Metabolic adaptations to over—and underfeeding—still a matter of debate?

Top of pageAbstract Weight changes in response to a change in energy intake are smaller than calculated from the excess or deficit of energy intake. Digestion efficiency is not affected by intake level when consuming the same diet. Over- or underfeeding induces an increase or decrease in energy expenditure. Intake-induced expenditure changes are largely explained by proportional changes in diet-induced energy expenditure, in activity-induced energy expenditure and in maintenance expenditure as a function of changes in body weight and body composition. Additionally, underfeeding causes a metabolic adaptation as reflected in a reduction of maintenance expenditure below predicted values and defined as adaptive thermogenesis. Thus, alternating overfeeding and underfeeding with an iso-energetic amount results in a positive energy balance. The latter might be one of the explanations for the increasing incidence of obesity in our current society with an ample food supply. Keywords: energy balance; digestion efficiency; diet-induced energy expenditure; activity-induced energy expenditure; resting energy expenditure