Britain is overweight.

[YandaB]

No please, don't go banana shaped on account of me.
Blame it on the fast food giants, the supermarkets, the TV chefs, the politicians, even Michael Mosley, but never me.
The biggest lie we are fed is that more food will give you more energy.
But the body does not work off energy from food. It actually works off entropy. Difficult to understand, I know.

Unfortunately that part is not entirely true, you will not feel more energetic as a result of eating more food, your body will have more energy (Joules) but the excess energy will either be stored or passed through.

 

[Carlwm]

Ooh! Someone's (re-)discovered Meissner!

Definitely one of my favourite Eagles.

 

[phillarrow]

No please, don't go banana shaped on account of me.
Blame it on the fast food giants, the supermarkets, the TV chefs, the politicians, even Michael Mosley, but never me.
The biggest lie we are fed is that more food will give you more energy.
But the body does not work off energy from food. It actually works off entropy. Difficult to understand, I know.

This is utter nonsense. I've taught entropy to A level students for over 20 years and it has nothing to do with how the body works.

Entropy is literally defined as the amount of energy that is not available to do work. On a molecular level, it defines the randomness of motion of particles. It has nothing whatsoever to do with how the body works.

More food = more fuel = more energy. This is true until you've got excess available energy and the fuel source is then stored as part of the body's long-term metabolic survival processes. This is why excess food = excess fat.

Entropy is a meaningless measure when it comes to the link between food and how the body works. It is literally like saying that the important thing to measure about electricity is how heavy it is!

 

[Foxholer]

...I've taught entropy to A level students for over 20 years...

Not very good at it then?
Sorry, couldn't resist the deliberate misinterpretation.

You are totally correct btw. A meaningless measure when it comes to the link between food and how the body works.
'Don't feed the troll' IS relevant though!

 

[phillarrow]

Or bad choice.
From Science Focus:
Bananas are slightly radioactive because they are rich in potassium, and one of its natural isotopes (variants) is potassium-40, which is radioactive. A lorry full of bananas is radioactive enough to trigger a false alarm on a radiation detector looking for smuggled nuclear weapons.

So is living in Cornwall!

 

[phillarrow]

Not very good at it then?
Sorry, couldn't resist the deliberate misinterpretation.

You are totally correct btw. A meaningless measure when it comes to the link between food and how the body works.
'Don't feed the troll' IS relevant though!

??? I had to read that twice! ??

Yes, just to confirm, it wasn't the same A level students for 20 years! ???

 

[Imurg]

I had some fruit for lunch today.....

 

[Tashyboy]

Mars bar 70p (give or take, not bought one for ages) - 10 bananas about £1.50.
It's all about making the right choices

If you shop in aldi or Lidl you will get 4 mars bars or equivalent for a quid. There in lies part of the problem. Totally agree about making the right choices.

 

[Tashyboy]

Or bad choice.
From Science Focus:
Bananas are slightly radioactive because they are rich in potassium, and one of its natural isotopes (variants) is potassium-40, which is radioactive. A lorry full of bananas is radioactive enough to trigger a false alarm on a radiation detector looking for smuggled nuclear weapons.

Don’t sit on a granite worktop either or else your balls will glow. Granite is radioactive as well. Not sure how many calories are in a worktop though ?

 

[chellie]

If you shop in aldi or Lidl you will get 4 mars bars or equivalent for a quid. There in lies part of the problem. Totally agree about making the right choices.

Same price I think wherever you shop. Look at the huge crisp and chocolate aisles in Tesco.

 

[Foxholer]

Don’t sit on a granite worktop either or else your balls will glow. Granite is radioactive as well. Not sure how many calories are in a worktop though ?

Or eat anything, or breathe! As that's how (radioactive) Carbon-14 is absorbed!
Oh, and don't wear or go near luminous watches/clocks either.

 

[stefanovic]

Entropy is a meaningless measure when it comes to the link between food and how the body works. It is literally like saying that the important thing to measure about electricity is how heavy it is!

There is more than one way of looking at this. I assume you looking at this from the point of view of physics and not biology.
I hope you take into account that entropy means overall loss, even if a system is boosted from afar as is the case with the sun and the earth.
The earth has to reflect energy or it would have roasted billions of years ago.

Take an overweight hippopotamus like the PM who takes an interest in reducing the weight of the nation, but will never be thin.
Using yoga as an example, how many positions could he achieve?
Very few I imagine.
How many can I do? Several hundred. That's because my weight (9 stones) and flexibility will allow it.
I can easily get into most yoga positions and then my body returns to its original shape with ease.
It means my body has low entropy.
After exercise, an overweight person will sweat more, whereas I have hardly any sweat.
Paradoxically, an overweight person needs more food.

 

[Foxholer]

There is more than one way of looking at this. I assume you looking at this from the point of view of physics and not biology.
I hope you take into account that entropy means overall loss, even if a system is boosted from afar as is the case with the sun and the earth.
The earth has to reflect energy or it would have roasted billions of years ago.

Take an overweight hippopotamus like the PM who takes an interest in reducing the weight of the nation, but will never be thin.
Using yoga as an example, how many positions could he achieve?
Very few I imagine.
How many can I do? Several hundred. That's because my weight (9 stones) and flexibility will allow it.
I can easily get into most yoga positions and then my body returns to its original shape with ease.
It means my body has low entropy.
After exercise, an overweight person will sweat more, whereas I have hardly any sweat.
Paradoxically, an overweight person needs more food.

Irrelevant twaddle post of the year - so far!

 

[phillarrow]

There is more than one way of looking at this. I assume you looking at this from the point of view of physics and not biology.
I hope you take into account that entropy means overall loss, even if a system is boosted from afar as is the case with the sun and the earth.
The earth has to reflect energy or it would have roasted billions of years ago.

