Metabolic age are a comparison of an individuals metabolism to the average metabolism of individuals of the same age. Metabolic age isnt the same than chronological age, which is the number of years an individual have lived since there birthdate. An individual who has a younger metabolic age will have a metabolism that burn energy at a similar rate to an individual who is fitter.
An individual who has a higher metabolic age will have a metabolism that burns energy at a slower rate than the average individual of the same age. Basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the main component of metabolic age. BMR is the number of calories that an individual burns while they are resting.
Metabolic Age: What It Is and How to Make It Younger
Body composition influence BMR, specifically the amount of muscle masses that an individual has. An individual with more muscle will have a higher BMR than an individual with less muscle mass. Thus, an individual with higher BMR will have a youngerly calculated metabolic age.
There is several factors that can contribute to an individual having a higher metabolic age than an average individual of the same age. Low muscle mass is one of the most common factor. An individual with low muscle mass will have a lowerer BMR.
Other factors includes the stress that an individual is under (as high stress levels will increase metabolic age), sleep patterns (poor sleep will increase metabolic age), level of physical activity (sedentary lifestyles will increase metabolic age), and diet (crash diets will increase metabolic age due to the loss of muscle mass). An individual can take steps to improve their metabolic age through the use of specific methods. Increasing muscle mass through resistance training can lead to an increase in BMR, leading to a younger calculated metabolic age.
Performing high-intensity interval training (HIIT) can keep the metabolism active after the training session. Consuming meals with high protein content will increase the thermic effect of food (the energy that is burned to digest food), leading to increased calories burned. Finally, ensuring that an individual gets at least seven to nine hour of sleep per day will allow the body to properly restore insulin and other hormone.
You can measure your metabolic age with a few different tools. Bioelectrical impedance scales will measure your metabolic age by measuring the amount of muscle, fat, and water in your body. Indirect calorimetry will provide a more precision measurement of your metabolic age by measuring the amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide in your breath to calculate your BMR.
Blood panels can also help you to understand your metabolic age by measuring your thyroid hormones and insulin resistance. Finally, wearable devices will track your metabolic age by measuring the heart rate variability. There are also specific biomarkers that can help you to understand your metabolic age.
One of them is your skeletal muscle mass, which direct correlates with your BMR. Another biomarker is your insulin sensitivity, which indicates how well your body process energy. Other biomarkers are the levels of thyroid hormones in your body and your mitochondrial function.
Due to these different age groups having different body characteristics, they should have different goal to maintain a younger metabolic age. For example, individuals in their twenties should focus on building as much muscle mass as possible. Those in their thirties should focus on managing their stress level.
Individuals in their forties should be focusing on heavy lifting to combat the hormonal changes that occur with time. Finally, individuals who are over the age of fifty should focus on the intake of protein and movement to maintain there longevity.
