The metabolic effects of refeeding with oral or intravenous carbohydrate were studied in obese women after ten or 14 days of fasting. Seven patients were refed with protein-free fruit juice for a total of 250 g of carbohydrate (1,000 kcal) over ten hours. The juice was sipped continuously throughout this time, causing a drop in free fatty acids (FFA) from 1.07 +/- 0.08 to 0.61 +/- 0.05 mmol/L (P less than .01) over the first four hours. Over the next four hours, despite continuous ingestion of the carbohydrate and elevated plasma glucose (132 +/- 9 mg/dL) and insulin (2.81 +/- 0.86 ng/mL) (1 ng/mL = 25 microU/mL), FFA rose to 0.99 mmol/L (P less than .01). Similar results were obtained in five patients refed with similar amounts of oral glucose and four patients who received an equivalent amount of glucose intravenously (IV). Refeeding with carbohydrate of obese diabetic and non-diabetic women after a two-week fast caused an abrupt decrease in FFA that was followed after four hours by an increase in FFA and glycerol, despite continued ingestion of carbohydrate glucose and insulin.