Why isn't fruit a calorie free item?

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  • hedleyrocks247
    hedleyrocks247 Posts: 185 Member
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    There are such foods as zero or negative calorie foods - they are called this because when eaten raw or cooked with no added fats etc the amount of energy your body takes to digest them is more then the amount of calories they have! If you want more info on this you can google zero or negative calorie foods :smile:

    Zero Calorie Foods
    In the following lines, we have provided a list of zero calorie foods, including both fruits and vegetables.
    ..
    ..
    ..
    Spinach
    Turnips
    Zucchini

    FRUITS
    Apples
    Blueberry
    Cantaloupe
    Cranberry
    Grape Fruit
    Honey Dew Melons
    Mango
    Oranges
    Peaches
    Papaya
    Pineapple
    Raspberries
    Strawberries
    Tangerines
    Tomato
    Watermelon

    Hope this helps :)

    That list is WAY off base. I just had asparagus last night and 12 pieces had 60 calories, beets have like 50 calories each, broccoli has 10 calories raw and uncooked...etc. that list is a list filled with caloried items.
    Of course they have calories, but what OP was saying is that your body burns that many calories or more when digesting them so at least it evens out (or burns a few extra along the way.)

    :smile: I did say to google "Zero or Negative Calorie" foods :smile:
    That way people can come up with their own opinions! And I do understand that these foods have calories - but just think of how much raw celery/lettuce/ or whatever you'd have to eat to hit your calorie goal for the day??? You'd be so full and quit eating before you even got half way there! The fruit is a little trickier! But it's also full of fiber, so that's a good thing. I think it's everything in moderation.....but if you are STARVING why not eat a bunch of veggies to fill the void - it's also very satisfying to munch on something crunchy and veggies are perfect for that!! But to each their own!! I just figured this poor woman was on an 800 calorie a day doctor prescribed diet - I could toss her some ideas on how to fill the void :smile:

    There is a lot of info out there for and against zero/negative calorie foods (just as there is for everything else) You can make your own opinions by doing some research on it!

    Thanks HAILSLYRICS for your comments!!!! Sometimes things get a little negative on here and it's nice to have a feel good comment once in awhile :happy:

    Edit: I was just going to add......what else can you eat 12 pieces of for only 60 calories that is as nutritious???? If your all about "volume" or "amounts" of food, as I'm sure some of on here are (how else did we get here in the first place??) then veggies are the way to go!!

    I think you have a lot of misconception here. Just one mango is over 135 calories and over 30 grams of sugar. It is not even close to zero calories and most of the fruits you list here are also reasonably high. They all count....

    Okay.....this will be the last time I comment on this! If you actually read what I wrote in the above I said "the fruit is trickier". I do not have a misconception, I completely understand that these foods do in fact have calories. The premise of Zero/negative calorie foods is that you burn all the calories they contain while digesting them, therefore they become negative in calories. I don't exactly believe all these foods are negative or zero calories BUT I do believe that if I want to sit down and eat a head of lettuce or a bunch of celery it's not going to hurt my weighloss any. I was just trying to give this woman some ideas but I also said to research it for yourself b/c there is a lot of conflicting info out there and people can come to their own decisions.

    Eeeeekie, I apologize, I was not directing the "negative comments" comment at you directly!! I just feel that sometimes the forum is more of a downer then any help!! I really should stop reading it :smile:

    In my very first post on this thread in the first paragraph I somewhat explained what zero/negative calorie foods were.....what I realize that I should not have written was "There are such foods......" b/c my point was to just give some ideas, and people could decide to do whatever on their own. It probably wouldn't hurt for this woman to talk to her doctor about it. I know I am going to speak to my dietician about it at my next appointment and see what her take on it is.
  • gailygail99
    gailygail99 Posts: 582 Member
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    i also eat alot of fruit and veggies and noticed that it does increase my sugar. my doctor told me that if my sugar/carbs are coming from fruits and veggies, he really wasnt worried about it.

    i do not eat potatoes or corn at all when it comes to veggies and i also try to stay away from peas and lima beans as they have a lot of calories, carbs and sugar., but i do eat those.

    as for fruits, although i LOVE bananas, i try to limit them as well as they have a lot of calories. if i know that i will have a decent amount of calories left, i will eat a banana. but i eat a ton of strawberries, clementines, pears and cant wait for peaches and plums this summer. i will not and will never stop eating my fruits! i eat about 1.5lbs to 2lbs of strawberries a week. i eat them with bfast, lunch, dinner, dessert...etc...

    i also eat a lot of raw veggies. i bring them to work with me in baggies. carrots, cucumbers, celery, cauliflower, radishes...etc...

