James W P, Trayhurn P
Lancet. 1976 Oct 9;2(7989):770-3. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(76)90602-4.
The propensity to obesity in animals and man identifies those individuals who are genetically favoured to survive when food supplies are scarce. Obese subjects are limited in their ability to produce heat, either in a cold environment or after food, because of a reduced activity in skeletal muscle of a "futile" cycle in glucose metabolism. The impaired thermogenesis reduces the maintenance requirement for energy in the pre-obese individual so that a "normal" energy intake can only be balanced by excessive exercise or the expansion of adipocytes. The basal metabolic rate rises as obesity develops and compensates for the impaired thermogenic mechanism.
动物和人类的肥胖倾向表明，那些在食物供应稀缺时具有遗传优势得以生存的个体。肥胖个体在寒冷环境中或进食后产生热量的能力有限，这是因为葡萄糖代谢中一个“无效”循环的骨骼肌活性降低。产热受损降低了肥胖前期个体的能量维持需求，因此“正常”的能量摄入只能通过过度运动或脂肪细胞的扩张来平衡。随着肥胖的发展，基础代谢率会升高，并补偿受损的产热机制。
