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Science confirms what mothers have known for a long time: pregnancy is the ultimate experience of human endurance.
The results of a study by Duke University, which examines some of the world's most intensive and long-lasting activities, suggest that all humans have a specific metabolic limit, or a maximum amount of energy that they can maintain. for a long period. In other words, we all face the same problem about the difficulty of physically pushing ourselves over time. The ultra-marathon runners, elite, reach this limit, as well as pregnant women.
The researchers badyzed runners during a 3,000 km long race spanning 140 days between California and Washington DC, and combined it with data previously collected during long distance triathlons, Arctic expeditions and tours of France. In all cases, they found that after approximately 20 days, athletes were able to maintain their energy consumption up to 2.5 times their resting metabolic rate. Because of the way the human body processes calories, it simply can not withstand higher energy consumption, resulting in a ceiling. Nothing more than that, and the body starts to draw fat reserves, gnawing on its own tissue.
In a secondary outcome, the study measured the energy expended by pregnant women compared to that of athletes.
Talk to ParentologieHerman Pontzer, co-lead author and professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke University, says, "We were curious to see how pregnancy compares in a formal badysis of the disease. long-term endurance. "
The results show that pregnant women reach almost the limit of human endurance at 2.2 times their resting metabolic rate. And they maintain this rate throughout their pregnancy and throughout the lactation period – a longer period than competitive sports events.
"People are burning more calories per day in ultra marathon, triathlon, Tour de France, etc., but none will maintain it as long as a pregnancy announces," says Pontzer. "Indeed, it is the longest and most intense thing that the body can do."
In addition, many obstetricians now encourage women with uncomplicated pregnancies to exercise each day.
The study did not only focus on the period of pregnancy, but also three months after gestation for badfeeding mothers. A normal pregnancy of 40 weeks lasts about 270 days. An extra 90 days means mothers are at the edge of danger for about a year.
While the study initially aimed to discover the limit of endurance while watching athletes, the link with pregnancy provides scientific evidence of the harshness of gestation in a woman.
Pontzer concedes in a Parent of today interview, "Mothers are probably not surprised by this."
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