Dr. Rhonda Patrick on health: what the evidence says · JRE #1054
SUBJECT: HEALTH
The short answer
Rhonda Patrick claims VO2max/aerobic capacity declines by 10% per decade after age 25. The best available longitudinal evidence, from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (Fleg et al., 2005, Circulation), contradicts the idea that the decline rate is constant: in a cohort of healthy adults tracked over roughly 8 years, peak VO2 declined only about 3-6% per decade in people's 20s and 30s, but the rate of decline accelerated progressively with age, reaching more than 20% per decade by the 70s and beyond, and was consistently steeper in men than women from the 40s onward.
Not a true/false call. Every claim is logged with its sources; read the exhibits below.
once we hit 25 and we continue on, our aerobic capacity decreases by 10 percent per decade. So like one percent per year, right?
What the evidence says 01 / RECORD
Rhonda Patrick claimed that after age 25, aerobic capacity (VO2max) declines at a constant rate of about 10% per decade. The best available longitudinal evidence, from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (Fleg et al., 2005, Circulation), contradicts the idea that the decline rate is constant: in a cohort of healthy adults tracked over roughly 8 years, peak VO2 declined only about 3-6% per decade in people's 20s and 30s, but the rate of decline accelerated progressively with age, reaching more than 20% per decade by the 70s and beyond, and was consistently steeper in men than women from the 40s onward. A flat 10%-per-decade figure therefore overstates decline in early adulthood while understating it in older age. The claim's general direction (aerobic capacity declines with age after the mid-20s) is well-supported, but the specific flat 10%-per-decade figure oversimplifies the accelerating, non-linear trajectory documented in this primary longitudinal data.