Eat while the eating is good. This is because your metabolism slows down as you age. Nothing stays the same, that’s what they say.

You can’t eat the same as when you were young; otherwise, you might gain a few extra pounds that are hard to lose.

The decline of your metabolism is either due to the natural aging of your metabolic processes, being less active, or muscle loss.

Fortunately, there are certain things you can do to help prevent your metabolism from slowing down as you age.

Here we explain why metabolism declines as you age and how to combat the effects of aging on your metabolism.

What is metabolism?

Metabolism is a life-sustaining process wherein your body converts the food you eat and drinks you consume into energy.  It basically helps keep your body alive.

This process also determines the number of calories you burn every day. More calories are burned when you have a high metabolism.

The speed of metabolism is influenced by several factors, including the following:

Thermic effect of food (TEF): This is defined as the increase in metabolic rate that occurs after a meal. Carb and protein intake and larger meal sizes, as well as age and physical activity, play roles in TEF.

Resting metabolic rate (RMR): It is the total number of calories your body burns when it is at complete rest.  It supports basic neurological functions, organ function, circulating blood, and breathing.

Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT): It describes the number of calories burned through non-exercise activities, such as typing, working, fidgeting, performing yard work, and household chores.

Exercise: This refers to the energy expended through exercise.

Other factors that can influence your metabolism include muscle mass, height, age, and hormonal factors.

Unfortunately, your metabolism declines as you age, as shown in some research. This is mostly due to the aging of your internal components, less activity, and muscle loss.

Metabolic processes declines with age

Your resting metabolic rate is influenced by chemical reactions in your body.

Mitochondria and sodium-potassium pumps are two cellular components that contribute to these reactions. The former creates energy for your cells, while the latter helps generate muscle and heart contractions and nerve impulses.

These components have been shown in research to lose efficiency with age, thus the decrease in metabolic rate.

One study, for example, comparing the rate of the sodium-potassium pumps between 25 older men and 27 younger men has found that the pumps were slower by 18% in older adults, which resulted in burning 101 fewer calories per day.

In addition, another study comparing changes in the mitochondria between 40 older adults and 9 younger adults found 20% fewer mitochondria in older adults. Moreover, their mitochondria were less efficient at utilizing oxygen for energy.

Internal components have a lower effect on your metabolic speed as compared to the next two factors: the activity and muscle mass.

Older people tend to be less active

The speed of your metabolism is also determined by your activity levels.

In fact, activity makes up approximately 10–30% of your calories burned per day and can even increase up to 50% for very active individuals.

Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) is the energy expended through standing, household chores, fidgeting, and other activities other than exercise.

Older adults tend to be less active, thus burning fewer calories through activities as earlier mentioned. In fact, they have been shown in research to burn about 29% fewer calories through NEAT.

To prevent the decline, staying active is key.

In addition, regular endurance exercise has been shown in one study of 65 healthy young (21–35 years) and older (50–72 years) individuals to prevent metabolism from declining with age.

Muscles tend to lose with age

Each decade after 30, an average adult loses muscles (around 3–8%).

It has been shown in research that people aged 80 have roughly 30% less muscle than when they were 20.

This is known as sarcopenia and can cause weakness, fractures, and early death, as well as metabolic decline. It is noteworthy that your resting metabolism increases when you have more muscle.

People aged 70 have been found in a study of 959 people to have 11% slower resting metabolic rate (RMR) and 9 kg less muscle mass than people aged 40.

Your activity level affects your muscle mass, so if you are less active as you age, you are more likely to lose more muscle.

Other reasons for muscle loss with aging include fewer protein and calorie intake and reduced production of hormones like testosterone, estrogen, and growth hormone.

How much does your metabolism decline with age?

Muscle mass, activity levels, and several other factors affect the speed of your metabolism. Thus, the speed of metabolism varies from individual to individual.

For example, a study comparing the RMR of people aged 20–34, 60–74 and over 90 found that those aged 60–74 burned roughly 122 fewer calories compared to the youngest group, while those over 90 burned 422 fewer calories.

