# If I eat a pound of chocolate, how come I gain 10 pounds? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 16, 2007, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-a-pound-of-chocolate-how-come-i-gain-10-pounds/396227 "2007-03-16T17:18:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-a-pound-of-chocolate-how-come-i-gain-10-pounds/396227/21 "2007-03-16T18:53:40Z")
[QUOTE=x-ray vision] The body experiences a sharp spike in blood sugar and releases a corresponding amount of insulin in response. High insulin is bad. Insulin decreases the sugar in your blood and in your brain. Low sugar in the brain means poor concentration, fatigue, and other problems . . . [/QUOTE] This seems to be describing “reactive hypoglycemia” which is actually quite **rare** and confined almost exclusively to those with previous stomach surgery (resection) and rarely, inchoate type II diabetes. Reactive hypoglycemia, like so many “fad” and “popular” diseases is vastly overdiagnosed (usually in the absence of a medical opinion). ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-a-pound-of-chocolate-how-come-i-gain-10-pounds/396227/22 "2007-03-16T18:58:43Z")
[QUOTE=Bear\_Nenno] Wrong. You would gain EXACTLY the weight of the chocolate. (Hint: It’s in your belly now) [/QUOTE] Yeah. I was trying for flipness and was hoist with my own candybar. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-a-pound-of-chocolate-how-come-i-gain-10-pounds/396227/23 "2007-03-16T19:08:27Z")
[QUOTE=ZipperJJ] Don’t forget that calories don’t count if you eat while standing up, while alone, while in your pajamas or directly out of the fridge. [/QUOTE] Mathematically are you saying … Calories don’t count (if you eat while standing up, while alone, while in your pajamas) or (directly out of the fridge)? So if you cannot eat directly out of the fridge you must eat standing up, alone and in your PJs? ---
**Author:** ![lilflower](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecccb3/32.png) [@lilflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lilflower)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-a-pound-of-chocolate-how-come-i-gain-10-pounds/396227/24 "2007-03-16T19:09:21Z")
[QUOTE=pulykamell] What numbers are you using? I’m getting numbers of about 160 calories per ounce on the web for cashews, or 2,560 per pound. The calories in any given food roughly equals (grams fat \* 9) + (grams carbs \*4) + (grams protein \*4) + (alcohol \*7), so it’s not possible for any food to have any more calories than if it were made of pure fat. [/QUOTE] My mistake - the numbers on the site I was using are not what I thought they were. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-a-pound-of-chocolate-how-come-i-gain-10-pounds/396227/25 "2007-03-16T19:14:09Z")
Yes, but if I eat a pound of celery, then I lose ten pounds! So clearly you just need to balance your diet 😉 ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-a-pound-of-chocolate-how-come-i-gain-10-pounds/396227/26 "2007-03-16T19:15:01Z")
[QUOTE=KarlGauss] This seems to be describing “reactive hypoglycemia”… [/QUOTE] It seems to be describing what anyone should expect to experience after eating a pound of chocolate. It’s not rare for anyone to experience an insulin spike after eating a lot of simple sugar and to have the symptoms described. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-a-pound-of-chocolate-how-come-i-gain-10-pounds/396227/27 "2007-03-16T21:13:29Z")
[QUOTE=Duckster] Mathematically are you saying … Calories don’t count (if you eat while standing up, while alone, while in your pajamas) or (directly out of the fridge)? So if you cannot eat directly out of the fridge you must eat standing up, alone and in your PJs? [/QUOTE] No, mathematically it’s that distributive law thingie: If you eat while standing up if you eat while alone if you eat while in your pajamas or if you eat directly from the fridge Thank you, **ZipperJJ** , for the parallel construction. It’s so refreshing. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2007, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-a-pound-of-chocolate-how-come-i-gain-10-pounds/396227/28 "2007-03-17T01:36:54Z")
What none of you are taking into account is that chocolate is like an iceberg: only 10% of it is in our dimension and the remaining 90% is in the fourth (or was it twelth) dimension. However, the digestive juices in your stomach gradually bring it back to our dimension. Thus you will gain 10 pounds from eating a pound of chocolate. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2007, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-a-pound-of-chocolate-how-come-i-gain-10-pounds/396227/29 "2007-03-17T02:41:14Z")
[QUOTE=pulykamell] What numbers are you using? I’m getting numbers of about 160 calories per ounce on the web for cashews, or 2,560 per pound. [/QUOTE] The cashews I bought yesterday have 180 calories/oz. Still, that’s only 2880 calories/pound. ---
