double-labelled water method

double-labelled water method

Clinical nutrition
A technique used to measure a person’s total energy expenditure, which is accurate to within ± 5%. The DLWM is based on the calculation of CO2 production from the differential disappearance rates of two stable radioisotopes (16O and 2H) from the body, and it may be used to determine whether diet-resistant obesity is due to a discrepancy between the actual caloric intake and exercise or due to an alteration in thermogenesis.