The purpose of this review is to delineate aspects of energy metabolism at rest and during exercise that may be subject to sex differences and the potential underlying mechanisms involved. It focuses on distinct aspects of female physiology with an oriented discussion following the reproductive life stages of healthy, eumenorrheic females, including premenopausal time frames, pregnancy, perimenopause, and menopause. Finally, this review aims to address methodological challenges surrounding sexual dimorphism in energy metabolism investigations and confounding factors in this field. During resting conditions, females tend to have higher rates of non-oxidative free fatty acid clearance, which could contribute to lower respiratory exchange ratio measures. At the same time, carbohydrate energy metabolism findings are mixed. In general, females favor lipid energy metabolism during moderate-intensity exercise, while men favor carbohydrate energy metabolism. Factors such as age, dietary intake, genetics, and methodological decisions confound study findings, including properly identifying and reporting the menstrual cycle phase when female subjects are eumenorrheic. Pregnancy presents a unique shift in physiological systems, including energy metabolism, which can be observed at rest and during exercise. Changes in body composition and hormonal levels during the post-menopausal period directly impact energy metabolism, specifically lipid metabolism. This change in physiological state factors into the evidence showing a reduction in our understanding of sex differences in lipid metabolism during exercise in older adults. This review reveals a need for a focused understanding of female energy metabolism that could help exercise and nutrition professionals optimize female health and performance across the lifespan.

本综述的目的是描述静息和运动期间能量代谢可能受性别差异影响的方面以及所涉及的潜在潜在机制。它侧重于女性生理学的不同方面，并针对健康、月经正常的女性的生殖生命阶段进行了定向讨论，包括绝经前时间范围、怀孕、围绝经期和更年期。最后，本综述旨在解决能量代谢研究中性别二态性的方法学挑战以及该领域的混杂因素。在休息条件下，雌性往往具有较高的非氧化游离脂肪酸清除率，这可能有助于降低呼吸交换比测量值。与此同时，碳水化合物能量代谢的研究结果好坏参半。一般来说，女性在中等强度的运动中偏爱脂质能量代谢，而男性则偏爱碳水化合物能量代谢。年龄、饮食摄入量、遗传学和方法决定等因素混淆了研究结果，包括正确识别和报告女性受试者月经正常时的月经周期阶段。怀孕呈现出生理系统的独特变化，包括能量代谢，可以在休息和运动时观察到。绝经后身体成分和激素水平的变化直接影响能量代谢，特别是脂质代谢。这种生理状态的变化成为证据，表明我们对老年人运动期间脂质代谢性别差异的理解有所减少。 这篇综述揭示了需要重点了解女性能量代谢，这可以帮助运动和营养专业人员优化女性整个生命周期的健康和表现。