According to a book I am reading, diet science currently agrees that there is one way to loose weight: A calorie deficit.

For example, if I need 2000 kcal a day and eat only 1500 kcal a day, I will loose some weight over the next weeks/months.

To my understanding, calories here are totally interchangeable, if we are only concerned with loosing weight (and ignore nutrients etc).

Calories are basically measured by burning food and measuring how much energy was set free.

My question is: Why and how does it work so good and why are calories interchangeable?

In more detail: Why can we translate the burning of calories with fire to processing the calories in food with our digestion system so perfect? Why is there no difference (concerning weight loss), if I eat 1500 calories as pure sugar or eat them as pure protein (where I would assume the body needs more energy to break down the protein)?

  • Mugita Sokio@discuss.onlineEnglish
    219·
    2 days ago

    Calories, in my opinion aren’t a thing necessarily. If you want to do some counting, count your carb gram intake. Reduce it and let fat be your source of energy. I do this myself, and I’m much healthier that way.

    • Newsteinleo@midwest.socialEnglish
      182·
      2 days ago

      I just want to point out that this person dose not know what they are talking about, and know they don’t know what they are talking about because they qualified their statement with in my opinion. OP asked for an informed response and answer like this are how we get to vaccine conspiracy.

      • jet@hackertalks.comEnglish
        27·
        2 days ago

        They didn’t have the formal language but their ideas are true. Humans don’t digest calories, we consume matter, we are not bomb calorimeters. Carbohydrates drive insulin which drives obesity.

        • Mugita Sokio@discuss.onlineEnglish
          32·
          2 days ago

          This was from my producer’s research. On top of that, I’ve been following what we’ve both read from good sources, and those that were proven. That’s just how I saw it, though.

          • jet@hackertalks.comEnglish
            31·
            2 days ago

            Good research!

            Trouble is the time from a new metabolic model being defined, and proven in the literature is just the start then it takes 20-40 years for it to make it into the medical community as acceptable knowledge… Basically the doctors educated before the new publications have to retire out.

            Expect at least two decades of “its CICO” before people acknowledge the hormonal impact of food