Energy balance
Resting energy expenditure (REE) is determined primarily by the mass of metabolically active organs (brain, liver, heart, kidneys) rather than total fat-free mass or skeletal muscle, as organs constitute only ~5% of body weight but contribute 70-80% of REE.
Your resting calorie burn is driven mostly by your vital organs (liver, brain, heart, kidneys), not your skeletal muscle. While building muscle is healthy, it does not significantly increase your resting metabolic rate compared to the baseline cost of maintaining your organs. Accurate metabolic predictions require measuring organ mass, not just total body weight or muscle size.
Thus, in adults, 70–80% of REE is derived from organs which comprise only ª5% of body weight (Fig. 2).
Why this rating
Based on a compilation of 116 in vivo measurements using precise imaging technologies (MRI/CT), though the paper notes discrepancies between studies.
Source
Metabolically active components of fat‐free mass and resting energy expenditure in humans: recent lessons from imaging technologies
Manfred J. Müller et al. · Obesity Reviews · 2002
DOI 10.1046/j.1467-789x.2002.00057.x
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- The non-linear relationship between Resting Energy Expenditure (REE) and Fat-Free Mass (FFM) is explained by the changing proportion of metabolically active organ mass to skeletal muscle as body size increases.Good
- Resting Energy Expenditure can be accurately reconstructed from detailed body composition analysis using MRI or CT-derived organ masses multiplied by constant organ tissue-respiration rates.Good
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