Negative Calorie foods question...

amk44

Does anyone know if the Negative Calorie count for certain foods still applies if the food is cooked? (This question is more about "weight strategies" than about counting calories; it doesn't affect the way I count calories, only my approach when eating those calories.)

For instance, broccoli is on the list of Negative Calorie Foods, so I'm assuming that if I eat broccoli in a salad that the "negative" count would apply, but my question is: if I eat that same broccoli as steamed or boiled broccoli, would it still have the "negative" calorie result.

I know this is not an earth shattering question, but it's one that I've been wondering about and thought someone might have some ideas about it. I'm guessing that it only applies to "raw", because chewing and digesting raw foods takes more energy, but it's just a curiosity to me... Has anyone read anything about this?

vicidoesstuff

I know that celery is a negative calorie food because it takes more energy to eat than it contains.

aedfit

I found an article that talks about dieting myths. Negative calorie foods are a myth. Check out the article found in Time magazine: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1896439_1896359_1896346,00.html

ashleynicoleb

I also heard that the negative calories idea was false too.

ltlhmom

Never heard of this. But sounds interesting. What is it from? I know when I was on weight watches they were foods that you could eat and they were 0 some veggies. But as far a this site goes you count everything that goes in your mouth.

MattySparky

I wouldn't bank too much faith in the negative calorie theroy either. Just enter the calories that they contain like any other food and work them off like any other food. Every food takes energy to eat so are you going to sit there and try to figure out what each individual food takes to chew and digest... probably not. Lets keep this simple. Food = cals in, exercise = cals out.

amk44

Apparently some misunderstood my question. I don't try to mathematically calculate any negative calories. I enter all calories at face value. But I do try to incorporate the negative calorie foods into my diet, and was wondering if it's the food itself that makes it a negative calorie, or if it's the way it's prepared... I enjoy broccoli no matter how it's prepared, but if research would say that consuming raw broccoli results in calorie loss, but eating steamed calorie doesn't, then I would probably snack on raw broccoli.

Thanks, aedfit, for the site. I'll be going there to read it. [Actually the list of negative calorie foods that I saw is a list of foods that are healthy foods, no matter if they are or aren't endowed with negative calories, so if the whole thing is a myth - well, no big loss... :O) ]

MattySparky

I would say that yes, for certain foods, the way it is prepared will effect how quickly or slowly it can be digested. In that sense it would change how "negative" a foods cals were (although probably not significant enough to change the way you cook a certain food)