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Maintenance caloric requirements change as your body mass changes (and composition). It's pretty obvious that, for example, your maintenance requirement at 200
by leshow 11y ago
Maintenance caloric requirements change as your body mass changes (and composition). It's pretty obvious that, for example, your maintenance requirement at 200 lbs will be different from your maintenance requirement at 150 lbs; you have less tissue to sustain.
- mistermann 11y agoAny comments on the question asked? (Gut flora & metabolism)
- mikekchar 11y agoHopefully my previous answer will help you. Unless you can sustain nuclear reactions in your gut, you can't extract more energy from the food. It is not possible. You can easily extract less, though. The calculations are simple because that's how they were designed to work. Going the other way (gaining weight) is actually where it is problematic (because not all of the food value is used -- although bodies are remarkably efficient).
- DanBC 11y agoThe calorie value is an absolute upper bound. But some people have a gut flora that helps them extract more of those calories than the regular population. And some people have a gut flora that helps them not extract some of those calories. And since gut flora can change over time a person eating 2000 might be maintaining weight one year but gaining weight the next year with no change in food intake. I agree that people who say "I eat very little and I'm not losing weight" are mistaken.
- mistermann 11y ago> And since gut flora can change over time a person eating 2000 might be maintaining weight one year but gaining weight the next year with no change in food intake. Finally a voice of reason. Do you happen to know of any decent literature or particular keywords one might google to read up on this?