Where does the weight we lose go?
Not even the 150 doctors, dietitians and personal trainers we surveyed were able to answer that question. What people usually think is that fat is converted into energy, but the problem with this theory is that it goes against the law of conservation of matter that all chemical reactions follow.
Some of the respondents thought that fat becomes muscle (which is impossible) and others assumed that we expel it from our body when we go to the bathroom. Only three of the respondents answered correctly. This means that 98% of the health professionals in our study could not explain how weight loss occurs.
So, if it is not converted into energy or muscle and is not lost when going to the bathroom, where does the fat go?
The explanation about fat metabolism
The correct answer is that fat is converted to carbon dioxide and water. Carbon dioxide is exhaled and water passes into the circulatory system until it is expelled through urine or sweat. If you lose 10 kilos of fat, 8.4 kilos are exactly lost through the lungs and the remaining 1.6 becomes water. Which means that almost all the weight we lose we exhale.
This surprises almost everyone, but in reality, practically everything we eat comes back out of the lungs. Each carbohydrate and almost all the fats we consume are converted into carbon dioxide and water. The same goes for alcohol.
Proteins also share the same fate, except some of them that become urea and other solids that we expel in the form of urine.
The only food that reaches the colon intact and undigested is food fiber (like corn). Everything else we eat is absorbed by blood and organs, and until it is digested it goes nowhere.
The kilos that enter by those who leave
We have all heard about "what comes in through what comes out," but in this case, energy is a rather confusing concept, even for health professionals and scientists studying obesity.
The reason we gain or lose weight loses all the mystery if we keep track of all the kilos and not just those enigmatic calories.
According to the latest official figures, Australians consume 3.5 kilos of food and drink daily. Of these, 415 grams are solid macronutrients, 23 grams are fiber and the remaining 3 kilos are water.
What has not been said is that we also inhale more than 600 grams of oxygen, and that figure is equally important for our waist.
Walking increases our metabolic rate with respect to rest by 300%. from www.shutterstock.com
If you give your body 3.5 kilos of food and water, in addition to 600 grams of oxygen, you have to get rid of 4.1 kilos or gain weight. Therefore, if you are looking to lose weight, you have to get rid of those 4.1 kilos. But how is that done?
The 415 grams of carbohydrates, fats, proteins and alcohol that most Australians consume daily will produce exactly 740 grams of carbon dioxide, 280 grams of water (like a cup) and about 35 grams of urea and other solids that they expel in urine form
The resting metabolic rate of a person with an average weight of 75 kilos (when the body uses energy and the person is not moving) is 590 grams of carbon dioxide daily. There are no pills or remedies that increase that value, despite the claims you may have heard.
The good news is that every night we exhale 200 grams of carbon dioxide while we sleep deeply, which means that we have already exhaled a quarter of our daily goal before even getting out of bed.
Where does the weight we lose go?
- There is a general ignorance among professionals about this issue
- Most of the fat is expelled in the form of carbon dioxide
- Contrary to what is thought, they do not become muscle or energy
It may seem like a stupid question, but have you ever stopped to think about what happens with the kilos we take off? Do they just fade away? Many people believe that lost fat becomes muscle or even energy, but the truth is that this highly extended myth violates the law of conservation of matter, according to the authors of a study published today in the British Medical Journal.
Although it may seem obvious, this is a question about which there is a lot of ignorance, even among the professionals themselves. In general, the authors saw that there were important gaps in the metabolic process of weight loss among dietitians, personal trainers and doctors. "We believe that it is because there are many different steps involved in the process, and each one is studied in completely different subjects," explains Ruben Meerman of the School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences of Australia and co-author of the present study that aims to clarify A little the subject.
To clear up doubts, Meerman and Andrew J. Brown have published this analysis in which they explain how humans lose fat. The conclusion they have reached is that the lungs are the key organ in the whole process, since most of our mass is expelled to the outside in the form of carbon dioxide.
According to what they say, to lose 10 kilos of fat it is necessary to inhale 29 kilos of oxygen, which starts a metabolic process through which 28 kilos of carbon dioxide -which are expelled through the lungs- and 11 kilograms of water are produced, that are discarded through urine, feces, sweat, tears and other body fluids.
To give a concrete example: in a resting position, a person weighing 70 kilos and following a varied diet expels about 0.74 kilos of CO2 in eight hours, which means that the body loses 203 grams of carbon during this time. Somehow, this would mean that we lose about 200 grams "doing nothing", although this is not entirely true, since, as Meerman remembers, our body never rests. Even when we're asleep, it's still working: it generates new cells, our hair grows, or it simply generates heat to maintain body temperature.
Would this mean that the trick to lose weight is simply to breathe, something that, in fact, we do unconsciously? Unfortunately not. The authors prevent the population from trying to lose weight simply by trying to breathe more, because this would lead to hyperventilation, which can lead to dizziness, palpitations and loss of consciousness.
The secret to losing size is no mystery: the key, as many already know, is in sports. When we exercise, our metabolic rate increases, which means that our body needs more oxygen and, therefore, produces more carbon dioxide. Meerman gives some figures that can help you get an idea of what exercises work best to lose weight: "Walking raises our resting metabolic rate three times, and if we climbed a hill by bicycle it would be 12 times," he explains. "Even sex can raise our metabolic rate about 3.5 times," he adds.
The researchers conclude that 84% of the fat is exhaled in the form of carbon dioxide, which makes the lungs the main excretory organ in weight loss. The important role that CO2 has in the whole process should not lead anyone to think that the fever for maintaining the line could be the cause of global warming, because this is that the carbon atoms trapped in fossilized organisms are unlocked, while the carbon dioxide exhaled by the human being returns to the atmosphere only a few months after being in the foods that the plants have manufactured.
"Nothing we are telling is new, but for some reason we do not know, it seems that no one has begun to do these calculations before," said the authors, who would like to change the way in which it is explained from now on the process of weight loss in medical schools, unifying in the same subject.
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