Research paper
Pontzer H, Durazo-Arvizu R, Dugas LR, Plange-Rhule J, Bovet P, Forrester TE, Lambert EV, Cooper RS, Schoeller DA, Luke A. Constrained Total Energy Expenditure and Metabolic Adaptation to Physical Activity in Adult Humans. Current Biology. 2016 Feb 8;26(3):410-417. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2015.12.046
Why we cite it
Provides the foundational empirical evidence for the constrained total energy expenditure model, demonstrating across five populations and 332 adults that total energy expenditure plateaus above moderate physical activity levels rather than increasing linearly. Directly relevant to the project because it bears on why exercise alone rarely produces significant weight loss — the compensation is the model’s proposed explanation for the plateau, not a mechanism this study measured — reinforcing the primacy of dietary change for weight management.
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2015.12.046 · PubMed 26832439 · Publisher