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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).

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

The Winter Soldier in What If...? Season 2

Something about the way the plates of his metal arm shift when he moves is so hot. Sue me.

It would be incredibly cool to actually get to do some of the things in the auction. I am totally going to tell the hubby we have to bid on some of it.

Ever want to get learn chess from a grandmaster? Or get tea with Neil Gaiman? Or even cohost The Moth podcast with Dan Kennedy?

Now’s your chance - our Moth Ball Online Auction is live! Bidding will close on May 16th… and good luck!

Why is it that when I think things are going allright and I'm pretty happy that no one else feels that way and when every one else is happy and thinks I'm doing better and working hard that I feel most depressed and unhappy? 

Seriously. 

WTF?

It's a completely new year now and I'm finally starting to really and truly feel more like myself again. Still things I need to work on, but I'm doing it.

I wasn't quite up to a really good post today, but there's a picture or two I saw that I'll be thinking about tonight...

Hello, class. Today I would like to tell you why “Yasha” is not a good thing for you to call Bucky in fic while he is the Winter Soldier.

It’s not “James” in Russian. It’s not. “Yasha” is the diminutive of “Yakov,” which is obviously Jacob. And yes, I know they have the same Aramaic? (I think) root, but like, here’s the deal – neither I (immigrated from the former Soviet Union as a child) nor my parents (lived in the Soviet Union for a good chunk of their lives) have ever met anyone named Yasha who wasn’t Jewish.

Don’t come at me with some exception you found on the internet – it’s a name that carries strong signifiers of Eastern European Jewishness. And we all know how the Soviets felt about Eastern European Jews (in case you don’t know – hint: really fuckin’ not great). It’s really unlikely that they would give a name with those signifiers to their super-weapon, especially in order to give him a name that’s etymologically close to his given name. 

Now, what should you call him instead?

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