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The Effect of a High Fat Meal on the Respiratory Quotient and Heat Production of Normal and Obese Individuals

1934; Elsevier BV; Volume: 8; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1093/jn/8.4.421

1541-6100

Byron D. Bowen, Fred R. Griffith, G. E. Sly,

Advanced Chemical Sensor Technologies

The possibility that a qualitative metabolic variation exists in the obese person is discussed. This variation from the normal is based upon the finding of a lower post-absorptive respiratory quotient in the obese subject. The effect of a large fat meal has been observed on twelve normal subjects, six of whom were slightly underweight, twenty non-diabetic obese and eleven obese diabetic subjects. The absorptive respiratory quotients indicate that the food mixture during this absorption is approximately the same in normal and obese persons. This response in the diabetic obese group suggests that less carbohydrate was being combusted during the utilization of fat. The observations were extended long enough to demonstrate the returning trend of the respiratory quotient to the post-absorptive level. No correlation between the curves of the absorptive respiratory quotients and the curves of the specific dynamic action could be demonstrated. A specific dynamic action of fat was present in all groups. It was found to be approximately the same in the obese and the normal people. This action, however, was considerably greater in the obese diabetic individuals, which we have made no attempt to explain.