Do men need more calories than women?

“Generally speaking, yes,” says Bethan Crouse, a performance nutritionist from Loughborough University, but it is not a one-size-fits-all rule. Humans burn calories to fuel everything from movement to sleeping, and for the general adult population aged about 19 to 64 guidance puts daily energy needs at about 2,000 calories for women and 2,500 for men; requirements differ in children and adolescents and tend to fall with age, declining between 65 and 74 and dropping again after 75.

One main reason men typically need more calories is a higher resting metabolic rate, largely explained by body composition: on average men have more lean muscle mass while women tend to have a higher proportion of body fat, and muscle burns more calories than fat.

Hormones play a role too — higher levels of testosterone in men promote muscle growth, so two people of the same height, age and weight with the same exercise routine may still have different calorie needs. Individual variation matters.

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