ABSTRACT
Resting metabolic rate, physical activity, and the thermic effect of food are fundamental components of daily energy expenditure. Obesity, from the quantitative point of view, is experienced when energy intake exceeds energy expenditure, following the unchanging law of thermodynamics: energy intake -energy expenditure = energy excess. A significant increase in energy expenditure was only seen in post-obese subjects when carbohydrates were added to the hyperlipidic diet. The thermogenetic response to the mixed meal and the lipid meal was significantly lower in obese subjects than it was in controls. Energy and lipid intake increased alongside increasing alcohol intake both in males and females after taking into account several possible confounding factors, principally the body mass index. The phenomenon becomes dramatically evident in population studies where greater alcohol consumption demonstrates a wasting effect, associated not only with higher energy intake, but, paradoxically, with a greater lipid intake.
