M.I.T.-Trained Mathematician Dispels Weight-Loss Myths   It may not have been your favorite class in school, but mathematics can teach us something about losing weight!   Dr. Carson Chow is a M.I.T.-trained mathematician and physicist who works for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Chow and his colleagues study obesity using mathematical models. What his research group has learned throws some conventional beliefs about weight loss out the window. Here are just a few: Belief #1: To lose a pound of weight, you need to burn 3500 Calories (kcal). Wrong. Dr. Chow's research indicates that the number of calories that you need to burn to lose a pound varies as your weight changes. In particular, as you gain weight, it becomes easier to get fatter. He explains, "An extra 10 Calories a day puts more weight onto an obese person than on a thinner one." Belief #2: If you cut your calories (i.e. go on a diet), you'll lose weight at first, but soon you will hit a "plateau". Wrong. If you hit a plateau soon after cutting your calories, then you've probably mistakenly overeaten. Dr. Chow says there is a "time constant" to weight loss: If you reduce your caloric intake, your body will eventually reach equilibrium, or "plateau", but it takes a long time. In fact, Chow's research at the NIH suggests that if you cut your caloric intake by 100 Calories, in three years you will lose, on average, 10 pounds, so long as you don't cheat. If you want to lose weight more quickly than, then you must reduce your caloric intake by a more substantial amount.  Belief #3: Large variations in daily caloric intake will cause huge fluctuations in your weight. Wrong. In fact, Dr. Chow's research suggests that large variations in your daily caloric intake will not cause variations in your weight, so long as your average intake over the course of a year is about the same. This has to do with the "time constant" referred to above. The body responds slowly to changes in food intake. This is illustrated by physique athletes who suddenly and dramatically increase their calories in the days immediately following a competition. Their muscles "fill out" and they sometimes end up looking better than they did the day of the competition. A few days later, their caloric intake goes back to normal. Over the course of a year, this short brief of "gluttony" is averaged out and no excess weight is gained. Belief #4: People have gotten fatter in the last 30-40 years because they are less active. Wrong. According to Dr. Chow, starting in the 1970s, changes were made to national agricultural policies that encouraged farmers to engage in full production. Previously, the government had paid farmers not to engage in full production. Around the same time, technological advances were made that increased the efficiency of food production. Combined, this resulted in a dramatic increase in the supply of food available to the average American. It increased by about 1000 Calories a day. The greater the food supply, the more people eat. This is what is responsible for our obesity epidemic. Belief #5: Diets don't work. Wrong again. In fact, Dr. Chow says "All diets work [as long as you cut your calories enough]. But the reaction time is really slow: On the order of a year." Of course, physique athletes know that if you cut more calories and speed up your fat-burning metabolism with bodybuilding-style workouts and supplements like 7-Keto Musclean and Quadracarn, you can shorten the "reaction time" dramatically! REFERENCE http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/15/science/a-mathematical-challenge-to-obesity.html?_r=1