Negative Calorie Foods – Fact or Fiction
Posted by Jeff The Jock on February 9, 2008
You might have heard this one: It takes more calories to digest celery than you get from eating it.
Most things that seem too good to be true usually are – except this one. This is True. So let me explain why.
Humans cannot digest cellulose in plants, so vegetables and fruits with a high cellulose content are not efficiently digested. Think of a cows or horses that eat grass. They can thrive by eating grass, but as humans we would starve to death.
All foods have calories in them. An 8 inch celery stalk has about 6 calories that we can digest. When you subtract the amount of energy that our body takes to digest the celery, the net caloric effect may turn out to be nothing at all. This is why celery has turned out to be a dieter’s staple food.
By eating a sensible diet that includes several of the “negative calorie” foods, you can lower the net amount of calories that you are eating. As well, if you are eating a calorie reduced diet and are finding that you are not satisfied with the amount of food that you are eating, you can eat more of these “negative calorie” foods to add more bulk to your food, and this should help you feel a little fuller from your meals.
Keep in mind, in the same way that you can’t survive on grass, you can’t survive on just these foods alone. You still need to be eating other quality foods for the nutrients, minerals, vitamins and calories that your body needs.
Here is a list of some of the more common “negative calorie” foods.
Vegetables – asparagus, beets, broccoli, cabbage (green), carrots, cauliflower, celery, chicory, chili peppers, cucumbers, endive, garlic, lettuce, onions, papayas, spinach, turnip, and zucchini.
Fruits – apples, cranberries, grapefruit, lemons, mangos, oranges, pineapple, raspberries, strawberries, and tangerines.
I’m sure that I left some out. If you know some more, leave us a comment and let us know.
John said
I enjoy your fat2fit podcasts and can relate to much of what you speak about. I’m 58 years old and have seen my weight go up and down countless times. With a daily exercise routine and constant attention to what I eat, I have had success and now my weight only goes up in small amounts. As soon as it does, I make the necessary adjustments. The key I have learned is to never allow myself to be more than 2-3 lbs over my ideal weight. I have a question about negative calorie foods. With my daily exercise, I calculate that I can consume about 2200 calories a day to maintain my weight. If I consume a fruit salad conisting of negative calorie fruits, do I need to count the calories from the fruit salad in my daily consumption?
Jeff The Jock said
This was one of the questions that I answered in the e-mail section of show number 16, but here are the basic points of what I do.
I reward myself for eating those foods because it isn’t as natural for me to be eating them…
I personally do a few little tricks:
The foods that I have a hard time eating on a regular basis I don’t count at all such as carrots and celery that I keep in my fridge. This encourages me to eat more of them.
Vegetables that I eat in a sandwich, I never count the calories.
Everywhere else, I generally count half of the calories. For example, I always count an apple as 50 calories.
You need to be careful with fruits, because the negative calorie list is fairly small, but I think the most important thing is that they become a regular part of your diet.
Dr. J said
“do I need to count the calories from the fruit salad in my daily consumption?”
Yes John, count them!
I do like the way you make immediate adjustments to small changes. A very good success oriented strategy.
http://calorielab.com/news/categories/dr-j-will-see-you-now/