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A Calorie Is A Calorie Is A Calorie?
In a prior post
I wrote that "The form of the calories don’t matter that much in and of
themselves. A thousand calories of protein or fat or carbohydrates is
still a thousand calories"? In saying that I was conceding an element
of truth to a common dieting axiom: "a calorie is a calorie is a
calorie." This axiom is often used by those who tout calorie
restriction as the key to successful fat loss. These folks would say
that it doesn’t matter whether the calories you take in are in the form
of fat, carbohydrates, or protein. All that counts for losing weight is
losing calories.
But while it’s true (by definition) that one calorie represents as
much energy as another calorie, that is much more to the story than
this. As I went on to point out,
the type of calories does have an effect on the body’s
metabolism because the body has to do different things in order to burn
different macro-nutrients (i.e., protein, fat, and carbohydrates). If
you change the ratio of the macro-nutrients you are eating, your body’s
metabolism changes in order to digest and/or store them.
I’d like to document that now by citing a classic study published in
1956 by Alan Kekwick and Gaston Pawan ("Calorie Intake in Relation to
Body Weight Changes in the Obese," Lancet, July 28, 1956,
155-161). These researchers divided their test subjects into three
groups, each of which ate a thousand calories a day that were
principally composed of one of the three macronutrients. One group got
a thousand calories a day that were 90% carbohydrate calories, another
got a thousand calories a day that were 90% protein calories, and the
third group got a thousand calories a day that were 90% fat calories.
If the "a calorie is a calorie" maxim applied to weight loss, these
groups should have lost the same amount of weight–or at least
approximately the same amount of weight.
They didn’t.
The
90% protein group lost an average of .6 pounds per day of the study.
The 90% fat group lost .9 pounds per day. And the 90% carbohydrate
group actually gained .24 pounds per day.
What explains this?
The basic explanation is that your metabolism adjusts to the input
you give it. If you put in primarily fat, it triggers one set of
responses as your body gears up to utilize the fat and manage its
energy output. If you put in carbs, it triggers a different set of
respones. And if you put in protein, it triggers a third set. These
have an impact on how much weight a person will lose. As the 1956
Kekwick study showed (and as subsequent studies have reinforced), if
you give your body fat in the absence of carbohydrates then your body
will go into fat burning mode. If you give it protein in the absence of
carbohydrates then it will do the same, though the rate of fat burning
will be less efficient.
On the other hand, if you give it primarily carbohydrates then it
will slam on the brakes for fat burning and start hoarding the fat it
has, even slowing your metabolism so that it can generate excess
calories to try to hoard more nutrients since the sudden absence of fat
from your diet has convinced your body that some kind of famine is
going on and you need to go into emergency survival mode.
Subsequent studies have confirmed and amplified the Kekwick and
Pawan results, but the basics were right there in the 1956 study.
Rat "Brain" Flies "Plane"
Somewhere in Florida, 25,000 disembodied rat neurons are thinking about flying an F-22.
These neurons are growing on top of a multi-electrode array and form
a living "brain" that’s hooked up to a flight simulator on a desktop
computer. When information on the simulated aircraft’s horizontal and
vertical movements are fed into the brain by stimulating the
electrodes, the neurons fire away in patterns that are then used to
control its "body" — the simulated aircraft.
Currently the brain has learned enough to be able to control the
pitch and roll of the simulated F-22 fighter jet in weather conditions
ranging from blue skies to hurricane-force winds. Initially the
aircraft drifted, because the brain hadn’t figured out how to control
its "body," but over time the neurons learned to stabilize the aircraft
to a straight, level flight.
"Right now the process it’s learning is very simplistic," said
DeMarse. "It’s basically making a decision about whether to move the
stick to the left or to the right or forwards and backwards and it
learns how much to push the stick depending upon how badly the aircraft
is flying."
