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Links to the actual published full articles involved are given below.
Caution, actually uses equations and large tables of data.
Thermodynamics and Metabolic Advantage of Weight Loss Diets
Richard D. Feinman, PhD, Eugene J. Fine, MD
Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders
September 2003, Vol. 1, No. 3, Pages 209-219
Posted online on July 8, 2004.
(doi:10.1089/154041903322716688)
http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/154041903322716688?cookieSet=1
"A calorie is a calorie" violates the second law of thermodynamics
Richard D Feinman1 and Eugene J Fine1,
Department of Biochemistry, State University of New York Downstate
Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY 11203 USA
2Department of Nuclear Medicine, Jacobi Medical Center, Bronx, NY 10461 USA
Nutrition Journal 2004, 3:9 doi:10.1186/1475-2891-3-9
AbstractThe principle of "a calorie is a calorie," that weight change in
hypocaloric diets is independent of macronutrient composition, is widely
held in the popular and technical literature, and is frequently
justified by appeal to the laws of thermodynamics. We review here some
aspects of thermodynamics that bear on weight loss and the effect of
macronutrient composition. The focus is the so-called metabolic
advantage in low-carbohydrate diets – greater weight loss compared to
isocaloric diets of different composition. Two laws of thermodynamics
are relevant to the systems considered in nutrition and, whereas the
first law is a conservation (of energy) law, the second is a dissipation
law: something (negative entropy) is lost and therefore balance is not
to be expected in diet interventions. Here, we propose that a
misunderstanding of the second law accounts for the controversy about
the role of macronutrient effect on weight loss and we review some
aspects of elementary thermodynamics. We use data in the literature to
show that thermogenesis is sufficient to predict metabolic advantage.
Whereas homeostasis ensures balance under many conditions, as a general
principle, "a calorie is a calorie" violates the second law of
thermodynamics.
http://www.nutritionj.com/content/3/1/9
Caution, actually uses equations and large tables of data.
Thermodynamics and Metabolic Advantage of Weight Loss Diets
Richard D. Feinman, PhD, Eugene J. Fine, MD
Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders
September 2003, Vol. 1, No. 3, Pages 209-219
Posted online on July 8, 2004.
(doi:10.1089/154041903322716688)
http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/154041903322716688?cookieSet=1
"A calorie is a calorie" violates the second law of thermodynamics
Richard D Feinman1 and Eugene J Fine1,
Department of Biochemistry, State University of New York Downstate
Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY 11203 USA
2Department of Nuclear Medicine, Jacobi Medical Center, Bronx, NY 10461 USA
Nutrition Journal 2004, 3:9 doi:10.1186/1475-2891-3-9
AbstractThe principle of "a calorie is a calorie," that weight change in
hypocaloric diets is independent of macronutrient composition, is widely
held in the popular and technical literature, and is frequently
justified by appeal to the laws of thermodynamics. We review here some
aspects of thermodynamics that bear on weight loss and the effect of
macronutrient composition. The focus is the so-called metabolic
advantage in low-carbohydrate diets – greater weight loss compared to
isocaloric diets of different composition. Two laws of thermodynamics
are relevant to the systems considered in nutrition and, whereas the
first law is a conservation (of energy) law, the second is a dissipation
law: something (negative entropy) is lost and therefore balance is not
to be expected in diet interventions. Here, we propose that a
misunderstanding of the second law accounts for the controversy about
the role of macronutrient effect on weight loss and we review some
aspects of elementary thermodynamics. We use data in the literature to
show that thermogenesis is sufficient to predict metabolic advantage.
Whereas homeostasis ensures balance under many conditions, as a general
principle, "a calorie is a calorie" violates the second law of
thermodynamics.
http://www.nutritionj.com/content/3/1/9