[notLustig]

I'm seeing two major factual problems with many of the comments here.

1. In terms of determining how much weight you are going to lose/gain. A calorie is a calorie. Calories in/calories out is the secret sauce to every successful weight loss diet, even keto. That is a simple fact, backed by all of the truly solid nutritional research in modern science.

2. If we are talking about lean body mass, body fat percentage goals, healthy eating habits or disease prevention, then we should have a talk about sugar. It is certainly a variable that deserves attention. However, it is not the devil...

Fat is not the devil... Meat is not the devil... Carbs are not the devil... etc.

If you don't believe me, if some pop science book has convinced you that sugar is the worst thing in the world, I ask that you look into the work of Alan Aragon. A good place to start would be the following article:

http://www.alanaragonblog.com/2010/01/29/the-bitter-truth-ab...

[SebKba]

Regarding #1... I'm pretty sure that to digest 100kcal worth of chicken breast requires more energy for the body to do, compared to digesting 100kcal worth of Coke/sugar. It also has a different impact on your insulin levels.

Living on a 3000kcal McDonalds diet will give you a different body shape compared to living on a 3000kcal diet of home cooked, organic meals.

No?

[notLustig]

For #1: the point of #1 is that body shape and insulin levels are not being considered. That point specifically only matters for weight gain/weight loss. In regards to differing energy expenditure for digestion for one food vs another, I would guess that that is a level of detail the average person would not spend their time investigating.

For McD's vs home cookin, calories in/calories out still holds to be true. So, if your exercise levels are the same, then you will end up weighing approximately the same after both diets. However, lean body mass, body fat percentage, your overall health and the effect McD's has on any diseases you are fighting/trying to prevent will likely be different based on the quality of your diet and it's macronutrient distribution.

[cholantesh]

This should be the top comment. The article is full of Galileo gambit (http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Galileo_gambit) silliness and short on evidence outside of conflating correlation with causation.