Examples

The term metabolism often brings to mind simply what someone eats. But that is only part of it. Metabolism is the sum - the result - of every chemical action and reaction in and of the body. This website exists, like the nonprofit that created it, to offer science and education about her metabolism. Following are some examples, with their references right below.

Osteoporosis

Her risk for osteoporsis (weak breakable bones) is generally four times higher than his.

Source: FDA (reference five, below)

Broken Hips

She is 108 times - 10,800% - more likely than him to break her hips during basic military service (for example, just marching).

Source: United States government (source six, below)

Bodyfat

For basic health, her metabolism requires keeping about four times the essential fat as his metabolism requires.

Source: Flynn et al.; Kebles and Hemric (reference three, below)

Data Table About Her Metabolism

Element	Hers	His
Water	She typically needs less than 70% of the water that he needs.¹	He typically needs more than 140% of the water that she needs.¹
Fat	She typically needs to carry about 400% of the essential fat that he needs.²	He typically needs to carry about 25% of the essential fat that she needs.²
Muscles, Tendons, Ligaments	Hers tend to be much weaker, looser, and prone to injury.³	His tend to be much stronger, tighter, and more resistant to injury.³
Bones	Women and girls suffer the vast majority of metabolically weak breakable bones - a condition that some call osteoporosis or (when less severe) osteopenia.⁴ Also, basic military service breaks her hips over - 100 times - more often than his.⁶	Of those whose bones metabolically rot (which some call osteoporosis or osteopenia): only 1 in 5 is a man or boy.⁴

References

National Academy of Sciences. (2005). Dietary References: Intakes for Water, Potassium, Sodium, Chloride, and Sulfate. https://www.nap.edu/read/10925/chapter/6
Flynn et al. (n.d.). How Much Fat is Needed?. LibreTexts: Medicine (University System of Georgia). https://med.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Health_and_Fitness/Concepts_of_Fitness_and_Wellness_(Flynn_et_al.)/06%3A_Body_Composition/6.03%3A_How_Much_Fat_is_Needed
0 Kebles CA, Hemric M. (2021). Omega Z Diet for Weight Loss: Master Our Diet and Nutrition Understanding. Omega-Z Diet Books.
Macmillan, C. (2020, February 14). Are ACL tears really more common in women? Yale Medicine. https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/sports-injuries-gender
Osteoporosis. (2024). FDA. https://www.fda.gov/consumers/womens-health-topics/osteoporosis
Musculoskeletal injuries in military women. Borden Institute: An official website of the U.S. Army Medical Center of Excellence. Published July 3, 2012. https://medcoe.army.mil/borden-tb-muscu-injuries-mil-women

Medical, Legal, and Metabolic Advice

Here in the USA, jurisdiction matters a lot. It is generally illegal and a bad idea for anyone but a jurisdiction-licensed physician to give medical advice, anyone but a jurisdiction-licensed attorney to give legal advice, anyone but a jurisdiction-licensed nutritionist or registered dietician to give metabolic advice, and so forth. This website's information is generally incomplete to predict how applying it may affect a given visitor - because the effects depend on the person's unique circumstances and characteristics.

So, here is the only medical, legal, and metabolic advice on this website: None of this website is individualized medical, legal, or metabolic advice. It is general information. You should not try to apply any of this information to your life, unless you know what you are doing. Generally, the governments of USA's jurisdictions (states and territories) declare two things through law:

Without the guidance of a jurisdiction-licensed physician, attorney, or nutritionist: you do not know what you are doing, so it is unwise and unsafe for you to make too many decision about your medical, legal, and metabolic status and circumstances, and
no one but a licensed physician, attorney, or nutritionist can safely and effectively advise you about those statuses and circumstances - thus, it is generally illegal for anyone else to try.

Obviously, those standards are extremely conservative, if not heavy-handed. However, one should remember that many of those people in government who uphold such strict standards have seen the stuff of nightmares: predictable, preventable, terrible consequences when the least capable and least conscientious people make the worst decisions - whether medically, legally, nutritionally, or otherwise. So, it is not wildly unreasonable to promote - even to legally command - erring on the safe side. Still, various jurisdictions do provide some exceptions to those exceptionally strict standards under law.

Here in Minnesota (and in many other U.S. states and territories) a person can help you with certain aspects of your medical, legal, and metabolic status and circumstances - even when that person is not formally licensed by the jurisdiction. Minnesota, for example, allows various people besides licensed nutritionists and registered dieticians to give metabolic advice and guidance: certain Complementary and Alternative Health Care providers, which Minnesota allows under law. Minn. Stat. § 146A. Thus, one need not feel completely locked into the strict standards listed above (though jurisdictions do typically still hold alternative providers to certain basic standards under law). Instead, in the USA, one can discuss the information on this website, and receive guidance about it, from various experts - whether jurisdiction-licensed or not. Meanwhile, this thorough and smart-sounding notice and explanation should not tempt any visitor into having any extra trust for the information in this website. At most, as the saying goes: "trust but verify."

Sincerely,

Dr. R. Floyd Lindquist

Her Metabolism: Founder, Treasurer, Secretary, Lead Data Scientist, and Director of Communications and Research

PhD (Thanatology), PsyD (Psychology), DLP (Law and Policy), MPH (Nutrition & Epidemiology), MS (Nutrition), MA (Counseling)

floyd[at]hermetabolism[dot]org