Similarly, it was wild for me to learn recently that the standard deviation for how many calories our body utilizes for a given calorie intake was WAY bigger than I thought.
Everyone intuitively knows that if 100 people each consume 100 calories, there will be some variation in how much of those 100 calories is "used" by each individual. But I had no idea the distribution is on the scale of 330%!
Meaning in this example, some people would only get 30 usable calories, and some would get the full 100! That was way larger of a spread than I thought.
Do you have your source? This doesn't make much sense from an evolutionary perspective, for natural selection to be indifferent to inefficient energy intake. Unless it's the increased efficiency that is new, like adult lactose tolerance.
I, too, would like a source here, as most consensus is that, for a hundred people of equal physical activity, eating habits, height and weight, the necessary caloric intake for a day is only +-75 or so.
Everyone intuitively knows that if 100 people each consume 100 calories, there will be some variation in how much of those 100 calories is "used" by each individual. But I had no idea the distribution is on the scale of 330%!
Meaning in this example, some people would only get 30 usable calories, and some would get the full 100! That was way larger of a spread than I thought.