need to increase your calorie consumption by 1.4 times,' said Pontzer, emphasizing the amount of calorie consumption caused by overworking the brain.
◆ Exercise and calorie consumption
Mr. Pontzer measured the calorie consumption of the Hadza tribe, who routinely engage in high calorie consumption activities such as hunting and gathering in Africa, using the double-labeled water method. As a result, it was found that the calorie consumption of the Hadza people is almost the same as the calorie consumption of desk workers in Chicago. From this result, Ponzer speculates that 'the Hadza are using less energy for invisible movements such as inflammation recovery, so overall calorie consumption is the same as desk workers.' I am.
◆ Age and calorie consumption
The graph below shows the 'daily calories burned per body weight' that varies with age. Looking at the graph, it can be seen that calorie consumption per body weight is about 1.5 times that of adults from 0 to 5 years old, and then calorie consumption decreases and becomes constant until about 20 to 60 years old. Pontzer speculates that high calorie consumption in early childhood is due to 'development of the brain and immune system.'
Mr. Pontzer is proceeding with research to further deepen the knowledge obtained from the above research results.
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