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Supersoldier Physiology

It's common in fanfictions, including mine, to show Steve or Bucky as needing to eat a lot of food, but I've often wondered about this. It makes sense, since he's got a lot of muscle mass (Sam: "You're heavier than you look!") and we've seen in First Avenger that he's got a metabolic rate about 4x that of a normal human.

However, unlike other heroes (DC's Flash and, heck, even Tony Stark), we almost never see either Bucky or Steve eating. This could just be a directorial/writing decision since the stories are usually jam-packed and a lot ends up on the cutting room floor. Maybe TPTB simply figure it's implied and when the supersoldiers eat, they eat hefty meals (Steve in TWS: "I had a big breakfast.")

Or maybe the serum also makes them more metabolically efficient. Who knows? :)

But here is an interesting journal article on the topic:

Superhero physiology: the case for Captain America

Captain America is rarely seen ingesting food. This is significant since energy substrate utilization depends on caloric consumption. This is also directly relevant to statements made in the movies that Captain America has a resting metabolic rate four times above the normal human, making him resistant to the effects of alcohol (shown in Captain America: The First Avenger). The normal resting rate of oxygen consumption is 3.5 ml·kg−1·min−1 (15). Four times this value places Captain America’s resting metabolic rate at 14 ml·kg−1·min−1. With a body mass of 109 kg and an estimated body fat percentage of 10%, this means that his resting caloric expenditure is 7.63 kcal/min, contrasted to a normal human of the same body mass who expends roughly 1.9 kcal/min at rest. Hence, the elevated resting metabolic rate tremendously increases Cap’s caloric demand to maintain body weight. However, that Captain America is not shown constantly eating to meet this elevated resting caloric demand indicates that he does not need to ingest four times the amount of calories as would a normal 109-kg adult male with a greatly exaggerated resting metabolic rate.

The scientific explanation for this lies with metabolic efficiency. The normal adult male or female is very inefficient, as roughly 75–80% of the energy liberated in the body during metabolic processes is lost as heat (31). Thus, roughly 20–25% of ingested calories are utilized for energy production. A case could be made that Captain America’s dietary demands are not different due to an improved metabolic efficiency. This is supported by the fact that constant eating is not a part of his character as displayed in the movies. Nor do we see him sweating to dissipate the heat load associated with normal physiological inefficiency. We propose three main adaptations to explain this: 1) a major improvement in digestive efficiency mediated through both greatly increased absorptive capacity and reduced dietary-induced thermogenesis (this aspect will not be discussed further in this paper), 2) a greatly reduced metabolic energy expenditure in processes such as the Na+/K+ pump (discussed briefly below), and 3) tremendously enhanced cellular substrate utilization (discussed in greater detail since many physiological changes occur in response to chronic exercise training to allow for this effect).

‪@AliKat_7: Sebastian Stan as The Winter Solider/Bucky Barnes in Captain America: The Winter Soldier Exclusive Outtakes

Behind the scenes of Sebastian Stan for LA Magazine

when god closes a door you reach your little paws under it and go mrrwwaaaooow mmreeaaow

Such an exquisitely beautiful image.

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