Clearing the air about fat loss
New research reveals that we exhale out most of lost body fat
Where does fat go when we lose it? Researchers at the University of New South Wales have discovered that besides burning it off, fat can also be breathed out as carbon dioxide and expelled as water in urine.
Their paper, published in the Christmas issue of The BMJ, studies the metabolic process of weight loss at a microscopic level.
Fat is stored in the body as a compound called triglyceride. Triglycerides are broken down through oxidation into carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms. Researchers followed the path of these atoms as they journeyed out of the body, and created a calculation that specifically details how we lose weight.
To lose 10 kilograms of fat, one would have to burn 94,000 calories, and produce 8.4 kilograms of carbon dioxide as well as a small amount of water, researchers discovered. The paper illustrates that 29 kilograms of oxygen must be inhaled to oxidise 10 kilograms of fat into 28 kilograms of carbon dioxide and 11 kilograms of water, Medical News Today reported.
"None of this biochemistry is new, but for unknown reasons it seems nobody has thought of performing these calculations before. These results show that the lungs are the primary excretory organ for weight loss,” study authors Ruben Meerman and Andrew Brown were quoted by the BBC as saying.
There are many common misconceptions as to where fat and excess weight goes when it is lost. Most believe that fat is converted into energy or heat - which would violate Einstein’s E=mc2 law - while others think it is excreted or converted to muscle.
This new research could lead to physicians, dieticians and personal trainers everywhere re-evaluating their understanding of how the body loses weight. However, weight loss strategies will not likely change much – hyperventilating, researchers say, would not work. Instead, people should stick to the tried-and-tested method of eating less and moving more.
Further links:
Bbc.co.uk
Medicalnewstoday.com
Bmj.com
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