The Study
Increasing energy flux to decrease the biological drive toward weight regain after weight loss - A proof-of-concept pilot study.
This study looked at how two different ways of eating and exercising affected hunger and metabolism in just six people after they lost weight. It found that one way made them feel less hungry and burn more calories, but that doesn't mean it will work for everyone or stop weight from coming back.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
After losing weight, your body tries to make you hungry and burn fewer calories. This study tested if being very active and eating more helps fight that.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 541 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1The calorie difference is small—about the energy in a banana—but feeling less hungry at night might help people stick to their diet.
- 2People who exercised 500 kcal/day and ate 1.7x their resting calories burned 79 more calories at rest and felt less hungry at night than when they were sedentary and ate less.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Clinical nutrition ESPEN
Year
2016
Authors
Hunter L. Paris, Rebecca M. Foright, Kelsey Werth, Lauren Larson, Joseph W. Beals, Kimberly A Cox-York, C. Bell, C. Melby
Related Content
Claims (4)
When the body processes a large amount of energy from food and physical activity, it burns more calories at rest, breaks down more fat, and reduces feelings of hunger, regardless of whether total calorie intake exceeds or falls short of expenditure.
After losing weight, people who eat more and move more may experience a lower biological urge to regain weight because their metabolism stays higher and they feel less hungry, but it is not known whether this prevents long-term weight regain.
In people who have lost weight and are obese, engaging in daily exercise that burns about 500 calories while eating more food leads to a small increase in resting metabolism and changes in hunger and fullness sensations during the day compared to being inactive and eating less.
After losing weight, obese adults who experience a high energy flux—meaning they eat and burn a lot of calories—do not show different changes in calorie burning after eating or in blood sugar and insulin levels compared to those with a low energy flux.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.