People live longer than other mammals because they burn calories 50% slower. This is the conclusion made by the researchers from Hunter College in New York.
Comparing Animals & Humans
Many of the mammals reach sexual maturity within a year after birth, and some of them get mature a few months or even weeks after being born. For example, a two-year-old dog is about 18 to 25 years old if we compare its age with that of a human being. But primates grow up in a much slower pace and produce fewer babies.
Burning Calories & Longevity
The same rule is applied to a human being, who has the longest life expectancy of all mammals. As the scientists from New York believe, people live so long because they burn calories very slow – twice slower than the pace at which this process is carried out in other mammals. Consequently, a person uses less energy for growth, and the aging process slows down.
A Faster Metabolism Makes You Age Faster
If people tried to feel what it means to expend energy as fast as the mammals of a similar size with us do, we would have to run a marathon every day. Accelerated metabolism, which many developers of all sorts of diets and healthy lifestyles strive for, is not that useful for a man.
What Causes Slow Metabolism in Humans?
This slow pace of life in humans and other primates has long puzzled scientists because they did not understand what mechanism is used. The authors of the study worked with 17 different primates in zoos and in the wild, measuring their daily energy expenditure. Then the obtained data were compared with the information about the energy consumption in other mammals. Significant differences in metabolism are explained by the significant increase in life expectancy in humans and primates. Among other mammals, perhaps only elephants do not have so quick metabolic processes. This explains the fact why elephants live 70 years on average.
