Covert manipulation of the ratio of dietary fat to carbohydrate and energy density: effect on food intake and energy balance in free-living men eating ad libitum

The present study fed the same diets to seven men who were resident in, but not confined to, a metabolic suite for 2 wk/diet, which suggests that diet composition and energy expenditure combined influence energy balance in humans.

Abstract

We previously increased the energy density and fat content across three diets (factorial design), which led to a marked increase in energy intake in six men over 7 d while continuously resident in a whole-body indirect calorimeter. In the present study we fed the same diets to seven men who were resident in, but not confined to, a metabolic suite for 2 wk/diet. This added a component of increased physical activity. The fat, carbohydrate, and protein contents, respectively, of each diet (as a percent of energy) were as follows: low-fat (LF), 20:67:13; medium-fat (MF), 40:47:13; and high-fat (HF), 60:27:13. Energy density increased as the percent of fat in the diet increased. Energy intakes from the LF, MF, and HF diets (9.11, 10.32, and 12.78 MJ/d, respectively) were almost identical to those in our calorimeter study (9.02, 10.2, and 12.35 MJ/d, respectively) whereas energy expenditures (estimated by the doubly labeled water method) were 12.45, 12.10, and 11.97 MJ/d on the LF, MF and HF diets, respectively, compared with 9.48, 9.53, and 9.78 MJ/d, respectively, in our calorimeter study. This finding suggests that diet composition and energy expenditure combined influence energy balance in humans.