Take an overweight hippopotamus like the PM who takes an interest in reducing the weight of the nation, but will never be thin.
Using yoga as an example, how many positions could he achieve?
Very few I imagine.
How many can I do? Several hundred. That's because my weight (9 stones) and flexibility will allow it.
I can easily get into most yoga positions and then my body returns to its original shape with ease.
It means my body has low entropy.
After exercise, an overweight person will sweat more, whereas I have hardly any sweat.
Paradoxically, an overweight person needs more food.

I'm sorry to sound rude but this post just shows what happens when someone reads something in a book and kind of, partially, sort of, in some small way, thinks they understand it...but the book itself is just made up nonsense to capture the very people who want to think they sound clever and will buy any old garbage science that is sold to them.

The diet and nutrition industry is almost entirely unregulated, so what you get is made up garbage. You really shouldn't believe this stuff... and you certainly shouldn't be trying to repeat it on here, because you just sound silly.

Entropy always relates to thermal energy and, by definition therefore, the movement of particles. And, my reference to thermal energy and the movement of particles is more chemistry than physics. There is, however, no such thing as a biology version of entropy that is to do with hippos! ????

 

[Foxholer]

I'm sorry to sound rude but this post just shows what happens when someone reads something in a book and kind, partially, sort of, in some small way, thinks they understand it...but the book itself is just made up nonsense to capture the very people who wants to think they sound clever and buy any old garbage science that is sold to them.
The diet and nutrition industry is almost entirely unregulated, so what you get is made up garbage. You really shouldn't believe this stuff... and your certainly wouldn't be trying to repeat it on here, because you just sound silly.

Entropy always relates to thermal energy and, by definition therefore, the movement of particles
There is my such thing as a biology version of entropy that is to do with hippos! ????

While I'm inclined to agree with your first paragraph, Entropy, as a concept (degree of disorder), can be (and is) apply(applied) to environments other than thermodynamics, including Biological Entropy. However, Biological Entropy is totally unrelated to Thermodynamic Entropy. From my limited understanding of BE, it can be used in relation to evolution processes. The concept of entropy (tendency to disorder) can actually be applied to many 'systems/states' - male tidiness for example! As for entropy and hippos...Flling out of a boat near a pod of Hippos would certainly be likely to increase the entropy of my body!
So not AWAYS related to thermal energy, but certainly the vast/overwhelming majority of reference to entropy is to Thermodynamic Entropy.

 

[phillarrow]

While I'm inclined to agree with your first paragraph, Entropy, as a concept (degree of disorder), can be (and is) apply(applied) to environments other than thermodynamics, including Biological Entropy. However, Biological Entropy is totally unrelated to Thermodynamic Entropy. From my limited understanding of BE, it can be used in relation to evolution processes. The concept of entropy (tendency to disorder) can actually be applied to many 'systems/states' - male tidiness for example! As for entropy and hippos...Flling out of a boat near a pod of Hippos would certainly be likely to increase the entropy of my body!
So not AWAYS related to thermal energy, but certainly the vast/overwhelming majority of reference to entropy is to Thermodynamic Entropy.

Hmmm! I guess I'm coming at it from a scientific definition point of view. Although entropy CAN be used in evolutionary biology, it is more as a bastardisation of the term to fit the principle, as opposed to a strict scientific definition. I take your point though. I suspect this is one where we could talk about it over a pint for a fair length of time, possibly even argue about it, and then realise that we actually basically agree with each other. Trying to do that on an internet forum would take several pages, a few days, and bore the pants of everyone else. So let's just agree to disagree. ??

P.S. The stuff about hippos. I think the reason why hippos don't do yoga dates back to the 70s. After the love revolution of the 60s, all the hippos got together and said "We're hippos not hippies. No more yoga for us!“

 

[Foxholer]

Hmmm! I guess I'm coming at it from a scientific definition point of view. Although entropy CAN be used in evolutionary biology, it is more as a bastardisation of the term to fit the principle, as opposed to a strict scientific definition. I take your point though. I suspect this is one where we could talk about it over a pint for a fair length of time, possibly even argue about it, and then realise that we actually basically agree with each other. Trying to do that on an internet forum would take several pages, a few days, and bore the pants of everyone else. So let's just agree to disagree. ??

P.S. The stuff about hippos. I think the reason why hippos don't do yoga dates back to the 70s. After the love revolution of the 60s, all the hippos got together and said "We're hippos not hippies. No more yoga for us!“

I pretty much agree - though maybe not that it's a bastardisation. Unless (thermodynamic) entropy can actually be 'measured', it's, imo, simply a concept that's 99.999% applied to thermodynamics. It would likely be applicable to that discussion too! And I'm happy to actually agree to (pretty much) agree! The random and, almost certainly, unqualified/ignorant abberations (entropy?!) of Stefanovic's posts are simply bizarre!

 

[SocketRocket]

Anyone else think this thread has become a hybrid between utter twaddle and willy waving ?

 

[stefanovic]

Anyone else think this thread has become a hybrid between utter twaddle and willy waving ?

Then YOU explain why the majority of people in Britain are overweight.
It never used to be the case, so let's hear it.
I feel sure you have no answer.

 

[stefanovic]

Although entropy CAN be used in evolutionary biology,

Clearly, Peter Atkins, retired Oxford professor doesn't know what he's talking about.
He links the 2nd Law (entropy) with the start of all life and the end of all life on Earth.
He wasn't the only one. Isaac Asimov is another.

P.S. The stuff about hippos. I think the reason why hippos don't do yoga dates back to the 70s. After the love revolution of the 60s, all the hippos got together and said "We're hippos not hippies. No more yoga for us!“

How long did that take you?

Now you explain exactly why Britain is overweight.