{"id":9633,"date":"2023-12-26T20:22:14","date_gmt":"2023-12-26T13:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=9633"},"modified":"2023-12-26T20:22:14","modified_gmt":"2023-12-26T13:22:14","slug":"debunking-the-3500-calorie-per-pound-rule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=9633","title":{"rendered":"Debunking the 3,500-Calorie-per-Pound Rule\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<p>How many fewer calories do you have to eat every day to lose one pound of body fat?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The first surgical attempt at body sculpting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/publication\/224834142_Thirtyfour_years_of_liposuction_Past_present_and_future\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">was<\/a> in 1921 on a dancer \u201cwho wanted to improve the shape of her ankles and knees.\u201d The surgeon apparently scraped away too much tissue and tied the stitches too tight, resulting in necrosis, amputation, and the first recorded malpractice suit in the history of plastic surgery. Liposuction <a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/publication\/12687357_Fatal_Outcomes_from_Liposuction_Census_Survey_of_Cosmetic_Surgeons\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">is<\/a> much safer today, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/publication\/12687357_Fatal_Outcomes_from_Liposuction_Census_Survey_of_Cosmetic_Surgeons\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">killing<\/a> only about 1 in 5,000 patients, mostly from unknown causes, such as throwing a clot into your lung or perforating your internal organs. You can see a \u201cCause of Death\u201d chart below and at 0:37 in my video <a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/the-3500-calorie-per-pound-rule-is-wrong\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>The 3,500 Calorie per Pound Rule Is Wrong<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-99395\" src=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/12\/0-37.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Liposuction currently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S2049080117303916\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reigns<\/a> as the most popular cosmetic surgery in the world, and its effects are indeed only cosmetic. A study <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/15201411\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">published<\/a> in the <em>New England Journal of Medicine<\/em> assessed obese women before and after having about 20 pounds of fat sucked out of their bodies, resulting in a nearly 20 percent drop in their total body fat. Normally, if you <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/8581779\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lose<\/a> even just 5 to 10 percent of your body weight in fat, you get significant improvements in blood pressure, blood sugars, inflammation, cholesterol, and triglycerides. But liposuction sucks. None of those benefits <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/15201411\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">materialized<\/a> even after massive liposuction, which suggests that the problem is not <em>subcutaneous<\/em> fat, the fat under our skin. The metabolic insults of obesity arise from the <em>visceral<\/em> fat, the fat surrounding or even infiltrating our internal organs, like the fat marbling our muscles and liver. The way you lose that fat, the dangerous fat, is to take in fewer calories than you burn.\u00a0<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nAnyone who\u2019s seen <em>The Biggest Loser<\/em> television programs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/publication\/6357695_The_biggest_loser_Erik_Chopin_fought_diabetes--and_his_demons--to_win_big_on_the_hit_television_show\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">knows<\/a> that with enough caloric restriction and exercise, hundreds of pounds can be lost. Similarly, there are cases in the medical literature of what some<a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/17399752\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> refer<\/a> to as \u201csuper obesity.\u201d In one case, a man <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/19841994\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lost<\/a> a massive amount of weight \u201clargely without professional help and without surgery\u201d and kept it off for years. He dropped 374 pounds, losing about 20 pounds a month by cycling two hours a day and reducing his daily intake to 800 calories, which is down around what some prisoners <a href=\"https:\/\/psycnet.apa.org\/record\/2008-03389-008\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">got<\/a> at concentration camps in World War II.\u00a0<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nPerhaps \u201cAmerica\u2019s most celebrated weight loss\u201d seen on television <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/2403446\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">was<\/a> Oprah\u2019s. She pulled out a wagon full of fat, representing the 67 pounds she had lost on a very-low-calorie diet. How many calories did she have to cut to achieve that weight loss within four months? If you <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/24699137\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">consult<\/a> with leading nutrition textbooks or refer to trusted authorities like the Mayo Clinic, you\u2019ll learn the simple weight loss rule: 1 pound of fat equals 3,500 calories. Quoting from the <em>Journal of the American Medical Association<\/em>, \u201cA total of 3500 calories <a href=\"https:\/\/jamanetwork.com\/journals\/jama\/fullarticle\/1900513\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">equals<\/a> 1 pound of body weight. This means if you decrease (or increase) your intake by 500 calories daily, you will lose (or gain) 1 pound per week. (500 calories per day \u00d7 7 days = 3500 calories.)\u201d\u00a0<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nIt\u2019s the simple weight-loss rule that is simply not true.\u00a0<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nThe 3,500-calorie rule can be traced back to a paper published in 1958. The author <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/13594881\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">noted<\/a> that since fatty tissue in the human body is 87 percent fat, a pound of body fat would have about 395 grams of pure fat. Multiplying that by nine calories per gram of fat gives you that \u201c3,500 calories per pound\u201d approximation. The fatal flaw that<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC6248630\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> leads<\/a> to \u201cdramatically exaggerated\u201d weight-loss predictions is that the 3,500-calorie rule fails to take into account the fact that changes in the Calories-In side of the energy-balance equation automatically lead to changes in the Calories-Out side\u2014for example, metabolic adaption, the slowing of metabolic rate that accompanies weight loss. That\u2019s one reason weight loss plateaus.