"Negative Calorie Food"

Jokenmit
Jokenmit Posts: 80 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hey guys...quick question. Have any of you heard of "negative calorie" foods??? I overheard a couple people talking about it at work, but didn't get the chance to ask more. Any ideas?
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Replies

  • Joehenny
    Joehenny Posts: 1,222 Member
    Have no clue what it is, but 9/10 chance it's probably some bullsh*t.
  • quirkytizzy
    quirkytizzy Posts: 4,052 Member
    It is a false idea. Calories are stored in your body, regardless of how much digestion happens.
  • Lalasharni
    Lalasharni Posts: 353 Member
    There aint no "negative calorie food" my friend. No matter what they say about celery, lettuce or whatever taking more calories to burn that it contains, its all, as the comment below your post says bul***t. If you eat too much of anything - and your ingestion exceeds your expenditure, then the weight will go on - guaranteed.
    Better to plan a sensible eating regime as all honest members of MFP will advise you. Then, the weight will come off.
    good luck on your journey.
  • barbaratrollman
    barbaratrollman Posts: 317 Member
    I have. They say that the calories you burn while eating (chewing, digesting, whatever) those foods, is greater than the amount of calories contained in the food. I remember celery specifically being cited as a negative calorie food.

    Not sure if it's true, but I do doubt you could ever eat enough celery to gain weight. LOL
  • Cr01502
    Cr01502 Posts: 3,614 Member
    Ice cold water.
  • jdad1
    jdad1 Posts: 1,899 Member
    It is just a dietary bullcrap scheme.
  • vivaldirules
    vivaldirules Posts: 169 Member
    There's hardly anything wrong with eating lots of raw veggies like carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, lettuce, etc. But eating them expecting to get negative calories is probably not reasonable.
  • Crankstr
    Crankstr Posts: 3,958 Member
    No.
  • kirlia
    kirlia Posts: 81 Member
    How about 0 calorie foods? The only one I can think of offhand is shirataki noodles - but theoretically, wouldn't you be burning calories in the consumption of a calorie-free food, therefore netting negative overall?
  • taunto
    taunto Posts: 6,420 Member
    There is no such thing as negative calorie food. Full stop.
  • AllonsYtotheTardis
    AllonsYtotheTardis Posts: 16,947 Member
    It's a myth
  • TheWiseCat
    TheWiseCat Posts: 297
    http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/negative-calorie-foods/AN02040
  • Jokenmit
    Jokenmit Posts: 80 Member
    I looked it up..and yeah, it's a joke. the list is raw fruit and veggies....stuff that should be eaten anyway. Trust me, the magically list isn't swaying my ideas any. I am just going to keep doing what i'm doing. It works for me.
  • MightyDomo
    MightyDomo Posts: 1,265 Member
    It's a list of foods that are considered to burn more calories in consumption than are found in the food.

    I bought into this a few years ago and found it to be a successful list of foods to eat to help with my weight loss but I wouldn't be shocked if that was because I was in such a big deficit from eating low calorie foods that didn't measure up to the calories I actually needed to eat.
  • DarianFit
    DarianFit Posts: 1
    There are a few foods that are so low in calories that they are really not counted as calories. For example, a stalk of celery is about 10 calories, but it takes 2 - 3 calories just to chew and swallow it, so the true calorie count is so low that it's negligible. The true benefits to these foods are the fiber.
  • TheVimFuego
    TheVimFuego Posts: 2,412 Member
    No, thinking like that really isn't going to help you.

    Calories are good, I'll repeat that, calories are good ... food is good, food is fuel and is not the enemy, leverage it, don't fear it.
  • tuckerrj
    tuckerrj Posts: 1,453 Member
    http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/negative-calorie-foods/AN02040

    Thank you, TheWiseCat. How refreshing when someone cites a reputable website's info, rather than just posting their version of "Bro-Science".
  • Mustang_Susie
    Mustang_Susie Posts: 7,045 Member
    http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/negative-calorie-foods/AN02040

    Thank you, TheWiseCat. How refreshing when someone cites a reputable website's info, rather than just posting their version of "Bro-Science".

