Examining the Effects of Weight Loss on Energy Expenditure in Humans

• Main Author: Schwartz, Alexander
• Language: en
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: energy expenditure; obesity; adaptive thermogenesis; fat mass; fat-free mass; Leptin; peptide YY; weight loss
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10393/20455

Being able to effectively match energy intake to energy expenditure (EE) is an important aspect in preventing weight re-gain in the post-obese. Although it is generally agreed upon that resting EE decreases concomitantly with weight loss, there is no set standard comparing the deviations with differing weight loss protocols and additionally, controversy remains as to whether this decrease is greater than can predicted. In order to address these issues 2977 subjects were analyzed using a systematic review and the differences of both the protocol and length of various interventions in addition to sex were compared. Next, data was selected from this systematic review and 815 subjects were analyzed for weight loss-induced changes in resting EE, FM and FFM. Another subgroup of studies (n = 1450) was analyzed and compared against the Harris-Benedict prediction equation to determine whether the changes in resting EE were greater than what was expected. Finally, in order to determine which factors may be involved in regulating changes in resting EE during weight loss, a secondary analysis was performed on 28 post-menopausal women (age= 50.4 ± 2.0 yrs; BMI= 32.4 ± 5.2 kg/m²) who were submitted to a 6-month caloric restriction. Body composition (DXA), resting EE (indirect calorimetry), physical activity EE (PAEE) and total EE (TEE) (doubly-labelled water) were measured before and after the 6 month weight loss. Blood samples were collected before and after to measure leptin and peptide YY. The results indicate that there was indeed a depression in resting EE during weight loss regardless of the type of intervention utilized. Furthermore, these findings suggest that the changes could not fully be explained by changes of FM and FFM alone and that leptin may be an important contributor to the changes of resting EE during weight loss.