Figure 2.

Comparative changes in body weight during and after experimental overfeeding in humans and animals. Typical body weight trajectories reported from experimental overfeeding in humans (A) and experimental overfeeding in animals (B). Experimental overfeeding comprises three distinct phases: 1) Baseline, in which the caloric requirements for weight stability are estimated or measured; 2) experimental overfeeding that can vary in magnitude and duration depending on study objectives; and 3) ad libitum feeding, which typically is reflected by body weight recovery (loss of weight gained during overfeeding). The dotted red lines in phase 3 in (A) reflect the substantial inter-individual variation in post-overfeeding body weight recovery in humans.