A recent study found that people with obesity expend less energy during the day than those of a healthy weight.
- A new study shows that weight influences how and when the body expends energy.
- People who have a healthy weight, a BMI between 20 and 25, consume more energy during the day, while those with obesity expend more at night.
- The causes of this phenomenon are not yet well determined.
Weight plays a role when the body burns calories. Here is the new discovery from researchers at Oregon Health and Science University. She was featured in the journal in the journal Obesity, on November 15, 2023.
Obesity alters circadian profiles of metabolism
To assess the impact of circadian rhythms and sleep on the human body, researchers asked thirty people to stay in a laboratory, specially created for the occasion, for six days. During this period, the scientists set up a schedule designed to have the participants awake and asleep at different times throughout each day. The volunteers were then subjected to various tests. One of them involved exercising while wearing a mask connected to an indirect calorimetry machine. This device measures energy consumption by measuring exhaled carbon dioxide. Blood samples were also taken to measure glucose levels in response to the meals served.
The results revealed that people with obesity expended more energy during the night, when most people sleep, while those with a healthy weight (BMI between 20 and 25), consumed more energy during sleep. daytime. Additionally, participants with obesity had higher levels of the hormone insulin throughout the day, a sign that the body is working harder to use glucose.
Obesity and energy consumption: a phenomenon not yet explained
The researchers conclude their scientific article by indicating “Obesity is associated with impaired circadian energy and glucose metabolism. Understanding and addressing these associations could lead to strategies that improve body weight and metabolic health in obese individuals.”
“It was surprising to learn how the timing of when our bodies burn energy differed in people with obesity”adds the first author of the study, Professor Andrew McHil in a communicated. However, the scientist and his team do not know how to explain this phenomenon. “We don’t know why. Burning less energy during the day could contribute to being obese, or it could be the result of obesity”he admits.
