Physiology of Energy Expenditure in the Weight-Reduced State

Although many individuals achieve weight loss of 10% or more, the ability to maintain a reduced body mass over months and years is much rarer. Unfortunately, our understanding of the adverse consequences of having overweight and obesity argues that long-term maintenance of a reduced weight provides the greatest health benefit. However, to achieve long-term weight reduction requires overcoming neuroendocrine systems that favor restoration of one's initial weight. Identifying and characterizing the components of these systems will be important if we are to develop therapies and strategies to reduce the rates of obesity and its complications in our modern society. During this session, Eric Ravussin and Steven R. Smith, respectively, discussed the physiology of the weight-reduced state that favors weight regain and a molecular component that contributes to this response.