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Global Translational Medicine Mass balance

principles as effectively as the world’s most successful is in a mass imbalance. Body mass decreases in negative
entrepreneur, Elon Musk. mass balance and increases in positive mass balance [1,3] .
If we start applying this approach to the regulation of Since there are widespread misconceptions about
body mass, the first question is what body mass consists thermodynamics and body mass regulation, a brief recap
of. Almost all of the mass of the human body is made follows.
up of four elements: Oxygen (65%), carbon (18.5%), An open system is a type of thermodynamic system
hydrogen (10%), and nitrogen (3.2%). It is essential to where energy and mass can be exchanged with its
note that there are no calories or joules listed. Naturally, surroundings. Consequently, the mass of the system will
the next question would be why obesity researchers pay vary with time. An example is the human body. A closed
attention only to energy balance given that energy has no system, on the other hand, is a type of thermodynamic
mass at all. Even this short reasoning from first principles system where only energy can be exchanged with its
reveals that mass balance is more relevant than energy surroundings. Consequently, the mass of the system is
balance. constant. An example is the refrigerator.
Recently, Arencibia-Albite has published an The EBT falsely assumes that there is no difference
exceptionally clever article titled “The energy balance between the two thermodynamic systems. Contrary
theory (EBT) is an inconsistent paradigm” in the Journal to what is almost universally claimed, the EBT is not a
[1]
of Theoretical Biology . This present article deals with the consequence of the First Law of Thermodynamics. The
exact same topic but focuses on practical applications. claim that the EBT should be valid because of this law
The purpose is to explain in plain language what this far- is simply not true. Since this is an extremely stubborn
reaching paradigm shift will mean on a practical level. misconception, in even plainer English, this type of
Therefore, there will be no complex equations or formulas textbook argument is fallacious:
in this article; instead, the core issues are presented in Due to the first law of thermodynamics, a person gains
such a way that every university-educated healthcare weight when his/her energy intake is greater than his/
professional or scientist can understand them. her energy expenditure.
Due to the growing interest of the scientific community Perhaps, it would be more reasonable to say that the
in the impending paradigm shift, this article has taken up statement is partially correct because energy and mass are
a different approach . As a living review, this article will closely related. Textbooks, however, should read as follows:
[2]
be updated when new and important information appears.
Due to the Law of Conservation of Mass, a person gains
2. The EBT is a flawed paradigm weight when his/her mass intake is greater than his/her
mass expenditure.
It is widely assumed that the fundamental cause of obesity
is an energy imbalance between calories consumed and 3. Law of Conservation of Mass
calories expended (i.e., the EBT: “Calories In, Calories
Out”). However, according to known laws of physics, this The Law of Conservation of Mass states that mass can
century-old obesity paradigm must be fallacious. The neither be created nor destroyed by chemical or physical
relevant physical law in body mass regulation is the Law changes. In other words, total mass is always conserved.
of Conservation of Mass, not the Law of Conservation of This law dates from Antoine Lavoisier’s 1789 discovery par
Energy (i.e., the First Law of Thermodynamics). excellence that mass is neither created nor destroyed in any
[4]
chemical reaction . A clever Frenchman heated mercuric
This is not a matter of opinion; rather, it is based on oxide (HgO) and demonstrated that the amount the
exact natural sciences. If matter (mass) can be exchanged chemical’s mass decreased was equal to the mass of oxygen
between system and surroundings, then the system is an gas released in the chemical reaction. Lavoisier has proven
open one. Therefore, all living organisms are open systems, that mass is conserved in chemical reactions, meaning
and such systems can be at mass balance even while the that the total amount of mass on each side of a chemical
system experiences a persistent energy imbalance. That is equation is always the same. This indicates that the total
to say that while energy balance may be positive (ΔE > 0) or number of atoms in the reactants must equal the amount
negative (ΔE < 0), the Law of Conservation of Energy does in the products regardless of the nature of the chemical
not require the mass change that may occur during energy change. This forms the basis of stoichiometry, that is,
flux to match the energy balance direction . In practice, the accounting process by which chemical reactions and
[1]
this means that an energy imbalance does not always lead equations are mathematically balanced in terms of both
to a change in body mass. The latter only occurs when one mass and number of atoms on each side.

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