Food fuels our bodies. Do people who have had amputations need less food/calories since they now have less ‘body’ to fuel? If so, is it a noticeable amount?
In: Biology
Yes , if you are amputated you need less calories because muscles burn calories even at rest but it still not a big difference cuz you brain and organs burn most of your calories
Yes, depending on the amount of muscle that is lost, humans would need less food. It pretty much comes down to gender, bodyweight and other factors, like reduced mobility. If someone loses their legs, they’d also become wheelchair bound, they would probably also move around less in general (not necessarily, I’ve known a person who lost his legs in a motorcycle accident who worked out a lot to maintain a very fit upper body) and therefore need less food as well. But yes, it could be a pretty significant difference in caloric intake.
yes. there’s less weight to fuel. and it depends on the person, but my grandfather recently has his entire leg amputated and it weighed around 20 pounds. he has a high BMI, so 20 pounds doesn’t do much of anything to his caloric needs.
Theoretically yes, but in practice you actually require a lot more energy to move around even with really good prosthetics.
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