We tell lies to children because the truth is too hard for them to understand at their level of knowledge. (See, for example, models of atoms that have a nucleus and protons and electrons buzzing round it.)
So, with that in mind, children learn that one calorie is the amount of energy needed to raise 1 g of water by 1 degree c.
But what does that actually mean for a human body? How is a calorie in fat worked out? How is a calorie in sugar worked out? How do we know they're equivalent?
> So, with that in mind, children learn that one calorie is the amount of energy needed to raise 1 g of water by 1 degree c.
I find this to be wonderfully ironic, because the nutritional calorie is 1000x larger than the physics calorie. In nutrition, one calorie is the amount of energy needed to raise 1kg of water by 1 degree C. So yes, it's entirely possible that this fellow didn't know what a "calorie" was in the realm of nutrition.
Yep. When you see "calorie" on US food labels, that's actually a big-C Calorie, or food calorie, which is equal to a kilocalorie from regular physics.
If it were regular physics calories, the energy content of food would be nowhere near enough to sustain us. A typical human body at rest will consume around 8 megajoules per day, or about 2 million calories. But that's only about 2 thousand big-C food Calories.
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We tell lies to children because the truth is too hard for them to understand at their level of knowledge. (See, for example, models of atoms that have a nucleus and protons and electrons buzzing round it.)
So, with that in mind, children learn that one calorie is the amount of energy needed to raise 1 g of water by 1 degree c.
But what does that actually mean for a human body? How is a calorie in fat worked out? How is a calorie in sugar worked out? How do we know they're equivalent?
> So, with that in mind, children learn that one calorie is the amount of energy needed to raise 1 g of water by 1 degree c.
I find this to be wonderfully ironic, because the nutritional calorie is 1000x larger than the physics calorie. In nutrition, one calorie is the amount of energy needed to raise 1kg of water by 1 degree C. So yes, it's entirely possible that this fellow didn't know what a "calorie" was in the realm of nutrition.
Wait, what? That would be one kilocalorie. And that's what's listed on most food?
Yep. When you see "calorie" on US food labels, that's actually a big-C Calorie, or food calorie, which is equal to a kilocalorie from regular physics.
If it were regular physics calories, the energy content of food would be nowhere near enough to sustain us. A typical human body at rest will consume around 8 megajoules per day, or about 2 million calories. But that's only about 2 thousand big-C food Calories.
Forgetting or ignoring this difference results in amusing things like the beer and ice cream diet: http://training.fitness.com/weight-loss/beer-ice-cream-diet-...