Calories, What Happens
to Unused Calories?
Written by Sky Taylor, Diet Bites
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Calories that go unused by the body are stored in our fat cells to be used at a later date if needed.
Because the body goes through the process of storing calories this tells us that they are very precious to the body.
At a future date the storage of calories may equal the difference between life and death.
Of course, the result of fat being stored is unsightly weight gain. As the fat cells are filled the body shapes and forms to accommodate the overage of calories that we have consumed or that we failed to burn via activity.
Even pencil-thin people have fat cells. Once stored, they stay until they are needed by the body.
Although we commonly refer to values of foods and beverages as caloric content, the body recognizes these values as energy. Once the stored fats are released from the cells, they turn into energy and are burned through activity. It's like storing energy in a bank.
However, it's not a good thing because those plumped up fat cells register on the body and are often times visible even through vests and snug sweaters. I need a tissue...can you please hand me the box?
It's important to stress that 'fat' per say isn't stored in the cells; it may be more understandable to think of the cells as 'Energy Cells' rather than 'Fat Cells'.
Let's say that Dieter Roman requires 2,000 calories per day to meet his daily energy requirement needs. By the end of the day he has consumed exactly 2,000 calories. When it's close to bedtime Roman becomes very hungry. The foods that he consumed throughout the day weren't very efficient where satiety was concerned.
Roman reaches for a stalk of celery, a few carrots and a cucumber. These excess caloric values within these low calorie, fat free, very healthy foods will become stored in the 'energy cells'.
While these cells plump-up the body and can drastically change our appearance as well as damage our self-confidence they are vital in the preservation of life. Let's say for argument's sake that Roman ends up gaining 10 pounds.
Unfortunately he contracts a serious illness which leaves him bedfast for several weeks. Amid that time he has no appetite and feels very poorly as he recovers. While he is doing such his body is pulling energy from his fat cells which assists in his rate of survival. Remember what we said earlier - that even thin people have fat cells.
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Some doctors recommend that seniors are still considered healthy when they have a bit of padding. Because they are susceptible to illness and disease, those few extra pounds could equal the difference between life and death.
If you are burdened down with too much weight due to excessive energy in the fat cells you can certainly lose those pounds by burning (using) more energy than your current weight requires. The ideal rate of weight loss is two pounds per week.
How many calories equal 1 pound of body weight
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