this post was submitted on 29 Mar 2026
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Science Memes

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[–] BradleyUffner@lemmy.world -2 points 2 days ago (2 children)

With every diet, named or not, the weight loss aspect always comes from "calories in vs calories out".

Some of them, like keto, change the way the body accesses the calories in food, but the math still holds. If your body can't access the calories in what you eat, they literally become "calories out" when you go to the bathroom later.

Other diets help with mentally being able to track calories better, or to just help you deal with how hard it is to eat fewer calories.

But no matter what, conservation of mass and energy always applies.

[–] xep@discuss.online 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Mass is not conserved. And while CICO may be true in the same sense that spherical cows can be used as an approximation, the devil's in the details.

[–] BradleyUffner@lemmy.world 0 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I didn't say just mass was conserved. I said that mass and energy, when taken together, are conserved. Mass is just another form of energy.

I assure you, ci/co is not a "spherical cow". Every single joule of energy is accounted for.

[–] Valmond@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

You forgot that we don't use 100% of the energy intake, like at all. That invalidates your assumptions IMO.

[–] BradleyUffner@lemmy.world -1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Huh? No I didn't, it's all accounted for.

Unused energy is stored, or passed out as waste (literally calories down the toilet).

[–] Valmond@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

So to follow a diet you should calculate not just caloric intake but also caloric euh, well, disposal 😅?

[–] BradleyUffner@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

You can do whatever you want. All I'm saying is that you will lose weight if your calorie intake from all sources is less than your calorie output from all sources.