Metabolism Review

Evidence map

Total energy expenditure: what the evidence base looks like

12 publications, 3 of them trials and 5 syntheses. This page describes the shape of that literature rather than summarising its conclusions.

Updated 4 min read 12 citations

What the evidence on total energy expenditure is made of Of 12 publications on this topic, the breakdown by study type: 5 meta-analysis, 3 randomised trial, 1 review, 3 other. 5313meta-analysis (5)randomised trial (3)review (1)other (3)
12 publications, by study type. Volume is not strength — the same count can be a settled question or a pile of commentary, and which one it is depends almost entirely on this breakdown. Harvested from PubMed and Crossref; publication type as recorded by the source.

What this literature is made of

The synthesis is ahead of the primary literature here — reviews and meta-analyses drawing on a modest number of underlying studies. Treat confident conclusions with the caution the sample size deserves.

The distinction that matters most is between synthesis and primary research. A meta-analysis pools trials and is the closest thing to a settled answer a field produces. A narrative review is one group's reading of the same material and can be selective without being dishonest. Counting them together, which most citation counts do, obscures exactly the thing you want to know.

When the total energy expenditure literature was published Publication years for the 12 papers on this topic, grouped into bands from before 2015 through to 2023 onwards. 2023 onwards6 papers2020-20222 papers2015-20192 papersBefore 20152 papers
Still active. The most recent paper here is from 2025, so this is a field where an answer written today may not hold for long. Publication years as recorded by PubMed and Crossref.

How this page is built

Everything above is computed from the citations this site harvested from PubMed and Crossref, not written by hand. When the weekly harvest finds a new paper on this topic, these counts change and the characterisation changes with them. That is the point: a hand-written claim about how strong an evidence base is starts decaying the day it is written.

Publication type is taken as the source records it. That is imperfect — journals label inconsistently, and a paper indexed as a "review" may be a systematic one — so treat the bands as approximate. They are accurate enough to distinguish a trial literature from a commentary literature, which is the distinction that matters.

The strongest work on this topic

Ordered by study design first, then recency. The full set is listed in the references below.

  1. Describing Energy Expenditure in Children with a Chronic Disease: A Systematic Review — Luo B, Davidson ZE, O'Brien K et al., 2024, systematic review
  2. Total energy expenditure measured using doubly labeled water in adults with major chronic diseases: a systematic review — Purcell SA, Craven SA, Limon-Miro AT et al., 2024, systematic review
  3. Validity of dietary assessment methods compared with doubly labeled water in children: A systematic review and meta-analysis — Mehranfar S, Jalilpiran Y, Jafari A et al., 2024, meta-analysis
  4. Estimates of Resting Energy Expenditure and Total Energy Expenditure Using Predictive Equations for Individuals After Bariatric Surgery: a Systematic Review with Meta-analysis — Macena ML, Silva Júnior AE, Melo JM et al., 2023, meta-analysis
  5. Estimates of resting energy expenditure and total energy expenditure using predictive equations in adults with overweight and obesity: a systematic review with meta-analysis — Macena ML, Paula DTDC, da Silva Júnior AE et al., 2022, meta-analysis
  6. Effect of Sleep Extension on Objectively Assessed Energy Intake Among Adults With Overweight in Real-life Settings: A Randomized Clinical Trial — Tasali E, Wroblewski K, Kahn E et al., 2022, randomised controlled trial
  7. Effects of a low carbohydrate diet on energy expenditure during weight loss maintenance: randomized trial — Ebbeling CB, Feldman HA, Klein GL et al., 2018, randomised controlled trial
  8. Effect of dietary protein content on weight gain, energy expenditure, and body composition during overeating: a randomized controlled trial — Bray GA, Smith SR, de Jonge L et al., 2012, randomised controlled trial
  9. Use of the doubly labeled water method for measurement of energy expenditure, total body water, water intake, and metabolizable energy intake in humans and small animals — Roberts SB, 1989, review
  10. Energy expenditure and obesity across the economic spectrum — McGrosky A, Luke A, Arab L et al., 2025, journal article
How much research is there on total energy expenditure?
12 publications are indexed here, of which 3 are trials and 5 are syntheses.
Does more research mean a stronger conclusion?
No. Composition matters more than volume — five randomised trials support a claim far better than fifty commentaries, and citation counts do not distinguish between them.
How current is this?
The most recent paper indexed here is from 2025. The set is refreshed weekly from PubMed and Crossref.
Why does this page not tell me the answer?
Because summarising a literature into a conclusion requires reading it, and doing that automatically is how confident nonsense gets published. This page tells you how much weight a conclusion could bear; the articles on this site do the interpreting.

