: Is it possible to gain more body mass from a food than the mass of the food itself? Is there a some sort of food with such energy in it, that eating e.g. 100 grams of it will produce an increment of body mass greater than

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Short answer - no. Due to Conservation of Mass, your body cannot gain more grams of mass than it consumes.

Long answer - maybe. Eating certain foods could cause you to retain more water, more unprocessed waste in your colon, etc. However, if you account for all the mass from all sources, then it must always balance out.

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In the short term, yes, if you allow unlimited water.

Carb loading before endurance exercise increases the body's glycogen stores. The glycogen itself is made from the carbohydrates you consume, but storing glycogen stores several times its own mass in water. Ideal foods for carb loading are almost pure starch, hence the massive plates of pasta eaten before marathons.

This is the first energy store the body calls on, so it can't really be kept up for long.