Research

Energy balance

The doubly labeled water method slightly underestimates energy expenditure in heavier and fatter subjects compared to respiratory gas exchange, likely due to larger sequestration of isotopes in fat synthesis.

If you are using doubly labeled water to measure your energy needs, be aware that the device may slightly underestimate your true expenditure if you have a high body fat percentage. This is likely due to isotopes being sequestered in fat synthesis. For leaner individuals, the method is highly accurate.

GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
The doubly labeled water method is a suitable and accurate method to measure energy expenditure in free-living conditions... However, we also showed that a slightly larger underestimate was found in the heavier or fatter subjects... The underestimation in heavier subjects might be related to larger sequestration of deuterium labeled water in fatter subjects.
Éric Ravussin et al. · American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism · 1991

Why this rating

High-quality validation study with controlled conditions and direct comparison to gold-standard respiratory chambers.

Source

Energy expenditure by doubly labeled water: validation in lean and obese subjects

Éric Ravussin et al. · American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism · 1991

DOI 10.1152/ajpendo.1991.261.3.e402

cross_sectional · n=12Cited 117×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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