A very basic question

[icomefrombirmingham]

I have one basic questions about weight loss that has been bugging me, perhaps someone here can shed some light:

Q: Can one gain more weight than the weight of the food consumed?
e.g. can a lb. of beef or a lb. of chocolate consumed produce a weight gain in a human of more than one lb. (all other things remaining constant...no additional excercise, no other changes to diet)?

Thanks,
Brent

[PaulS]

If you include the water you consume (or other liquids) in the "food weight" then no, otherwise yes, it would be possible. It has to do with net caloric balance.

[icomefrombirmingham]

Thanks, I will look up net caloric balance.

[Liquid]

Gaining always seems to be easy. My record is 5.5 lbs. in two hours or 7 lbs. in one day. The first I gained after drinking some water, and having a bowl of soup + an Italian ice! If only it worked backwards...

[icomefrombirmingham]

Been there, done that and got the t-shirt...which unfortunately no longer fits me.

[icomefrombirmingham]

If you include the water you consume (or other liquids) in the "food weight" then no, otherwise yes, it would be possible. It has to do with net caloric balance.

I looked up net caloric balance and found that it amounts to calories in vs. calories out. I had already figured that out for myself

My question restated is: if everything else remains equal or stable, i.e. ceteris paribus, can one pound (in weight) of a food consumed increase my body weight by more that one pound?

i.e. is there a latent calories of food?

Asking it this way I suppose it is possible that some foods are so calorie dense that they contain more that 3,500 calories per pound?

I don't know what they are and hopefully I can't afford them.
Brent

[Sean Seamus]

only if magic happens - and not the kind in a young girl's eyes

[Bob S.]

Asking it this way I suppose it is possible that some foods are so calorie dense that they contain more that 3,500 calories per pound?

Well, if you could adapt your body to metabolize molecular hydrogen that should work. I haven't bothered to check out the numbers, but I am certain that the combustion of hydrogen releases far, far more calories per pound than any triglycerides. On a volume basis, it would not be very convenient.

Bob S.

[leehamster]

you're mixing concepts here

if you mean can one pound consumed raise your weight more than one pound immediately, the answer is no. that one pound of food is just one more pound on the scale

if you mean can one pound consumed cause you to gain more than one pound of fat after your body processes it, sure, though it's close. Let's take the most calorie dense food I know of, vegetable oil. at 9 calorie/gm for pure fat, drinking a pound of oil puts 4091 calories in your body. General assumption is that 3500 calorie surplus causes you to put on a pound of fat (though I assume that varies by person, and who knows really see http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=555411). Anyway, you could gain more than a pound when you're through, but not much more. Your body would have to get some materials to make that fat, though, including water, all of which you probably consumed in another sitting.

Most food is not that calorie dense, obviously. And you can exercise to expend some calories. But this is the theoretical math, as I understand it.

[icomefrombirmingham]

Thanks leehamster,
That is what I was getting at. I don't think I'll try the vegetable oil experiment, but if you do...please let me know the result.
Brent

[Steelhead]

Thanks leehamster,
That is what I was getting at. I don't think I'll try the vegetable oil experiment, but if you do...please let me know the result.
Brent

1 pound of mixed lettuce equals about 100 or so calories while 1 pound of butter equals about 4086 calories. It takes 3500 calories to gain one pound of fat. So, the more fat in a food, and the less fibre, the more weight a person will gain by eating one pound of food than eating food without fat, lots of fibre, and water.

Also, water binds with the fat in our bodies so the more weight you gain from fat the more water weight you gain. So the type of food we eat makes a big difference in our weight (also if the food is salty we will retain more water).

Whatever.

[icomefrombirmingham]

Thanks leehamster,
That is what I was getting at. I don't think I'll try the vegetable oil experiment, but if you do...please let me know the result.
Brent

1 pound of mixed lettuce equals about 100 or so calories while 1 pound of butter equals about 4086 calories. It takes 3500 calories to gain one pound of fat. So, the more fat in a food, and the less fibre, the more weight a person will gain by eating one pound of food than eating food without fat, lots of fibre, and water.

Also, water binds with the fat in our bodies so the more weight you gain from fat the more water weight you gain. So the type of food we eat makes a big difference in our weight (also if the food is salty we will retain more water).

Whatever.

