Kassie Moreno

Chemistry Signature Assignment

Where Does the Fat Go During Weight Loss; Chemistry and Losing Weight

I am currently attending Salt Lake Community College pursuing an Associates of

Applied Science as a Fitness Technician. Much of my work will be helping people to lose weight

and understanding the Chemistry behind weight loss will help me better help my clients in the

future. In my personal study a TEDx Talks came on titled, “The Mathematics of Weight Loss”

done by Ruben Meerman. 1 Although I’ve answered the question of how to lose weight many

times, creating a caloric deficit through food choices and physical activity, I never did stop to

think of where it goes once it is lost.

The video begins by asking a number of people where the fat goes once it is lost. There

were answers from, “I don’t know” to “burned as energy” to “Feces” to “Sweat.” Going back to

The Law of Conservation of Mass; mass in an isolated system is neither created nor destroyed by

chemical reactions or physical transformations. This means that the fat has to go somewhere

measurable.

The chemical formula for human fat is:

C55 H104 O6

The chemical equation for fat loss is:

C55 H104 O6 + 78O2  55CO2 + 52H2O

This equation depicts; Human Fat + Oxygen (Inhale) will react to produce Carbon

Dioxide (Exhale) + Water. This is the basic explanation and there are obviously other processes

and conditions that facilitate this reaction, but this is about as far as Introduction to Chemistry

1
https://youtu.be/y6roYnXu1k8
has taken us. This shows that losing fat means losing kg; it isn’t burnt up, and it doesn’t become

heat or energy. This equation also shows that when fat is lost it exits the body in the form of gas

(exhale) and water (sweat, urine, etc.)

Now where does fat come from? This process starts in plants. Plants take 6CO2 + 6H2O

and use chlorophyll and sunlight to bind them together to form sugars; C6 H12 06. As we digest

we are able to break down these bonds, so these molecules can travel to the cells and be used. If

there is an excess instead of being metabolized, these molecules are converted to fat and stored

in the body.

In conclusion, an excess in consumption results in production and storage of fat in the

body. When weight is lost it does not burn up and disappear as most people are lead to believe.

Fat has to obey The Law of Conservation of Mass and therefore to lose weight you also must

lose atoms. Under the right conditions when Oxygen reacts with Human Fat Carbon Dioxide and

Water are formed and excreted in the form of breath, sweat, urine, etc.