Ease of weight loss influenced by individual biology

NIH | MAY 16, 2015

For the first time in a lab, researchers found evidence supporting the commonly held belief that people with certain physiologies lose less weight than others when limiting calories.

Researchers at the Phoenix Epidemiology and Clinical Research Branch (PECRB), studied 12 men and women with obesity in the facility’s metabolic unit. Using a whole-room indirect calorimeter – which allows energy expenditure to be calculated based on air samples – researchers took baseline measurements of the participants’ energy expenditure in response to a day of fasting, followed by a six-week inpatient phase of 50 percent calorie reduction.

After accounting for age, sex, race and baseline weight, the researchers found that the people who lost the least weight during the calorie-reduced period were those whose metabolism decreased the most during fasting. Those people have what the researchers call a “thrifty” metabolism, compared to a “spendthrift” metabolism in those who lost the most weight and whose metabolism decreased the least.

The results corroborate the idea that some people who are obese may have to work harder to lose weight due to metabolic differences.

Researchers do not know whether the biological differences are innate or develop over time. Further research is needed to determine whether individual responses to calorie reduction can be used to prevent weight gain.

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