Overeating and Overweight
Extra Calories Increase Fat Mass While Protein Increases Lean Mass
- Zhaoping Li, MD, PhD;
- David Heber, MD, PhD
- Author Affiliations: Center for Human Nutrition, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles (Drs Li and Heber); and VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System, Los Angeles, California (Dr Li).
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
- KEYWORDS:
- ADIPOSE TISSUE
- ADIPOSE TISSUE, BROWN
- BODY MASS INDEX
- BODY WEIGHT
- CARBOHYDRATES
- DIET
- DIET, FAT-RESTRICTED
- DIET, PROTEIN-RESTRICTED
- DIET, REDUCING
- DIETARY SUCROSE
- EATING DISORDERS
- ENERGY INTAKE
- FEEDING BEHAVIOR
- HYPERPHAGIA
- LIFE STYLE
- NUTRITION ASSESSMENT
- OVERWEIGHT
- PROTEINS
- WEIGHT LOSS
Overweight and obesity affect 65% of the US public1 and the US government spends in excess of $200 billion per year on obesity-associated conditions and diseases.2 For the first time in human history, there are more overweight people (2.1 billion) in the world than underweight individuals.3 Forecasts suggest that the prevalence of obesity will double worldwide in the next 30 years, with the epicenter of the epidemic in China and India as persons in these countries assume Western eating habits.4,5
In this issue of JAMA, Bray and colleagues6 in a randomized controlled trial evaluated the effects of overconsumption of low, normal, and high protein diets on weight gain, energy expenditure, and body composition. They found that body fat increased in proportion to excess calories but overall weight gain was less with low protein relative to normal or high protein diets. These findings …
