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Global Translational Medicine

PERSPECTIVE ARTICLE
Chronic positive mass balance is the actual

etiology of obesity: A living review

Anssi H. Manninen*
Research and Development, Dominus Nutrition Oy, Raahe, Finland

Abstract

The fundamental cause of obesity is widely assumed to be an energy imbalance
between calories consumed and calories expended (i.e., the energy balance theory).
However, this century-old obesity paradigm is fallacious. According to known laws of
physics, the actual etiology of obesity is chronic positive mass balance, not positive
energy balance. Furthermore, the relevant physical law in body mass regulation is the
Law of Conservation of Mass, not the Law of Conservation of Energy. It is important
to understand that energy balance and mass balance are separate balances in the
human body. Since calories simply represent the heat released on food oxidation,
they have no impact on body mass. Body mass can only change as a result of net
mass flow; thus, the only food property that can augment body mass is its nutrient
mass, not its energy content. The recently proposed mass balance model describes
the temporal evolution of body weight and body composition under a wide variety
of feeding experiments, and it seems to provide a highly accurate description of the
very best experimental human feeding data. By shifting to a mass balance paradigm
of obesity, a deeper understanding of this condition may follow in the near future.
The purpose of this living review is to present the core issues of the upcoming
paradigm shift and some practical applications related to the subject.

*Corresponding author:
Anssi H. Manninen Keywords: Obesity; Body weight regulation; Macronutrients; Energy balance theory;
(anssi@dominusnutrition.fi) Mass balance model; Paradigm shift; Living review
Citation: Manninen AH, 2023,
Chronic positive mass balance is the
actual etiology of obesity: A living
review. Global Transl Med, 2(1): 222.
https://doi.org/10.36922/gtm.222 1. Introduction
Received: October 14, 2022 In the Twilight of the Idols, or, How to Philosophize with a Hammer, Friedrich Nietzsche
Accepted: January 26, 2023 emphasized the significance of “sounding out idols,” which entails disclosing the
Published Online: March 1, 2023 inconsistencies in established metaphysical principles, and “philosophizing with a
Copyright: © 2023 Author(s). hammer,” a metaphor for the process of critical thinking and questioning to destroy
This is an Open Access article illusions, false beliefs, and prejudices that have become ingrained in people’s minds.
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution Reasoning by analogy refers to building knowledge based on prior assumptions and
License, permitting distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, widely accepted paradigms approved by the majority of people, while rеаѕоnіng frоm
provided the original work is first principles refers to the practice of actively questioning every assumption one thinks
properly cited. he/she “knows” about a given topic and then creating completely new knowledge from
Publisher’s Note: AccScience scratch. In other words, reasoning from first principles іѕ thе асt of bоіlіng a рrосеѕѕ
Publishing remains neutral with dоwn to the fundamental раrtѕ that one believes are true and buіldіng up from thеrе.
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional This аррrоасh hаѕ bееn uѕеd by mаnу great thinkers, including thе аnсіеnt philosopher
affiliations. Aristotle. With regard to the present time, no one has utilized reasoning from first

Volume 2 Issue 1 (2023) 1 https://doi.org/10.36922/gtm.222