• Question: How many carbs would you need to explode?

    Asked by deshfix123 on 24 Apr 2020.
    • Photo: Katherine Benson

      Katherine Benson answered on 24 Apr 2020:


      Thankfully it’s almost impossible for this to happen, so don’t worry!

    • Photo: Jennifer Cookman

      Jennifer Cookman answered on 24 Apr 2020: last edited 24 Apr 2020 1:04 pm


      Personally it would take a lot of carbs because I am quite an avid fan and consumer of pizza, pasta, pastries, scones, cake, doughnuts. I do have self control so thankfully on the scale of intact to exploded I would be quite low but my tolerance is quite high 😂

    • Photo: Tommy Hayden

      Tommy Hayden answered on 24 Apr 2020:


      That’s an interesting question. It depends on what you mean by explode. If you mean eating so much that your body explodes then I don’t think it’s possible…
      If on the other hand, you were to use carbs as a fuel to create an explosion outside the body then it’s definitely possible – it’s just a question of how big you want your explosion to be
      The carbs could be burnt as a fuel for a fire, which could be used to build pressure in an enclosed container to cause an explosion once the internal pressure overcomes the strength of the container wall

    • Photo: Louise Mc Grath

      Louise Mc Grath answered on 24 Apr 2020:


      Hi deshfix123,

      Sometimes when we eat too much it may feel like we are going to explode but we won’t! Just don’t eat too many carbs, sugar or fat, and your body will be healthy, as too much of one thing is not good! Everything in moderation! =)

    • Photo: Simon Spichak

      Simon Spichak answered on 24 Apr 2020:


      Now we can’t physically explode but this is a very interesting question. Let’s approach it theoretically then! Carbohydrates are complex sugars that are linked together, and they can release energy when these linkages are broken or if they are digested. Something very cool about the human body is that we have specialized bacteria in the gut that can convert certain fibers, such as bran flakes into different molecules. Let’s focus on one of these molecules – butyrate which under the right circumstances can be volatile.

      For TNT, we know that one gram of it can release a certain amount of energy. So how much carbohydrates would we need to eat so that we can make a butyrate explosion equal to one gram of TNT? Well first we check out how much energy is released by one gram of TNT; this energy is measured in calories or Joules. For each gram of TNT that is exploded, 4184 joules are released.

      Okay now let’s check out some of these fibers. I am currently obsessed with sourdough bread which has a lot of resistant starches. Our microbes can get 2 calories (8.2 Joules) of energy from 1 gram of this starch. If around 50% is converted to Butyrate, which can provide us 1 calorie or 4.18J per gram if ignited. Now we need 1kg of sourdough bread to generate the same amount of energy as 1 gram explosion, or about 50kg if we assume we need about 50 grams for our little explosion. Luckily, it’s physically impossible to consume that much sourdough bread (though I wish it wasn’t).

    • Photo: Jun Lin

      Jun Lin answered on 24 Apr 2020:


      Countless carbs… I am a big fan of cakes, chocolates and croissant!

    • Photo: Yashdeep Yashdeep

      Yashdeep Yashdeep answered on 24 Apr 2020:


      Well, very interesting. I don’t know the exact answer to that but this would definitely vary from person to person. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson might be able to eat a lot more carbs than me before exploding. I hope exploding means being full here and not the actual explosion because that would be terrible.
      You can eat a lot carbs before getting really sick but then again excess of anything is bad, carbs or no carbs.

    • Photo: Aisling Ryan

      Aisling Ryan answered on 24 Apr 2020:


      Our bodies are extremely sophisticated machines, if you consume waaaaaay too much of a certain food your body will tell you to stop eating it. When you are hungry your body sends a signal to your brain to tell you so that you will eat, and when you have eaten enough food your body will generally let you know by telling your brain you feel full!! Your body is your friend and as long as you listen to it you won’t cause any harm to it by eating lots of carbs! (and you definitely won’t explode, but you might feel a little sick!)

    • Photo: anon

      anon answered on 25 Apr 2020:


      As I am Italian = pizza&pasta, I really cannot quantify it! But I remember once some friends made me try a pizza with pasta on top! I did not even know something like that could exist…not only it wasn’t a good combination but I was feeling so heavy that I could not even get up 😀

    • Photo: Hazel Rooney

      Hazel Rooney answered on 26 Apr 2020:


      I do hope you are not worried about exploding from eating too many carbs! I love eating bread, pasta, pizza and cakes and I haven’t exploded yet and I don’t think it’s even physically possible. So the important thing to remember is to not count the carbs but make the carbs count!

    • Photo: Mary Anne Ryan

      Mary Anne Ryan answered on 27 Apr 2020:


      I think that you should check out the series ‘Supersize me’. It is about a man who is fit and healthy and given the challenge ( under medical supervision) of eating a huge carbo and fat load each day..McDonald’s for breakfast lunch and dinner for months. If anyone asks him will I supersize you ( as they do in the states) , he has to say yes..really interesting to see what happens to him from a health and wellbeing perspective. Check it out it may give you insight into the effects of continuous huge carbo loads 🙂

    • Photo: Hannah Currivan

      Hannah Currivan answered on 27 Apr 2020:


      You will not explode, but you should eat healthy food and carry out regular exercise.

    • Photo: Ollie Otter

      Ollie Otter answered on 27 Apr 2020:


      According to auld Einstein’s equation, E = mc^2, only a few carbs have the potential energy to create a very large crater!
      Fortunately, chewing on carbs only has the tendency to release enough energy to make you a bit bigger, but not blow you up 😉

    • Photo: Chloe Matthews

      Chloe Matthews answered on 27 Apr 2020:


      Wow! Very interesting! But I don’t think it can happen! Our bodies are really smart, smarter than you think and our brain will send signals to tell us we are full and to stop eating. Sometimes that’s really hard though if you want to finish some really good cake or have another tasty sandwich, but carbs won’t make us explode.

    • Photo: Lucy Blennerhassett

      Lucy Blennerhassett answered on 28 Apr 2020:


      I have no idea! but I don’t think our bodies would let us explode…..at least I hope not because I do love pizza.

Comments