Thanks Mike,
Yup, I now understand, logically.
It still doesn't make sense intuitively, that I can eat one pound of something and gain more than one pound. But the calorie numbers don't lie.
And I suppose using my untuition I should gain a pound when I eat a pound of lettuce too!!
Regards,
Brent

[Steelhead]

Thanks leehamster,
That is what I was getting at. I don't think I'll try the vegetable oil experiment, but if you do...please let me know the result.
Brent

1 pound of mixed lettuce equals about 100 or so calories while 1 pound of butter equals about 4086 calories. It takes 3500 calories to gain one pound of fat. So, the more fat in a food, and the less fibre, the more weight a person will gain by eating one pound of food than eating food without fat, lots of fibre, and water.

Also, water binds with the fat in our bodies so the more weight you gain from fat the more water weight you gain. So the type of food we eat makes a big difference in our weight (also if the food is salty we will retain more water).

Whatever.

Thanks Mike,
Yup, I now understand, logically.
It still doesn't make sense intuitively, that I can eat one pound of something and gain more than one pound. But the calorie numbers don't lie.
And I suppose using my untuition I should gain a pound when I eat a pound of lettuce too!!
Regards,
Brent

The key is that there are about 454 grams in one pound; one gram of protein equals 4 calories; one gram of carbohydrate equals 4 calories; one gram of fibre equals 0 calories; one gram of water equals 0 calories; one gram of fat equals 9 calories. 3500 calories equals one pound of fat (with water bound to the fat). It's like comparing one pound of jet fuel with one pound of diesel -- which one has more energy?

If you eat one pound of sawdust or drink one pound of water (or both) you will gain one pound each until both pass through your system.

[Bob S.]

1 pound of mixed lettuce equals about 100 or so calories while 1 pound of butter equals about 4086 calories. It takes 3500 calories to gain one pound of fat.

But the calorie numbers don't lie.
And I suppose using my untuition I should gain a pound when I eat a pound of lettuce too!!
Regards,
Brent

Yes they (i.e. calorie numbers) do. The 4086 calories comes from the very rough value of 9cal/gram of fat — it is good to only one significant figure, so the 4086 is quite consistent with the only slightly more precise value of 3500cal/ pound of fat. The point about the body retaining more water which is needed to metabolize the fat (and the carbohydrates as well) is valid enough, but it is not a large amount and it is only temporary.

As far as lettuce and other leafy vegetables are concerned, they can be as much as 95% water and at least part of the remainder is fiber which is not metabolized, merely passed. There are only about 32cal in a pound of leafy lettuce and this may include the fiber.

Which brings up a point. How many of a person's caloric intake is actually utilized and how much is passed? The dried droppings of grazing animals (specifically cattle, bison, and yaks) have enough caloric content left in them that they have been used for fuel for centuries and still are in some areas. Humans are probably more efficient at metabolizing the kinds of food that they eat, but I remember an article in "Chemical and Engineering News" many years ago which reported on a NASA project to determine whether or not it was feasible to get usable power from a mixture of some sort of oxidant with human waste. It has also been observed that humans, as well as cows, produce methane, one of our major industrial fuels. A calorie ingested is not necessarily a calorie retained or burned — it may well merely be excreted.

Bob S.

[icomefrombirmingham]

1 pound of mixed lettuce equals about 100 or so calories while 1 pound of butter equals about 4086 calories. It takes 3500 calories to gain one pound of fat.

But the calorie numbers don't lie.
And I suppose using my untuition I should gain a pound when I eat a pound of lettuce too!!
Regards,
Brent

Yes they (i.e. calorie numbers) do. The 4086 calories comes from the very rough value of 9cal/gram of fat — it is good to only one significant figure, so the 4086 is quite consistent with the only slightly more precise value of 3500cal/ pound of fat. The point about the body retaining more water which is needed to metabolize the fat (and the carbohydrates as well) is valid enough, but it is not a large amount and it is only temporary.

As far as lettuce and other leafy vegetables are concerned, they can be as much as 95% water and at least part of the remainder is fiber which is not metabolized, merely passed. There are only about 32cal in a pound of leafy lettuce and this may include the fiber.

Which brings up a point. How many of a person's caloric intake is actually utilized and how much is passed? The dried droppings of grazing animals (specifically cattle, bison, and yaks) have enough caloric content left in them that they have been used for fuel for centuries and still are in some areas. Humans are probably more efficient at metabolizing the kinds of food that they eat, but I remember an article in "Chemical and Engineering News" many years ago which reported on a NASA project to determine whether or not it was feasible to get usable power from a mixture of some sort of oxidant with human waste. It has also been observed that humans, as well as cows, produce methane, one of our major industrial fuels. A calorie ingested is not necessarily a calorie retained or burned — it may well merely be excreted.

Bob S.

Bob,
We have two golden retrievers, five cats and three humans.......you mean we could be practically self-sufficient if I just burned the dried droppings in the fireplace!!!
Brent