The bigger goal is to figure out how neurons talk to each other. MRI
scans, for example, show millions of neurons firing together. At that
resolution, it is impossible to see what’s happening between individual
neurons. While scientists can study neural activities from groups of
cells in a dish, they can’t watch them learn and grow as they would
within a living body unless the neurons have some kind of body to
interact with.
By taking these cells and giving them back a "body," the researchers
hope to uncover how the neurons communicate with each other and
eventually translate that knowledge to develop novel computing
architecture.
MORE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA.
And this just in from UNIVERSE TODAY:
In related news, EarthForce defense contractors announced
project aimed at creating a powerful "shadow" warship using a human
being as its central processing unit.
"We’re very excited about the new shadow ship," said Gen. Wink
Tinkley of EarthForce. "Using a human being as the CPU means a lot more
computing than a simulated rat brain has. The only problem we’ve found
is that telepaths can interfere with the human’s neural connection with
the ship."
EarthForce contractors also announced the creation of an even more
ambitious program which will allow a detachable human as a ship’s CPU.
When perfect, this pilot program will allow humans who pilot such
ships–known as "pilots"–to live normal lives by being extracted from
their ships at the end of missions.
Rat “Brain” Flies “Plane”
Excerpts:
Somewhere in Florida, 25,000 disembodied rat neurons are thinking about flying an F-22.
These neurons are growing on top of a multi-electrode array and form
a living "brain" that’s hooked up to a flight simulator on a desktop
computer. When information on the simulated aircraft’s horizontal and
vertical movements are fed into the brain by stimulating the
electrodes, the neurons fire away in patterns that are then used to
control its "body" — the simulated aircraft.
Currently the brain has learned enough to be able to control the
pitch and roll of the simulated F-22 fighter jet in weather conditions
ranging from blue skies to hurricane-force winds. Initially the
aircraft drifted, because the brain hadn’t figured out how to control
its "body," but over time the neurons learned to stabilize the aircraft
to a straight, level flight.
"Right now the process it’s learning is very simplistic," said
DeMarse. "It’s basically making a decision about whether to move the
stick to the left or to the right or forwards and backwards and it
learns how much to push the stick depending upon how badly the aircraft
is flying."
The bigger goal is to figure out how neurons talk to each other. MRI
scans, for example, show millions of neurons firing together. At that
resolution, it is impossible to see what’s happening between individual
neurons. While scientists can study neural activities from groups of
cells in a dish, they can’t watch them learn and grow as they would
within a living body unless the neurons have some kind of body to
interact with.
By taking these cells and giving them back a "body," the researchers
hope to uncover how the neurons communicate with each other and
eventually translate that knowledge to develop novel computing
architecture.
MORE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA.
And this just in from UNIVERSE TODAY:
In related news, EarthForce defense contractors announced
project aimed at creating a powerful "shadow" warship using a human
being as its central processing unit."We’re very excited about the new shadow ship," said Gen. Wink
Tinkley of EarthForce. "Using a human being as the CPU means a lot more
computing than a simulated rat brain has. The only problem we’ve found
is that telepaths can interfere with the human’s neural connection with
the ship."EarthForce contractors also announced the creation of an even more
ambitious program which will allow a detachable human as a ship’s CPU.
When perfect, this pilot program will allow humans who pilot such
ships–known as "pilots"–to live normal lives by being extracted from
their ships at the end of missions.
Scientists Create Monkey Zombies
As if creating "boffins" and zombie dogs weren’t enough, scientists have also created monkey zombies. And, as before, their ultimate, sinister goal is to create human zombies.
Say same technique will allow making human zombies.
YOU’RE NEXT!!!
Happy Parent's Day!
No, don’t bother to check your calendar for the date of Parent’s Day. It is not an official holiday (yet). However, one Maryland pre-school has decided to spay and neuter Mother’s and Father’s Days into one jolly Parent’s Day for fear of offending families with Two Mommies and Two Daddies. (Or should I say "Two Parents"?)
