Calorie question

[Bob]

Because we're all medical experts here....


If you took in say 1,000 or 2,000 extra calories (pure calories with no extra fat/cholesterol/etc.), would it matter if you took them all in in one day vs. spreading it out over a day or more?  Does the body just convert the extra calories to fat all at once or a little over several days depending on how you take those calories in?

And out of curiosity, if you took in a lot more calories, maybe 5,000, does the body convert all that to fat right away?  I would imagine it's got the energy there to do it, but... Wouldn't there be a point where it's too much? 

[j_menz]

The calorie conversion rate varies depending on the food it's contained in. Despite some opinion to the contrary, calories ain't calories.

[Bob]

Hm.  I'm still wondering what it does though.

Say it's pure granular sugar.  I did try that for a bit, sugar water, hoping it would give me more energy.  I think I just gained a little weight from it.

I'm also  wondering if it was something like pure sugar and water, what would the body use to create fat?  If you were only ingesting vegetables and lot of sugar... can the body still convert vegetable matter into fat?

And is there a point where the body would say the heck with it and just pass the calories through rather than convert them into anything. 

[j_menz]

The body can, and does, convert sugar into fat.

The body is more or less adept at extracting energy from different foodstuffs. Cellulose, for example, contains calories which the body is not very adept at getting at.  Animals who live off it, say for example cows, have special adaptations/gut flora to enable them to extract the energy. These pass through us largely without any calorie extraction. Sugars, however, are highly accessible.

Your body is basically designed to live in a calorie poor environment, and will try and hold on to anything it can.

[Bob]

I suppose that makes sense.  The body can turn straight sugar/calories into fat.  

Because it can turn fat into energy.  Makes sense it works both ways.



Hmm....  Still wondering where the body's getting material if it's just sugar and water.   It must be able to turn that into fat, or it's getting material somewhere else, like from muscles.