Jakarta – Despite dedicated exercise routines and careful attention to diet, many individuals find their weight remains stubbornly unchanged. Recent research suggests a surprising reason: the body may not burn as many calories during exercise as previously believed.
For years, scientists operated under the assumption that the human body naturally burns between 1,300 and 2,000 calories daily without exercise, with additional calories burned during physical activity contributing to weight loss. However, this “additive model” is now being questioned.
Some researchers propose that the body has an inherent energy ceiling. When more calories are burned through exercise, the body compensates by conserving energy in other processes, such as cellular repair. To investigate this, researchers at Duke University conducted a meta-analysis, comparing the two models. They examined 14 studies involving a total of 450 participants.
The analysis revealed that only 72 percent of the calories burned during exercise actually contribute to a net increase in daily calorie expenditure. The remaining 28 percent are offset by the body’s compensatory mechanisms. Herman Pontzer, an evolutionary anthropologist involved in the study, explained this phenomenon from an evolutionary perspective.
Pontzer observed this firsthand although living with the Hadza community in Tanzania, one of the last remaining hunter-gatherer societies. Despite their physically demanding lifestyle – walking long distances daily to hunt and gather food – he found no significant difference in total daily calorie expenditure compared to the average American. “I had expected them to burn a lot more calories than people in the U.S.,” Pontzer told the New York Times, “but we didn’t find that.”
This suggests that the human body has evolved to regulate energy expenditure, maintaining a relatively consistent daily burn regardless of activity level. The findings challenge conventional wisdom about weight loss and highlight the complexity of metabolic regulation.
The research does not negate the health benefits of exercise, but it suggests that relying solely on calorie counting may be an oversimplified approach to weight management. Further research is needed to fully understand the body’s compensatory mechanisms and develop more effective strategies for achieving sustainable weight loss.