Energy Expenditure and Macronutrient Oxidation in Response to an Individualized Nonshivering Cooling Protocol

This study aimed to describe the energy expenditure (EE) and macronutrient oxidation response to an individualized nonshivering cold exposure in young healthy adults.

Two different groups of 44 (study 1: 22.1  [SD 2.1] years old, 25.6  [SD 5.2] kg/m² , 34% men) and 13 young healthy adults (study 2: 25.6  [SD 3.0] years old, 23.6  [SD 2.4] kg/m² , 54% men) participated in this study. Resting metabolic rate (RMR) and macronutrient oxidation rates were measured by indirect calorimetry under fasting conditions in a warm environment (for 30 minutes) and in mild cold conditions (for 65 minutes, with the individual wearing a water-perfused cooling vest set at an individualized temperature adjusted to the individual's shivering threshold).

In study 1, EE increased in the initial stage of cold exposure and remained stable for the whole cold exposure (P < 0.001). Mean cold-induced thermogenesis (9.56 ± 7.9 kcal/h) was 13.9% ± 11.6% of the RMR (range: -14.8% to 39.9% of the RMR). Carbohydrate oxidation decreased during the first 30 minutes of the cold exposure and later recovered up to the baseline values (P < 0.01) in parallel to opposite changes in fat oxidation (P < 0.01). Results were replicated in study 2.

A 1-hour mild cold exposure individually adjusted to elicit maximum nonshivering thermogenesis induces a very modest increase in EE and a shift of macronutrient oxidation that may underlie a shift in thermogenic tissue activity.