Why is it the calorie count of food, and not the mass, that determines weight gain?
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You don’t absorb 100% of the mass of food into your body. For example; fiber, which tends to be dense and heavy, passes right through and out the back door.
If you want to try to calculate the amount of energy derived from food (which is what calories are), you can only count what gets absorbed, not what gets excreted back out.
Body fat is a way to store that energy. More calories = more energy = more fat required to store that energy
You don’t absorb 100% of the mass of food into your body. For example; fiber, which tends to be dense and heavy, passes right through and out the back door.
If you want to try to calculate the amount of energy derived from food (which is what calories are), you can only count what gets absorbed, not what gets excreted back out.
Body fat is a way to store that energy. More calories = more energy = more fat required to store that energy
Calorie count is a good approximation of how much energy is available to your body from food. Your body is going to do one of two things with energy: use it or store it. You are only going to use the exact amount of energy you need during the day, anything above that is going to be stored. You get calories from three different sources: carbohydrates, fat, and protein. The calorie density for each of these are different, fat is 9 Cal/gram while carbs and protein are 4 Cal/gram each. Finally, there are parts of food that cannot be used and just pass through your system.
Calorie count is a good approximation of how much energy is available to your body from food. Your body is going to do one of two things with energy: use it or store it. You are only going to use the exact amount of energy you need during the day, anything above that is going to be stored. You get calories from three different sources: carbohydrates, fat, and protein. The calorie density for each of these are different, fat is 9 Cal/gram while carbs and protein are 4 Cal/gram each. Finally, there are parts of food that cannot be used and just pass through your system.
Food, no matter the quantity by mass, will be broken down in your body into the parts that your body can use to make energy. Energy is what your body is after. Since everything will ultimately get turned into energy (/energy-storing molecules like fat), this is why calories (a unit of energy as it’s used by the body) is what contributes to weight gain.
Food, no matter the quantity by mass, will be broken down in your body into the parts that your body can use to make energy. Energy is what your body is after. Since everything will ultimately get turned into energy (/energy-storing molecules like fat), this is why calories (a unit of energy as it’s used by the body) is what contributes to weight gain.
Just like how a candle burns slower than paper, or how its easier to drink water rather than milk, Different substances have different attributes. A proper chemist might know more, but it kinda makes sense that you could isolate some excesses of a substance that could, in excess, cause problems.
(Calories are a general rule of thumb but any nutritionist knows its more a concern of excessiveness/lack of moderation which causes health problems like weight gain or other more holistic problems like lack of exercise or depression/poor support structure)
Just like how a candle burns slower than paper, or how its easier to drink water rather than milk, Different substances have different attributes. A proper chemist might know more, but it kinda makes sense that you could isolate some excesses of a substance that could, in excess, cause problems.
(Calories are a general rule of thumb but any nutritionist knows its more a concern of excessiveness/lack of moderation which causes health problems like weight gain or other more holistic problems like lack of exercise or depression/poor support structure)
Food is full of energy, we measure that energy as calories. And if we get more calories than we need, our body stores rest as fat.
The trick is that food can weigh a lot, but not have a lot of calories. Food that has a lot of water in it, may weigh more and have greater mass, but our bodies can’t convert water into energy and store it as fat. And some food has a lot of fiber in it, which is something else that our body can’t easily digest and turn into energy.
Food is full of energy, we measure that energy as calories. And if we get more calories than we need, our body stores rest as fat.
The trick is that food can weigh a lot, but not have a lot of calories. Food that has a lot of water in it, may weigh more and have greater mass, but our bodies can’t convert water into energy and store it as fat. And some food has a lot of fiber in it, which is something else that our body can’t easily digest and turn into energy.
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