About Our Research
The Integrative Physiology Section focuses on applying mathematical models to metabolism and body weight regulation.
Understanding the dynamics of human body weight change has important consequences for conditions and diseases such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, starvation, and wasting syndromes such as anorexia nervosa and cancer cachexia. By using mathematical modeling to quantitatively integrate metabolism data with body weight and composition data, Dr. Kevin Hall's research aims to substantially improve our understanding of body weight regulation and develop practical tools for research and clinical use.
Please note: the Body Weight Planner supersedes the research tools provided in the computational modeling of human metabolism and body weight change and modeling weight loss maintenance spreadsheets linked below.
Body Weight Planner
The Body Weight Planner is an online tool designed for obesity researchers and weight management professionals to better understand how diet and exercise quantitatively contribute to weight loss and weight loss maintenance.
This model is described in the following publication:
Tool:
Access the tool and learn more on the Research Behind the Body Weight Planner.
Computational modeling of human metabolism and body weight change
Dr. Hall proposed a detailed computational model of human metabolism that quantitatively tracks all three dietary macronutrients (i.e., carbohydrate, fat, and protein) and their interactions within the human body. The model describes how diet perturbations result in adaptations of whole-body energy expenditure, fuel selection, and various metabolic fluxes (e.g., lipolysis, lipogenesis, gluconeogenesis, ketogenesis, protein turnover, etc.) that ultimately give rise to changes of body weight and composition on a time scale of days and longer.
This model is described in the following publication:
Tool:
Computational model code* (ZIP, 11.9 KB)
Instructions:
The computational model code can be run using the freely available version of the Berkeley Madonna dynamical systems simulation software.
*You may need to download the free WinZip serviceto open the file.
Modeling weight loss maintenance
Dr. Hall proposed a mathematical model to calculate the changes of dietary energy intake and physical activity required to maintain a given body weight change and prevent weight regain.
This model is described in the following publication:
Tools:
The model is available in various spreadsheets.
- Descriptions of the model in various spreadsheets (PDF, 28.49 KB)
- Spreadsheet that predicts the change in dietary energy intake required to maintain a specified change in body weight (XLS, 44 KB) | Download Zip file* (ZIP, 11.58 KB) - This version is particularly useful when the initial body fat mass is known and the model parameters are input directly.
- Spreadsheet that predicts the change in dietary energy intake required to maintain a specified change in body weight when the initial body fat is not known (XLS, 50.5 KB) | Download Zip file* (ZIP, 13.76 KB) - This spreadsheet uses regression equations to calculate the initial body composition at the beginning of the weight change period, and does not require the user to provide the values of the physical activity parameters. Instead, the user is asked to estimate the physical activity level (PAL) at the beginning and the end of the weight change period according to a table of values provided in the spreadsheet.
- Spreadsheet that predicts the steady-state change in body weight that is expected from a specified change in dietary energy intake and physical activity (XLS, 49 KB) | Download as Zip file* (ZIP, 11.58 KB) - This version requires the user to specify the initial body fat mass and the model parameters are input directly.
- Spreadsheet that predicts the steady-state change in body weight that is expected from a specified change in dietary energy intake and physical activity (XLS, 50.5 KB) | Download as Zip file* (ZIP, 13.76 KB) - This spreadsheet uses regression equations to calculate the initial body composition at the beginning of the weight change period.
Instructions:
After setting up MS Excel to properly run the model, follow the instructions provided at the top of each spreadsheet to make calculations. You may also refer to the following instructions to set up MS Excel to properly run the model (PDF, 32.24 KB) and set-up instructions for the Office 2007 version of MS Excel (PDF, 25.5 KB) .
*You may need to download the free WinZip service to open the file.
Should you have any accessibility issues with the tools on the pages above, please contact Dr. Hall directly by phone: 301-402-8248 or Email: Kevinh@niddk.nih.gov.
Research Images
