Negative calories

missylectro
missylectro Posts: 448 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
What is this stuff I hear about celery having negative calories... What do people mean? Are they for real?
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Replies

  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    no
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    No, it ain't so.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,047 Member
    It's a myth that seems to have persevered that there are some foods that burn more calories being digested than you take in from eating them. It's a big load of hooey, but people tend to keep grasping at them.
  • rjmudlax13
    rjmudlax13 Posts: 900 Member
    What they mean is that some foods require more energy to digest than their actual content of unicorn poop.
  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,088 Member
    No
  • CloudyMao
    CloudyMao Posts: 258 Member
    In the way it's used, no. Celery however is very low in calories, you burn a base amount of calories everyday by existing let's say for example you burn 2000kcal a day that's 83.3r kcal per hour, if you take an hour out of your day to eat 80kcal worth of celery ~(that's rather a lot of celery tbh) then that would see you burning more calories than you just ate during that period of time - but you are still taking in those calories & they will be used to give you energy for the functions that your body will continue to do.
  • georgebotley
    georgebotley Posts: 2
    Hi missylectro,

    Unfortunately there is no scientific evidence to back up this statement. What they are referring to however, is a foods thermal effect, defined as being the amount of calorific expenditure to digest your food/drink. Celery is very light and bares around 6kcal per stalk. The body probably uses around 1-2kcal burning that off.

    The only true 'negative-calorie' foods are in-fact liquids. Cold water is negative as the body is required to heat it to your core temperature - although the effects to lose any weight in this would take more than your lifetime I would imagine!!

    I hope this clears that up?
  • rjmudlax13
    rjmudlax13 Posts: 900 Member
    In all seriousness, it has to do with the thermic effect of food. However, the thermic effect is part of the overall TDEE equation so it's not like you are gaining anything. Also, a food being negative calories is just flat out not true. It's just food that is very low Calorie per gram.
  • sweetdixie92
    sweetdixie92 Posts: 655 Member
    That's not even possible. Every food has at least some calories to it.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    No such thing as negative calories. One stalk of celery has a few calories..

  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    It is something someone made up so they don't feel bad for stuffing themselves silly with fruits and veggies. All food has calories.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    missylectro wrote: »
    What is this stuff I hear about celery having negative calories... What do people mean? Are they for real?

    Everything has calories. Celery is low in calories, but it's got some.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    herrspoons wrote: »
    Hmm... a substance that violates the law of energy conservation?

    Seems legit.

    Ineddeo! :D
  • neveragain84
    neveragain84 Posts: 534 Member
    The common, and correct, consensus here is that negative calories are a myth. Don't be suckered by people eating pounds upon pounds of celery. Every food, even vegetables, have calories. Eating above your calories in vegetables will make you gain weight just the same as with junk food.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    If you grow your own produce and raise your own beef, you could have some foods with negative calories, because you would burn more calories producing them than what they provide. I grew some corn that ended up with negative calories.
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,731 Member
    I thought it was dill pickles that had the negative calories. Or was it coconut oil?
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,047 Member
    edited January 2015
    SnuggleSmacks wrote: »
    I thought it was dill pickles that had the negative calories. Or was it coconut oil?

    I think it's dill pickles that are magically calorie free, even though cucumbers have calories, because Vlassic sets their serving size as 1/4 pickle, which is under 5 cal, so the FDA says they can round down on the label.
  • CloudyMao
    CloudyMao Posts: 258 Member
    SnuggleSmacks wrote: »
    I thought it was dill pickles that had the negative calories. Or was it coconut oil?

    coconut oil has saturated fat, so if you eat it you will get fat & die.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    TimothyFish wrote: »
    If you grow your own produce and raise your own beef, you could have some foods with negative calories, because you would burn more calories producing them than what they provide. I grew some corn that ended up with negative calories.

    most ridiculous statement I have seen in a while….
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,731 Member
    But the vinegar causes the fats to be washed out of your system also. At least, that's what I heard. From a little girl in a grocery store, telling her brother. It was cute and sad at the same time.

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