Research
Energy balance
Adaptive thermogenesis during overfeeding does not significantly increase resting energy expenditure (REE) or diet-induced thermogenesis (DIT); instead, energy dissipation occurs primarily through increased activity-related energy expenditure (AEE).
Eating more than you need does not significantly boost your resting metabolism. Instead, your body stores most of the excess energy as fat or increases your physical activity (EAT). This asymmetry means it is easier to gain weight than to lose it, as your body defends against weight loss more aggressively than it defends against weight gain.
GoodRefutesHIGH confidence
Taken together, during overfeeding, an adaptative increase in REE is non-existent and probably more a measurement artefact. By contrast, AT seems to be related to the non-resting component of EE.
Why this rating
Based on multiple controlled overfeeding studies cited in the review.
Source
Changes in Energy Expenditure with Weight Gain and Weight Loss in Humans
Manfred J. Müller et al. · Current Obesity Reports · 2016
DOI 10.1007/s13679-016-0237-4
narrative_reviewCited 255×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Adaptive thermogenesis (AT) during caloric restriction primarily manifests as a reduction in resting energy expenditure (REE) driven by glycogen depletion and insulin suppression, rather than changes in fat mass or leptin levels.Good
- During weight loss maintenance, adaptive thermogenesis is driven by low leptin levels associated with reduced fat mass, leading to decreased non-resting energy expenditure (AEE) and increased muscle work efficiency.Good
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