"A pre-school in Maryland has lost at least one customer after a student’s father working on the school’s newsletter was told he must change a ‘Happy Mother’s Day’ greeting in the publication to ‘Happy Parent’s Day.’
[…]
"The trouble began when [David] Becker [the student’s father], while typing the newsletter, changed a hand-written greeting from ‘Happy Parent’s Day!’ to ‘Happy Mother’s Day!’ After submitting the final draft, a teacher contacted Becker and said the greeting would have to be changed back to ‘Happy Parent’s Day!’
[…]
"Becker then asked the administrator: ‘Who would we be offending on Mother’s Day?’
"The response: ‘What about families with two fathers?’
"Becker then asked about Father’s Day. He says he was told: ‘You can’t say ‘Father’s Day’ either.’"
One wonders how Mother’s and Father’s Days slipped beneath the radar of the the More-Sensitive-Than-Thou crowd for so long. Next on the chopping block will undoubtedly be Arbor Day for its outrageous preference for trees to the exclusion of flowers and grass. But wait! There is already the More Sensitive Option of Earth Day.
And so it goes in our society’s continuing ever-spiraling decline into irrelevance.
Happy Parent’s Day!
No, don’t bother to check your calendar for the date of Parent’s Day. It is not an official holiday (yet). However, one Maryland pre-school has decided to spay and neuter Mother’s and Father’s Days into one jolly Parent’s Day for fear of offending families with Two Mommies and Two Daddies. (Or should I say "Two Parents"?)
"A pre-school in Maryland has lost at least one customer after a student’s father working on the school’s newsletter was told he must change a ‘Happy Mother’s Day’ greeting in the publication to ‘Happy Parent’s Day.’
[…]
"The trouble began when [David] Becker [the student’s father], while typing the newsletter, changed a hand-written greeting from ‘Happy Parent’s Day!’ to ‘Happy Mother’s Day!’ After submitting the final draft, a teacher contacted Becker and said the greeting would have to be changed back to ‘Happy Parent’s Day!’
[…]
"Becker then asked the administrator: ‘Who would we be offending on Mother’s Day?’
"The response: ‘What about families with two fathers?’
"Becker then asked about Father’s Day. He says he was told: ‘You can’t say ‘Father’s Day’ either.’"
One wonders how Mother’s and Father’s Days slipped beneath the radar of the the More-Sensitive-Than-Thou crowd for so long. Next on the chopping block will undoubtedly be Arbor Day for its outrageous preference for trees to the exclusion of flowers and grass. But wait! There is already the More Sensitive Option of Earth Day.
And so it goes in our society’s continuing ever-spiraling decline into irrelevance.
Dangerous Lawnmower Stunts
Down yonder a reader asks concerning robotic lawnmowers that automatically cut people’s grass:
"Isn’t that dangerous? What if there are kids in the neighbourhood?"
It might well be. I don’t know what kind of safety precautions these things have or what laws there may be concerning where they can be used.
However, here’s an even more amazing lawnmower engineering thingie (cowboy hat tip: Southern Appeal).
It’s called the Sky Cutter, and you can order your own kit to make one remarkably inexpensively.
For the record, this isn’t a lawnmower that has been rejiggered to fly. It’s a model airplane that has been rejiggered to look like a lawnmower, one of a number of novelty model aircraft produced by FlyingThingZ.Com.
Most amazing is a film of the Sky Cutter in action–set to the tune of Cotton-Eyed Joe. As they put it at Southern Appeal: "Pure (Redneck) Genius"!
YEE-HAW!!!
WATCH THE MOVIE (Windows Media Player)
The Best Of JimmyAkin.Org
Howdy, folks!
Just an operations note.
I had a business meeting until late last night, and didn’t have time to prepare my usual slate of blog entries. As a result, today will be a light blogging day on my part. My co-bloggers will still be here, but I’m afraid that my contributions today will have be "encore posts" from last year.
Enjoy!
Tuesday Photo Caption
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