Perception, passive overfeeding and energy metabolism

The palatability of a diet is an important determinant of energy intake. Due to a high palatability, a relatively high energy density, and a weak effect on satiation, the consumption of high-fat foods induces passive overfeeding. It is well known that a high-fat diet often leads to a loss of portion control of tasty foods. Here, studies are reviewed on the effect of overfeeding on substrate utilization and energy expenditure. It is often suggested that humans differ in the susceptibility to weight gain in response to overfeeding. Six years ago, non-exercise activity thermogenesis was presented as a new mechanism to explain differences in weight gain between subjects. Activation of non-exercise activity thermogenesis could dissipate excess energy to preserve leanness and only failure to activate non-exercise activity thermogenesis resulted in ready fat gain. However, there is still little evidence for this form of adaptive thermogenesis from additional studies. The conclusion is that the fat content has an effect on body fat as a function of the effect of dietary fat on energy intake. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.