Our metabolism naturally slows with age, right? At least that’s the common notion, which lets us off the hook for the middle-age spread that many people take on, some well before middle age, and beyond. Well, not so fast. It turns out that lifestyle plays a bigger role than scientists had suspected. The story is told in “Surprising Findings about Metabolism and Age” by Chika Anekwe, MD, and Fatima Cody Stanford, MD, Harvard Health Publishing. Metabolism is a fancy word, but its meaning is straightforward: the process by which your body converts what you eat and drink into energy. The calories in food and beverages are combined with oxygen to release the energy the body needs to function. Even when you’re at rest, your body needs energy for breathing, circulating blood, adjusting hormone levels, and growing and repairing cells. The number of calories your body uses to carry out these