**Author:** ![daffyduck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ec9cab/32.png) [@daffyduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/daffyduck)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2007, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-a-pound-of-chocolate-how-come-i-gain-10-pounds/396227/30 "2007-03-17T03:27:38Z")
Let’s say you’re a 30 year old woman who’s 5ft 5in tall and you weigh 135 lbs. Your daily expenditure of calories is approximately 1900 calories. You eat the pound of chocolate for a light after dinner snack after eating your normal amount of food all day which was probably in excess of 1900 calories. (Face it, you’ve been putting on weight). Everything you eat for the next day and a half is excess calories. It’s how many calories a week you’re eating that’s putting on the weight. It’s not what goes down in a single meal. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2007, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-a-pound-of-chocolate-how-come-i-gain-10-pounds/396227/31 "2007-03-17T04:13:45Z")
I am insulin resistant. If I eat pretty much any simple carbohydrates, one consequence is that my metabolism changes and I gain weight for several days afterward, even if I eat a diet that i was losing weight on before I ate the bread/candy/potato. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2007, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-a-pound-of-chocolate-how-come-i-gain-10-pounds/396227/32 "2007-03-17T14:49:50Z")
And, of course, everyone has ignored the simple fact that weight gain may not be a function of increased intake at all, but rather a reduction in calories expended, as, for example, caused by reduced activity levels. So, you eat the pound of chocolate on Monday, next Monday morning you are 4 lbs heavier. You investigate thoroughly and figure out that that pound of chocolate was the ONLY increased caloric intake over your normal rate for the week, but you ignore the fact that for the last week you spent an abnormal number of nights esconced on the couch with a movie as opposed to being out shopping in malls, forcing you to walk around a lot, etc. Calories Ingested - Calories Expended = Calories Retained/Lost ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2007, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-a-pound-of-chocolate-how-come-i-gain-10-pounds/396227/33 "2007-03-17T15:17:14Z")
There are too many variables to control in short window of time. When discussing weight gain and referring to the 3500 calorie rule, this is to be used when calculating over a longer period of time, so that the rule of large numbers starts to take over. I think the whole chocolate = 10 lbs is begging the question. Create 3500 cal deficits over many months and one would be able to predict with great accuracy the expected weight loss. You could gain five pounds right now by eating a large meal and plenty of fluids, but the weight is just the mass of food and fluids in your digestive track. How much will be added as muscle, fat or create a side effect of fluid retention or cause reduced activity resulted in slower metabolism? Too many variables to measured in a day or two. Concern yourself with body fat %, weigh one’s self not more than every 15 days… …and measure yourself to back up any apparent weight losses and gains. (You could drop 2-3 pounds by taking a dump, too, but the spirit of losing weight is losing body fat, and scales don’t exactly track that accurately). ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2007, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-a-pound-of-chocolate-how-come-i-gain-10-pounds/396227/34 "2007-03-17T23:26:40Z")
I don’t see how that’s possible without violating the laws of physics-how can one pound multiply itself into ten? ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-a-pound-of-chocolate-how-come-i-gain-10-pounds/396227/35 "2007-03-19T11:18:24Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] I don’t see how that’s possible without violating the laws of physics-how can one pound multiply itself into ten? [/QUOTE] Because the storage of energy (as fat) in the body is inefficient. Most body fat is not stored in isolation - there is additional water and cell walls, etc that **may** actually increase the weight gain. At the end of the day, it is all pretty subjective - people do not tend to measure all the inputs and outputs from their body, so we don’t really _know_ how our body is reacting to what we eat, and it is not particularly deterministic anyhow. You need to work with loner term trends. Si [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-a-pound-of-chocolate-how-come-i-gain-10-pounds/396227.md?page=1)