TY - JOUR

T1 - Is calorie restriction beneficial for normal-weight individuals? A narrative review of the effects of weight loss in the presence and absence of obesity

AU - Magkos, Faidon

N1 - © The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Life Sciences Institute. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Calorie restriction regimens are popular for their purported health-promoting effects. However, it is unclear whether chronic reduction in energy intake and subsequent weight loss have beneficial effects in the absence of obesity. To this end, the results of studies that examined the effects of the same diet-induced weight loss in individuals with and without obesity were reviewed. The contribution of lean mass to the total amount of weight lost is greater in participants without obesity than in those with obesity, but the reductions in resting, nonresting, and total energy expenditure are of similar magnitude. Both in the presence as well as in the absence of obesity, weight loss decreases visceral adipose tissue and liver fat, increases insulin sensitivity in skeletal muscle (insulin-mediated whole-body glucose disposal rate) and in adipose tissue (meal-induced or insulin-induced suppression of plasma free fatty acid concentration), and augments insulin clearance rate, without affecting pancreatic insulin secretion. These effects are of similar magnitude in participants with and without obesity and result in reductions in fasting plasma glucose and insulin concentrations. These data suggest that the same degree of calorie restriction and the same amount of weight loss have multiple beneficial effects on health outcomes in individuals without obesity, similar to those observed in individuals with obesity.

AB - Calorie restriction regimens are popular for their purported health-promoting effects. However, it is unclear whether chronic reduction in energy intake and subsequent weight loss have beneficial effects in the absence of obesity. To this end, the results of studies that examined the effects of the same diet-induced weight loss in individuals with and without obesity were reviewed. The contribution of lean mass to the total amount of weight lost is greater in participants without obesity than in those with obesity, but the reductions in resting, nonresting, and total energy expenditure are of similar magnitude. Both in the presence as well as in the absence of obesity, weight loss decreases visceral adipose tissue and liver fat, increases insulin sensitivity in skeletal muscle (insulin-mediated whole-body glucose disposal rate) and in adipose tissue (meal-induced or insulin-induced suppression of plasma free fatty acid concentration), and augments insulin clearance rate, without affecting pancreatic insulin secretion. These effects are of similar magnitude in participants with and without obesity and result in reductions in fasting plasma glucose and insulin concentrations. These data suggest that the same degree of calorie restriction and the same amount of weight loss have multiple beneficial effects on health outcomes in individuals without obesity, similar to those observed in individuals with obesity.

KW - Faculty of Science

KW - Calorie restriction

KW - Diet

KW - Obesity phenotypes

KW - Underfeeding

KW - Weight loss

KW - Beneficial effects

KW - Health outcomes

KW - Individuals without obesity

KW - Individuals with obesity

U2 - 10.1093/nutrit/nuac006

DO - 10.1093/nutrit/nuac006

M3 - Review

C2 - 35190812

VL - 80

SP - 1811

EP - 1825

JO - Nutrition Reviews

JF - Nutrition Reviews

SN - 0029-6643

IS - 7

ER -