References

Every citation below links to the original peer-reviewed record on PubMed or via DOI. Nothing here is a substitute for medical advice.

  1. Describing Energy Expenditure in Children with a Chronic Disease: A Systematic Review Luo B, Davidson ZE, O'Brien K, et al. · Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2024 · Systematic review DOIPubMed 38432591Full text
  2. Total energy expenditure measured using doubly labeled water in adults with major chronic diseases: a systematic review Purcell SA, Craven SA, Limon-Miro AT, et al. · The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2024 · Systematic review DOIPubMed 39209153Full text
  3. Validity of dietary assessment methods compared with doubly labeled water in children: A systematic review and meta-analysis Mehranfar S, Jalilpiran Y, Jafari A, et al. · Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2024 · Meta-analysis DOIPubMed 38783784
  4. Estimates of Resting Energy Expenditure and Total Energy Expenditure Using Predictive Equations for Individuals After Bariatric Surgery: a Systematic Review with Meta-analysis Macena ML, Silva Júnior AE, Melo JM, et al. · Obesity surgery · 2023 · Meta-analysis DOIPubMed 37889369
  5. Estimates of resting energy expenditure and total energy expenditure using predictive equations in adults with overweight and obesity: a systematic review with meta-analysis Macena ML, Paula DTDC, da Silva Júnior AE, et al. · Nutrition reviews · 2022 · Meta-analysis DOIPubMed 35551409
  6. Effect of Sleep Extension on Objectively Assessed Energy Intake Among Adults With Overweight in Real-life Settings: A Randomized Clinical Trial Tasali E, Wroblewski K, Kahn E, et al. · JAMA internal medicine · 2022 · Randomised controlled trial DOIPubMed 35129580Full text
  7. Effects of a low carbohydrate diet on energy expenditure during weight loss maintenance: randomized trial Ebbeling CB, Feldman HA, Klein GL, et al. · BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2018 · Randomised controlled trial DOIPubMed 30429127Full text
  8. Effect of dietary protein content on weight gain, energy expenditure, and body composition during overeating: a randomized controlled trial Bray GA, Smith SR, de Jonge L, et al. · JAMA · 2012 · Randomised controlled trial DOIPubMed 22215165Full text
  9. Use of the doubly labeled water method for measurement of energy expenditure, total body water, water intake, and metabolizable energy intake in humans and small animals Roberts SB · Canadian journal of physiology and pharmacology · 1989 · Review DOIPubMed 2692794
  10. Energy expenditure and obesity across the economic spectrum McGrosky A, Luke A, Arab L, et al. · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025 · Journal article DOIPubMed 40658837Full text
  11. Training volume and total energy expenditure of an Olympic and Ironman world champion: approaching the upper limits of human capabilities Dasa MS, Bu OA, Sandbakk Ø, et al. · Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2024 · Journal article DOIPubMed 39480269
  12. Constrained Total Energy Expenditure and Metabolic Adaptation to Physical Activity in Adult Humans Pontzer H, Durazo-Arvizu R, Dugas LR, et al. · Current biology : CB · 2016 · Journal article DOIPubMed 26832439Full text