Considering the soaring overweight and obesity rates and strong interest in this
ID: 41967 • Letter: C
Question
Considering the soaring overweight and obesity rates and strong interest in this topic, there is surprising ignorance and confusion about the metabolic process of weight loss among the general public and health professionals alike. We encountered widespread misconceptions about how humans lose weight among general practitioners, dietitians, and personal trainers (fig 1?). Most people believed that fat is converted to energy or heat, which violates the law of conservation of mass. We suspect this misconception is caused by the
Explanation / Answer
Most of the mass is breathed out as carbon dioxide, study shows
The correct answer is that most of the mass is breathed out as carbon dioxide. It goes into thin air.