However, after considering other factors, including muscle, fat, and gender, scientists found that those over 90 burned 53 fewer calories and those aged 60–74 burned only 24 fewer calories on average daily.

This apparently shows the importance of maintaining muscle as you age.

Another study following older adults aged over 60 for 12 years found that men burned 70 fewer calories, while women burned 20 fewer calories after accounting for their fat and muscle differences.

All participants were also less active. Through activity, they burned 115 fewer calories per decade. This also shows the importance of staying active as you age.

Therefore, losing muscle and being less active seem to have a huge negative impact on your metabolism.

How to combat the effects of aging on your metabolism?

While it’s true that aging comes with a decline in the metabolism, there are certain things you can do to combat the effects of aging on your metabolism. Here are six different ways to prevent your metabolism from slowing down with age.

1. Try High-Intensity Interval Training

A training technique that alternates hard-charging intervals with periods of rest or less intense exercise, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) can help prevent a decrease in metabolism.

It continues to burn calories long after the workout; this is known as the “afterburn effect,” which occurs due to your muscles’ need for more energy to recover post workout.

In fact, HIIT has been shown in research to burn up to 190 calories over 14 hours post exercise. In addition, it has also been shown to help your body build and preserve muscle mass as you age.

2. Try Resistance Training

Also called weight lifting, resistance training is an excellent way to prevent your metabolism from slowing down.

Not only does it offer the benefits of exercise, but also help preserve muscle mass simultaneously—both of them influence the speed of your metabolism.

In fact, resistance training three times a week for 16 weeks has been found in one study in 13 healthy men aged 50–65 to increase participants’ RMR by 7.7%.

Moreover, half a year of resistance training three times a week has been found in another study in 15 individuals aged 61–77 to increase participants’ RMR by 6.8%.

3. Increase Your Protein Intake by Eating Protein-Rich Foods

Increasing your intake of protein through protein-rich foods can help combat the effects of aging on your metabolism.

Compared to carb and fat-rich foods, protein-rich foods have a higher thermic effect of food (TEF), which means that your body burns more calories while consuming, digesting, and absorbing these foods.

In fact, consuming 25–30% of your calories from protein has been found in studies to improve your metabolism by up to 80–100 calories per day.

Protein can also reduce the risk of sarcopenia—an aging-related loss of muscle mass.

What’s more, a protein-rich diet can preserve muscle, thereby fighting an aging metabolism.

Incorporating a source of protein in every meal is a simple way to increase your protein intake.

4. Make Sure You Are Eating Enough Food

A low-calorie diet switches your body into “starvation mode,” thereby slowing your metabolism.

Although dieting provides several benefits, it is also important to note that maintaining muscle mass is vital with age.

Older adults are more likely to have a reduced calorie intake and slow metabolism because they tend to have a lower appetite.

If you find it difficult to get enough calories in food, having high-calorie snacks like nuts and cheese handy or eating smaller portions more frequently can be a great idea.

5. Drink Green Tea

Containing caffeine and plant compounds that may increase your resting metabolism, green tea can increase the amount of calories you burn.

In fact, it can boost your metabolism by 4–5%.

Moreover, drinking green tea three times a day has been found in study in 10 healthy men to increase participants’ metabolism by 4% over 24 hours.

6. Get Enough Sleep

A lack of sleep has been shown in research to slow down your metabolism. Fortunately, a good night’s sleep can help restore metabolism.

In fact, a 4-hour sleep has been found in one study to reduce metabolism by 2.6% compared to having a 10-hour sleep. Fortunately, a 12-hour sleep can help reverse this effect.

Also, poor sleep seems to increase muscle loss, which slows down your metabolism.

If you seem to have sleeping problems, try taking a sleep supplement or unplugging from technology at least an hour before bed.

Conclusion

Your metabolism declines as you age due to being less active, muscle mass loss, or the aging of your internal components.

Fortunately, there are several things you can do to maintain a high metabolism as you age. These include high-intensity interval training, lifting weights, consuming adequate protein and calories, drinking green tea, and getting adequate sleep.