Very low-carbohydrate diets have experienced a resurgence in
popularity, perhaps due to their great weight-reducing
potential. Recent clinical trials have shown greater weight loss
with a very low-carbohydrate diet compared to a low-fat diet.
This suggests a metabolic advantage and evidence opposed to the
notion that "a calorie is a calorie." Metabolic advantage is
proclaimed to be a violation of the first law of thermodynamics
and mistakenly used to support the notion "a calorie is a
calorie." However, very low-carbohydrate diets enhance
mobilization and utilization of fat while sparing carbohydrate
fuel sources. These diets also utilize different chemical
pathways and appear to decrease efficiency, which means that
more of the food you eat is lost as heat, therefore not
violating the first law of thermodynamics. Very low-carbohydrate
diets also suppress appetite and energy intake, which is
partially due to the inhibitory effects of ketones. In summary,
recent findings of several randomized clinical trials c