\u00a0<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nImagine a sedentary, 30-year-old woman of average height who weighs 150 pounds. According to the 3,500-calorie rule, if she cuts 500 calories out of her daily diet, she\u2019d lose a pound a week or 52 pounds a year. In three years, she would vanish. She\u2019d go from 150 pounds to -6. Obviously, that doesn\u2019t happen. Instead, as you can see in the graph below and at 4:33 in my <a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/the-3500-calorie-per-pound-rule-is-wrong\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>video<\/strong><\/a>, in the first year, she\u2019d likely <a href=\"https:\/\/www.niddk.nih.gov\/bwp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lose<\/a> 32 pounds, not 52. Then, after a total of three years, she\u2019d probably stabilize at about 100 pounds. This is because it takes fewer calories to exist as a thin person.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-99398\" src=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/12\/4-33.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><br \/>\nPart of it is \u201csimple mechanics\u201d: More energy is <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/23147189\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">required<\/a> to move a heavier mass, in the same way a Hummer requires more fuel than a compact car. Think how much more effort it would take to just get up from a chair, walk across the room, or climb a few stairs if you were carrying a 50-pound backpack. Even when you\u2019re at rest, sound asleep, there\u2019s simply less of your body to maintain as you lose weight. Every pound of fat tissue lost may mean one less mile of blood vessels through which your body has to pump blood every minute. So, the basic upkeep and movement of thinner bodies take fewer calories. As you lose weight by eating less, you end up needing less. That\u2019s what the 3,500-calorie rule doesn\u2019t take into account.\u00a0<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nImagine it another way: A 200-pound man starts consuming 500 more calories a day, maybe by drinking a large soda or eating two donuts. According to the 3,500-calorie rule, in ten years, he\u2019d weigh more than 700 pounds. That doesn\u2019t happen because, the heavier he is, the more calories he burns just by existing. If you\u2019re 100 pounds overweight, it\u2019s as if there\u2019s a skinny person inside you trying to walk around balancing 13 gallons of oil or lugging around a sack filled with 400 sticks of butter. As you can see in the graph below and at 6:13 in my <a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/the-3500-calorie-per-pound-rule-is-wrong\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>video<\/strong><\/a>, it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.niddk.nih.gov\/bwp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">takes<\/a> about two donuts\u2019 worth of extra energy just to live at 250 pounds, so that\u2019s where you\u2019d plateau if you kept it up. Given a certain calorie excess or deficit, weight gain or weight loss is a curve that flattens out over time, rather than a straight line up or down.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-99400\" src=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/12\/6-13.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><br \/>\nNevertheless, the 3,500-calorie rule <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/23628852\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">continues<\/a> to crop up, even in obesity journals. Public health researchers used it to calculate how many pounds children might lose every year if, for example, fast-food kids\u2019 meals swapped in apple slices for french fries. You can see the \u201cCounting Calories in Kids\u2019 Meals\u201d graphic below and at 6:39 in my <a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/the-3500-calorie-per-pound-rule-is-wrong\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>video<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-99402\" src=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/12\/6-39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><\/p>\n<p>They <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/24304430\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">figured<\/a> that two meals a week could add up to about four pounds a year. The actual difference, National Restaurant Association\u2013funded researchers were no doubt delighted to point out, would probably <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/25496036\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">add<\/a> less than half a pound\u2014ten times less than the 3,500-calorie rule would predict, as you can see below and at 7:06 in my<a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/the-3500-calorie-per-pound-rule-is-wrong\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong> video<\/strong><\/a>. That original article was subsequently <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/25496037\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">retracted<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-99404\" src=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/12\/7-06.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/>\u00a0<br \/>\n<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/the-3500-calorie-per-pound-rule-is-wrong\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The 3,500 Calorie per Pound Rule Is Wrong<\/a><\/strong> is the first of 14 videos that are part of my fasting series, about which I did two webinars. The videos are on <a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>NutritionFacts.org<\/strong><\/a>, or you can get them all now in a digital download at <a href=\"https:\/\/drgreger.org\/collections\/videos\/products\/fasting-weight-loss-digital\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Intermittent Fasting<\/a>. You may also be interested in my webinars on <a href=\"https:\/\/drgreger.org\/collections\/videos\/products\/fasting-disease-reversal-digital\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fasting and Disease Reversal<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/drgreger.org\/collections\/videos\/products\/fasting-cancer-digital\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fasting and Cancer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Other videos in this series are included in related videos below.\u00a0<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nCheck out some other popular videos on <a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/topics\/weight-loss\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>weight loss<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>I also recently tackled the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/topics\/keto-diet\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ketogenic diet<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1675549\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How many fewer calories do you have to eat every day to lose one pound of body fat?\u00a0 The first surgical attempt at body sculpting was in 1921 on a dancer \u201cwho wanted to improve the shape of her ankles and knees.\u201d The surgeon apparently scraped away too much tissue and tied the stitches too &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9634,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}