After hearing about morbidly obese folks that somehow consume 10,000 or more calories a day, I started wondering exactly how much food you consume can be feasibly stored. Is there an upper limit on how much fat the human body can produce in a day? Assuming 2,000 calories burned in a day, and 3500 calories/lb. of fat, it would stand to reason that the person should be gaining over 2 pounds of weight every day. Is this actually possible, or does the digestive system just starting ignoring the food after a certain point?
Well, after a certain point, yes, you bypass some food (well, not bypass, but push along faster before all the work is done).
The person in question would know based on the quality of his/her stool. Runny and loose stools are probably the result of the intestines pushing things along in response to excessive intake, and this could cause cramping and nausea. It is safe to say that when this happens, the food is not in the bowels long enough for full absorption of nutrients and calories.
It doesn’t necessarily happen, but it probably does. Overindulgence at a party, too many hot dogs and crackerjack at a ball game and presto: intestinal cramping to move waste along to free up bowel space…maybe some runny stools, etc. Sure signs that maximum nutrients and calories were not absorbed.
I have my own experience that calories do not count at all. I eat all day long but never have a meal (it’s called “browsing”). And every time I open the fridge I take a couple baby carrot sticks for fiber. And it seems that whether I eat a little or a lot of calories, my weight never varies. So my supposition is that as long as the food stays in motion, being nudged along by the next snack, it won’t stick. I suspect the stomach shrinks and gut simply doesn’t have time to wrest the most out of each bite before it has to relinquish it.
Either that, or you’re eating enough over the course of a day to sustain your weight, but not so much that you gain weight. I’m thinking that’s more likely.
Yeah, that’s probably more correct. If your weight is stable, you are consuming about the same amount as your body is burning.
Um, no. The food isn’t nudged along by the next piece. The intestines move it along. Should the intestines be under duress (illness) or need to make room because one overindulged, the intestines will ratchet up the contractions (cramps, pain, etc) and move waste along. Simple proof is runny stools. The waste wasn’t in the bowels long enough to have the liquid absorbed…and calories/nutrition.
However it ain’t a weight loss technique, because it is likely that many thousands of calories are getting absorbed if the bowels are that full to cause the problems from overindulgence.
Sort of like putting in 8,000 calories and having the body get 7,000 out of it.