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Habitual fat intake and basal fat oxidation in obese and non-obese Caucasians

International Journal of Obesity volume 26, pages 150–156 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between habitual fat intake and basal fat oxidation in obese and non-obese Caucasian men and women.

METHODS: Habitual fat intake was assessed by 7-day weighed dietary records and resting fat oxidation was determined after an overnight fast in 132 weight stable non-diabetic subjects (38 males, 94 females). All subjects were characterized for weight, height, waist-to-hip ratio, physical activity, plasma glucose and insulin response to an oral glucose load, plasma catecholamine and leptin levels. Under-reporters, defined according to plausibility of the relationship between energy expenditure and energy intake, were excluded from the analyses.

RESULTS: The mean age was 53.1±10.6 y (19–72 y) and mean body mass index (BMI) was 30.7±5.8 kg/m2 (19.4–45.8 kg/m2). Sixty-eight subjects were obese (BMI>30 kg/m2). Univariate regression analysis revealed a significant, albeit modest, relationship between absolute fat intake and BMI (r2=0.06; P≤0.05) but not between fat intake and fat mass (r2=0.026; P=0.08). However, multiple regression analysis revealed significant effects of body fat mass (FM) and sex on basal fat oxidation (bFO) explaining 33% of the variation of bFO (P≤0.0001; √s.e.=18.0 g/24 h). In univariate regression analysis, habitual fat intake was significantly related to adjusted fat oxidation, explaining 12% of the variation (P≤0.0001; √s.e.=11.7 g/24 h).

CONCLUSION: Habitual fat intake has a significant, albeit modest, effect on basal fat oxidation, even when adjusted for sex and body FM. The rather modest effect of habitual fat intake on fat oxidation may in part explain the increased propensity to gain FM on a high-fat diet.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Brigitte Geue, Monika Hantschke-Brüggemann, Bärbel Girresch, Lisa Wolf and Klaus Schlotter for their excellent technical help. The study was supported by the Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie (BMBF, 685.20).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Biochemistry and Physiology of Nutrition, German Institute of Human Nutrition, Potsdam-Rehbrücke, Germany

    I Kunz, K Römmling & S Klaus

  2. Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, Franz-Volhard Klinik, Medical Faculty Charité, Humboldt University Berlin, Germany

    I Kunz, U Schorr & AM Sharma

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Correspondence to AM Sharma.

Appendix

Appendix

Calculation of the cut-off value of the energy intake (EI)/basal metabolic rate (BMR) ratio in weight-stable subjects

Calculation of the cut-off value of the EI/BMR ratio:

TEE (total energy expenditure)/BMR is the average physical activity level (PALcalc) of our study population (1.340). s.d.min is −3 for 99.7% confidence limits, n is the number of individuals (=132) and CV includes the inter-individual variation in energy intake and the number of the recorded days. For measured basal metabolic rate and 7 day, the coefficient of variation is 15.4%.15 RMR/BMR was corrected by multiplying with 0.9 as that basal metabolic rate is 10% lower than resting metabolic rate.

The equation for the cut-off is:

This cut-off value requires the definition of a minimum plausible level of energy expenditure (or energy intake). Results falling below this limit should be recognized as being incompatible with long-term maintenance of energy balance and therefore long-term survival.15

Energy requirements (ER) and reported energy were calculated with recorded physical activity (PALrec), resting metabolic rate (RMR) and energy intake (EI):

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Kunz, I., Schorr, U., Römmling, K. et al. Habitual fat intake and basal fat oxidation in obese and non-obese Caucasians. Int J Obes 26, 150–156 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0801869

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