The Rest Is Science When 0 = 1000
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May 6, 2026 They unpack why calorie counts on labels can be misleading and how legal rounding hides complexity. They trace calorie measurements from bomb calorimeters to modern food labelling. They question myths like negative calorie foods and explain how chewing changes energy absorption. They follow burned fat into CO2, water and heat and even ponder tiny planetary mass changes.
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Why Coke Zero Can Say No Calories
- Food labels can legally report zero calories even when a serving contains a small amount of energy due to rounding rules.
- UK allows 'no calories' if <4 kcal per 100 ml and US permits rounding to nearest 5 kcal per serving, so small amounts (e.g., ~1 kcal) are omitted.
Avoid Drinking Tons Of Ice Water To Lose Weight
- Don't rely on extreme shortcuts like drinking huge amounts of ice water to lose weight; it has tiny effects and can cause harm.
- Michael tried drinking many liters of ice-cold water, burned ~100 kcal but developed a sore throat and stopped.
How Food Calories Are Calculated
- Dietary calories trace back to Atwater's bomb-calorimeter experiments and human feeding trials that estimated usable energy.
- Atwater assigned fat ≈9 kcal/g, protein/carbs ≈4 kcal/g, alcohol ≈7 kcal/g and labels compute calories from macro weights rather than direct burning.