    Way too much "Bro-Science" on here...
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    There are a few foods that are so low in calories that they are really not counted as calories. For example, a stalk of celery is about 10 calories, but it takes 2 - 3 calories just to chew and swallow it, so the true calorie count is so low that it's negligible. The true benefits to these foods are the fiber.

    Right except that digestion/chewing is already included in your TDEE. You still need to log the calories.
  • bobmiller451
    bobmiller451 Posts: 2
    "Negative" calorie foods: It takes more energy (calories) to burn the food than the calories you get from it. It takes energy to digest and convert proteins carbohydrates and fats into glucose, Celery is an example.of a negative calorie food.

    Cheers,
    Bob
  • thisismeraw
    thisismeraw Posts: 1,264 Member
    I have heard the term however there is no negative calorie food. Digestion is figured into your TDEE.

    You still need to log those "negative calorie foods".. .they aren't truly calorie free.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    "Negative" calorie foods: It takes more energy (calories) to burn the food than the calories you get from it. It takes energy to digest and convert proteins carbohydrates and fats into glucose, Celery is an example.of a negative calorie food.

    Cheers,
    Bob

    TEF does not make a food a negative calorie food.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    No, thinking like that really isn't going to help you.

    Calories are good, I'll repeat that, calories are good ... food is good, food is fuel and is not the enemy, leverage it, don't fear it.

    I like this.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    There are a few foods that are so low in calories that they are really not counted as calories. For example, a stalk of celery is about 10 calories, but it takes 2 - 3 calories just to chew and swallow it, so the true calorie count is so low that it's negligible. The true benefits to these foods are the fiber.
    I can sort of dig it. I skip logging things like 1/2 tsp of cinnamon because three calories isn't enough for me to care. I'm not going to get fat because of three calories.
  • Cliffslosinit
    Cliffslosinit Posts: 5,044 Member
    Ice cold water.

    If I chew the ice will I burn calories or get cold?
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
    In the future, I recommend using the search feature. I understand that people hear it and ask...but there's enough useless 'negative calorie food' information floating around already. Food is suppose to be positive :tongue:
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    This web site is supposed to be about being positive and getting support. I don't want all this negative stuff showing up on my news feed.
  • pspetralia
    pspetralia Posts: 963 Member
    There are a few foods that are so low in calories that they are really not counted as calories. For example, a stalk of celery is about 10 calories, but it takes 2 - 3 calories just to chew and swallow it, so the true calorie count is so low that it's negligible. The true benefits to these foods are the fiber.
    I can sort of dig it. I skip logging things like 1/2 tsp of cinnamon because three calories isn't enough for me to care. I'm not going to get fat because of three calories.

    Except when you add up all of the things you don't log add up both in calories and macros.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    There are a few foods that are so low in calories that they are really not counted as calories. For example, a stalk of celery is about 10 calories, but it takes 2 - 3 calories just to chew and swallow it, so the true calorie count is so low that it's negligible. The true benefits to these foods are the fiber.
    I can sort of dig it. I skip logging things like 1/2 tsp of cinnamon because three calories isn't enough for me to care. I'm not going to get fat because of three calories.

    Except when you add up all of the things you don't log add up both in calories and macros.
    There are only two things I don't log: gum and spices. I'll have 0-2 pieces of sugar free gum in a day (up to 10 calories total) and up to 1tsp of cinnamon (6 calories). This totals to 16 calories at the most. Sorry, cba to log it :laugh: 16 calories won't make me fat. I'm typically well under my calorie goal anyway and I don't log exercise. It evens out.
  • barbaratrollman
    barbaratrollman Posts: 317 Member
    Maybe when they refer to celery as negative calories, they mean the effort it would take to go to the refrigerator, get the celery out of the veggie crisper drawer, cut some off and wash and prepare it, then eat it, would be more than the calories in a stalk of celery. LOL

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