• Steve@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    The basic calorie in/out concept always struck me as obviously too simple.

    When I found out that the way we determined how many calories was in a given food ingredient, was by actually burning it and measuring the energy output, I knew whole concept was flawed. Our bodies simply don’t “burn” food like that. We don’t shit ash. There can’t be a simple 1:1 correlation.

    • sylver_dragon@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      While there is more going on than calories in/calories out, it does make for a good starting point for many people. Part of tracking that sort of diet tends to lead to recognizing that you can eat a lot more of the healthier foods within those calories then you get from highly processed foods. Also that you’re not burning off that big mac with normal exercise. It takes a lot of exercise to burn 1000 calories.