• Bgugi@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    6
    ·
    5 months ago

    You can burn calories without oxygen (anaerobic metabolism), but it mainly occurs during really intense exercise or loss of blood flow. I think it ends up averaging out in the long run, but I’m not really finding answers at my reading level. At mild exertion levels, the o2-calorie relationship is basically 1:1.

    The “true” answer would be a whole-room calorimeter, technical diagram but thats a much more significant investment of time and resources.

    • exasperation@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      5 months ago

      Even with anaerobic metabolism, the process produces lactate and pyruvate as a byproduct that the body needs to clear that out, which generally involves oxygen consumption. So the energy expenditure might spike in that moment without a corresponding spike in oxygen in that moment, but the amount over time should increase to where the overall amount should still correlate with total calori expenditure.

      • Bgugi@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        5 months ago

        That’s kinda what I assumed, but again: don’t read good. What’s the time scale to make up the difference?