How do we know for sure how much energy is released when 1 gram of sugar is metabolised by the body? Do they have a handy-dandy food calorie meter?
“They’re coming to take me away ha-ha, ho-ho, hee-hee, to the funny farm where life is beautiful all the time… :)” - Napoleon IV
It turns out that they do have a calorimeter. Check out Cecil’s column on this subject.
Well, actually…I knew that, but!
In the chemistry field, they ARE called bomb calorimeters to determine heats of reaction. BUT! I didn’t think food energy was determined in this fashion! How can they be sure that the energy released during combustion is totally equivalent to metabolism??? I mean, I can burn paper and get out more energy than if I tried to digest paper…a flame is less discriminating!
FYI: A guy I knew DID travel through airports with such a device (as part of his job) and the x-ray people didn’t even question him! And, this was during a time of heightened awareness no less!
“They’re coming to take me away ha-ha, ho-ho, hee-hee, to the funny farm where life is beautiful all the time… :)” - Napoleon IV
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