“Energy Compensation and Adiposity in Humans”, Vincent Careau, Lewis G. Halsey, Herman Pontzer, Philip N. Ainslie, Lene F. Andersen, Liam J. Anderson, Lenore Arab, Issad Baddou, Kweku Bedu-Addo, Ellen E. Blaak, Stephane Blanc, Alberto G. Bonomi, Carlijn V. C. Bouten, Maciej S. Buchowski, Nancy F. Butte, Stefan G. J. A. Camps, Graeme L. Close, Jamie A. Cooper, Sai Krupa Das, Richard Cooper, Lara R. Dugas, Simon D. Eaton, Ulf Ekelund, Sonja Entringer, Terrence Forrester, Barry W. Fudge, Annelies H. Goris, Michael Gurven, Catherine Hambly, Asmaa El Hamdouchi, Marije B. Hoos, Sumei Hu, Noorjehan Joonas, Annemiek M. Joosen, Peter Katzmarzyk, Kitty P. Kempen, Misaka Kimura, William E. Kraus, Robert F. Kushner, Estelle V. Lambert, William R. Leonard, Nader Lessan, Corby K. Martin, Anine C. Medin, Erwin P. Meijer, James C. Morehen, James P. Morton, Marian L. Neuhouser, Theresa A. Nicklas, Robert M. Ojiambo, Kirsi H. Pietiläinen, Yannis P. Pitsiladis, Jacob Plange-Rhule, Guy Plasqui, Ross L. Prentice, Roberto A. Rabinovich, Susan B. Racette, David A. Raichlen, Eric Ravussin, John J. Reilly, Rebecca M. Reynolds, Susan B. Roberts, Albertine J. Schuit, Anders M. Sjödin, Eric Stice, Samuel S. Urlacher, Giulio Valenti, Ludo M. Van Etten, Edgar A. Van Mil, Jonathan C. K. Wells, George Wilson, Brian M. Wood, Jack Yanovski, Tsukasa Yoshida, Xueying Zhang, Alexia J. Murphy-Alford, Cornelia U. Loechl, Amy H. Luke, Jennifer Rood, Hiroyuki Sagayama, Dale A. Schoeller, William W. Wong, Yosuke Yamada, John R. Speakman, IAEADLW database group2021-08-27 (, , ; similar)⁠:

Understanding the impacts of activity on energy balance is crucial. Increasing levels of activity may bring diminishing returns in energy expenditure because of compensatory responses in non-activity energy expenditures. This suggestion has profound implications for both the evolution of metabolism and human health. It implies that a long-term increase in activity does not directly translate into an increase in total energy expenditure (TEE) because other components of TEE may decrease in response—energy compensation.

We used the largest dataset compiled on adult TEE and basal energy expenditure (BEE) (n = 1,754) of people living normal lives to find that:

energy compensation by a typical human averages 28% due to reduced BEE; this suggests that only 72% of the extra calories we burn from additional activity translates into extra calories burned that day. Moreover, the degree of energy compensation varied considerably between people of different body compositions.

This association between compensation and adiposity could be due to among-individual differences in compensation: people who compensate more may be more likely to accumulate body fat. Alternatively, the process might occur within individuals: as we get fatter, our body might compensate more strongly for the calories burned during activity, making losing fat progressively more difficult.

Determining the causality of the relationship between energy compensation and adiposity will be key to improving public health strategies regarding obesity.

[Keywords: activity, basal metabolic rate, daily energy expenditure, energy management models, exercise, Homo sapiens, trade-offs, weight loss, energy compensation]

Figure 2: Energy compensation in humans. (A) Total energy expenditure (TEE; MJ∙d−1) and (B) activity energy expenditure (AEE; MJ∙d−1) as a function of basal energy expenditure (BEE; MJ∙d−1) in 1,754 subjects included in this study, controlling for sex, age, and body composition. (A) illustrates how the slope of the TEE-BEE relationship is <1 (compared to the 1:1 dotted line), whereas (B) illustrates the negative relationship between AEE and BEE.

…To further illustrate the compensation occurring at the within-individual level, we ran a second bivariate mixed model with AEE and BEE as the dependent variables. In this model, the within-individual covariance was statistically-significantly negative (Table S2B). The within-individual correlation (±SE) between AEE and BEE was r = −0.58 ± 0.08 (Figure 4B). Hence, during extended periods when the studied cohort expended more energy on activity, they compensated by reducing energy expended on basal processes (but individuals with higher-than-average AEE do not necessarily have a lower-than-average BEE). The within-individual slope in these people indicates particularly strong energy compensation between AEE and BEE (Figure 4B). That is, in this sample of people, the calories they burn during bouts of activity are almost entirely compensated for by reducing energy expended on other processes such that variation in activity had little impact on TEE.

Figure 4: Energy trade-offs within individuals. Residual (A) total energy expenditure (TEE; MJ∙d−1) and (B) activity energy expenditure (AEE; MJ∙d−1) as a function of basal energy expenditure (BEE; MJ∙d−1) in elderly men and women (<em>n</em> = 68) with 2 pairs of TEE-BEE measures each. Within-individual slopes are illustrated by the thin black lines connecting the 2 residual values (gray dots; extracted from the bivariate mixed model; Table S2) for each individual.
Figure 4: Energy trade-offs within individuals. Residual (A) total energy expenditure (TEE; MJ∙d−1) and (B) activity energy expenditure (AEE; MJ∙d−1) as a function of basal energy expenditure (BEE; MJ∙d−1) in elderly men and women (n = 68) with 2 pairs of TEE-BEE measures each. Within-individual slopes are illustrated by the thin black lines connecting the 2 residual values (gray dots; extracted from the bivariate mixed model; Table S2) for each individual.