Atkins diet

Two US researchers are further lending credence to low-carb diets by using the laws of thermodynamics.

Two US researchers are further lending credence to low-carb diets by using the laws of thermodynamics to argue that calories from protein are better for losing weight than those from carbohydrates.

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The argument is supported by an experiment conducted by Arne Astrup of Denmark's Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Copenhagen which found that those on a diet rich in pork protein burned more energy than the ones on a higher carbohydrate diet because they lost more energy as heat.

According to a report in Nature, Richard Feinman of the State University of New York and Eugene Fine of Jacobi Medical Center in New York are using the laws of thermodynamics: fundamental rules that describe how heat, work and energy change in a system to validate their hypothesis.

Dwelling upon the second law of thermodynamics which says that Šenergy spontaneously disperses if it is not hindered, Feinman and Fine point out that protein and carbohydrate are metabolized in different ways and their energy is therefore dispersed in different forms. When protein is broken down by the body, for example, more energy is released as heat than is converted into chemical energy.

They argue that while a hunk of steak and a slice of bread may carry equal calories, the amount of energy the body actually gleans from them, to fuel movement or store as fat, is different. "To say a calorie is a calorie all the time is false," Feinman said.