The Science Behind Calorie Balance and Weight Management

Abstract

Does calorie balance really determine weight loss and weight gain? Is it really that simple? There really is no debate about this in the scientific community, and one study after another has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that have to eat less than you burn to lose weight. Discuss the evidence supporting and opposing the concept based on scientific evidence Does calorie balance really determine weight gain or weight loss? One can define calories as the amount of energy released when the body digests and absorbs foods/drinks (Woolley and Liu, 2021). For this reason, it is open that the more calories any food or drink has, the more energy it provides to the body. In such a case, one can conclude that consumption of foods and drinks with more calories than the body uses makes the body to store the excess energy as body fats which enhances weight gain with time. According to Mundstock et al. (2021), the average energy a man need is about 2500kcal and a woman 2000kcal a day to maintain a healthy body weight. However, these values may vary depending on some factors like age, size of each human and the level of physical activities engaged in among other factors. To this effect, there is the need to understand the science behind calorie count in relation to body weight to understand what exactly balances the energy absorbed and energy used to ensure a well maintained healthy body weight. Metabolism is a very important process in relation to calorie absorption within the body. Metabolism is a process through which the body changes what people eat and drink into energy (Westerterp-Plantenga et al., 2006). Through metabolism, the calories in foods and drinks mix with oxygen to make energy that the body needs while at work or even at rest. Then one may wish to understand the role of metabolism in weight regulation. In their article “Understanding nutrition”, Whitney and Rolfes (2019) argues that slow metabolism rarely enhances weight gain unless in hypothyroidism and crushing syndrome cases. On the contrary an individual’s choice of physical activity to engage in serves as the main determinant of the balance between the consumed and used calories within the body. In this case, wrong choice of physical activity after calorie consumption may lead to weight gain and vice versa. Since metabolism happens in two forms they help to understand its role in weight regulation. Catabolism form supports the breakdown of molecules to achieve energy a good example being gluconoegenesis while anabolisms like glycolysis synthesises all compound needed by the cells (Ashtary-Larky et al., 2017). The processes within anabolism and catabolism revolve around body hormones thus weight outcome becomes a product of hormonal disruptions. Therefore, one can conclude that catabolism and anabolism contributes significantly in molecule organization through freeing and capturing energy to keep the body functioning defining how metabolism plays a role in weight regulation. The process of defining weight regulation proves complicated because of the imbalances in energy equation calling for the need to establish effective mechanism that balances energy intakes and consumptions (Mundstock et al., 2021). A human weight is a balancing act and the equation is very simple. When one eats more calories than the body can burn, there is an experience of weight gain while a contrary practice through which one eats fewer calories and burn more through physical activity leads to weight lose. Although the process sound very simple, it proves very challenging as losing weight demands lose of a mix of fat, water and lean tissues thus the need to decrease calories intake for longer to continue losing weight but this does not justify realization of a healthy weight. While arguing this concept...