Does Cutting Calories Work?

February 12, 2008 By Brad Pilon

I am beginning to hate shoveling. We are preparing for another 10-12 inches of snow tonight, and I still haven’t completely shoveled the last big dump of snow that hit us on Friday. I think it’s time to move somewhere warm. I’m thinking Gainesville!

I’ve been trying to answer all the comments that have appeared on my last post, and I’ve noticed a number of them are referring back to Gary Taubes. Many people have mistakenly taken the main point of his book “Good Calories, Bad Calories” to be that cutting calories wont help you lose weight.

Instead of getting involved in a big scientific debate over this, I’m going to use the scientific method with this one.

I’m a giant fan of Karl Popper, in my opinion he is one the greatest contributors to the scientific method. It was Popper who suggested that nothing in science could be proven correct, it could only be proven incorrect. And that these constant attempts at proving theories incorrect is what moves our knowledge forward.

So, for the theory that caloric restriction does not work for weight loss, and that the only way to reduce weight is by decreasing the intake of carbohydrates, regardless of calories, I would suggest that extreme results that occur with both laparoscopic band surgery and gastric bypass surgery are evidence that reducing the amount of calories the body can absorb results in substantial, measurable weight loss. These finding are repeatable and reproducible.

(An extreme example, but it does prove a point)

Because of the strength of these finding we can say that with surgical interventions that result in the bodies inability to absorb calories from food their is a rapid reduction in total body weight.

Because of this, we can say that the statement that reducing calories does not cause weight loss is invalid. Irrespective of the percentage of carbohydrate intake, the simple act of reducing calories will reduce bodyweight.

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Does Cutting Calories Work?

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