    I try not to over do it on the carrots as they are sugary too, but i will also still eat them.

    so i have read all the posts on here and am still a little confused.

    yesterday it said that i could have 41g of sugar after it factored in my exercise. i ended up with 75g of sugar. 36g out of the 75g was from raw fruits and veggies. so that leaves me with 39g from other stuff. (i did have a yogurt, but didnt count that as fruit.) So am i not supposed to pay attention to the sugar from the fruits and veggies? of course i count the calories from them, but should the sugar from them be forgotten? so then i would just have 39g of sugar and that would make me under for the day.

    i would love any opinions on what you think. also how much sugar do you normally consume? what is your sugar goal?

    thanks. :huh:
  • Noctuary
    Noctuary Posts: 255
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    As a Diabetic that list and me don't jive too well. Carrots have been known to raise your bg. And oranges really make my sugar climb. I think each person has to find what fits for them nutritionally instead of making a general statement about certain foods. Every person reacts differently to foods. As for grapefruit? Doesn't jive with my statin medication. Individuals should eat individually.
  • Mightytaco84
    Mightytaco84 Posts: 76 Member
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    Be very careful. These fruits and veggies are definitely NOT zero calorie. I would take this list and deep six it!

    lmao
  • mrb_9110
    mrb_9110 Posts: 189 Member
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    i also eat alot of fruit and veggies and noticed that it does increase my sugar. my doctor told me that if my sugar/carbs are coming from fruits and veggies, he really wasnt worried about it.

    so i have read all the posts on here and am still a little confused.

    yesterday it said that i could have 41g of sugar after it factored in my exercise. i ended up with 75g of sugar. 36g out of the 75g was from raw fruits and veggies. so that leaves me with 39g from other stuff. (i did have a yogurt, but didnt count that as fruit.) So am i not supposed to pay attention to the sugar from the fruits and veggies? of course i count the calories from them, but should the sugar from them be forgotten? so then i would just have 39g of sugar and that would make me under for the day.

    i would love any opinions on what you think. also how much sugar do you normally consume? what is your sugar goal?

    thanks. :huh:
    EDIT: to shorten.
    as you said yourself, your dr. Doesn't really have a problem with the sugars that come from fruits and vegetables. It's great to be conscious about them, but IMO as long as you don't have a problem with sugar spikes and lows and you aren't pre-diabetic, then I wouldn't stress over it.

    On a side note about the "negative" calorie foods, the reason they are so contested is that while digestion may knock out some of those calories, digestion shouldn't even be considered because it's part of your body's everyday metabolic processes. That's like if I wore a heart rate monitor all day long, then logged those burned calories in as exercise, and tried to say that my food for the day must not count cause I already burned it off.

    Those burned calories are already accounted for in your lifestyle factor and your BMR; This is just another way of people trying to cheat the calorie counting system.
  • mckshowie
    mckshowie Posts: 210 Member
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    sorry, i know this is kind of an old topic, but I searched it because I was frustrated with the same thing.

    I'm sitting here at my desk, hungry before lunch time, so I ate a big, red and DELICIOUS apple... 130 calories later i'm still really hungry because fruit just doesn't do it for me. which sucks.

    it's not so much that i expect anyone to do anything about it, but i think it's a fair grievance. i likely won't purchase that delicious red apple again and put it in my diet because it did nothing to curb my hunger and took away from something i would like to eat later.
  • htimpaired
    htimpaired Posts: 1,404 Member
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    Just a suggestion about the apple...could you buy a smaller apple (maybe a 60-80 calorie sized one) and then dip it in peanut butter? The fat and protein would help you feel full longer....