Research recently released by Harvard’s Department of Human Evolutionary Biology has revealed that our metabolism is slowing down. Humans as a whole are seeing a slower metabolic rate now in the United States than they were in 1830. Since that time almost two hundred years ago, the rate at which human bodies have burned through energy while at rest and while active has steadily declined.
Metabolism is Slowing Down and Has Been for At Least 200 Years
The Harvard researchers found that there has been a 6 percent reduction in human resting metabolic rate during that span of time. The metabolism is slowing down to a point that suggests that people in the United States are now doing an average of 27 minutes of “moderate to vigorous” daily physical activity less than they had been in 1830. Moderate to vigorous activity includes movements such as jogging or walking briskly.
The researchers determined that the reason metabolism is slowing down across the US population to such an extent is that technological advancement doesn’t require us to do as much physical activity, so we don’t.
What the Research Was About
Postdoctoral fellow in Human Evolutionary Biology Andrew K. Yegian and professor of Biological Sciences and Human Evolutionary Biology Daniel E. Lieberman worked with Steven Hymsfield of Louisiana State University on the study. They published their findings in the peer-reviewed Current Biology journal.
The study was conducted in Lieberman’s lab, and he said that the concept for the study was inspired by some of his previous research. This study used temperature data to determine the way the metabolism is slowing down in people in the United States. He and his lab had previously done similar research on changes in temperature on the demands on the immune system.
Lieberman said that this information would prove helpful in understanding the way the metabolic rate is affected by industrialization and declining physical fitness trends. Essentially, the body temperature was used as a gauge for the amount of physical activity the average person was doing in a day.
The Metabolism is Slowing Down Due to Technology
According to Lieberman, the metabolism is slowing down due to the ubiquity of convenient technology across the United States. He explained that even slight technological changes to our everyday lives impacts our overall physical activity.
Elevators, escalators and even shopping carts all made a difference in both shopping and manual labor. That said, with online ordering and door-to-door delivery, we don’t even need to go to the store to use the escalators and shopping carts anymore. We just have to receive the delivery and go back to our desks and computers.
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