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    Negative calories

    Posts: 448 Member
    edited November 2024 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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    • Posts: 10,322 Member
      no
    • Posts: 15,317 Member
      No, it ain't so.
    • Posts: 18,770 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.
    • Posts: 900 Member
      What they mean is that some foods require more energy to digest than their actual content of unicorn poop.
    • Posts: 7,088 Member
      No
    • 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.
    • 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?
    • 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.
    • Posts: 655 Member
      That's not even possible. Every food has at least some calories to it.
    • Posts: 15,488 Member
      No such thing as negative calories. One stalk of celery has a few calories..

    • 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.
    • 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.
    • Posts: 12,942 Member
      herrspoons wrote: »
      Hmm... a substance that violates the law of energy conservation?

      Seems legit.

      Ineddeo! :D
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • Unknown
      Unknown
      edited January 2015
      This content has been removed.
    • Posts: 3,731 Member
      I thought it was dill pickles that had the negative calories. Or was it coconut oil?
    • Posts: 18,770 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.
    • 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.
    • 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….
    • 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.
    • Posts: 258 Member
      edited January 2015
      SnuggleSmacks wrote: »
      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.

      That only works if you have buy my special vinegar fat break-down tea, it contains the active ingredient fastbustidol which breaks down all your bellyfat which you simply wee out. ONLY $90 A MONTH WOW
    • Posts: 4,925 Member
      ndj1979 wrote: »
      show previous quotes

      most ridiculous statement I have seen in a while….

      Yeah, well that's what I said about the corn when I saw how little it produced.
    • Posts: 258 Member
      TimothyFish wrote: »
      show previous quotes

      Yeah, well that's what I said about the corn when I saw how little it produced.

      The corn was so light on calories it completely flew over his head!
    • Posts: 15,151 Member
      negative.
    • Posts: 448 Member
      Lol that's what I thought
    • Posts: 1,938 Member
      ndj1979 wrote: »
      show previous quotes

      most ridiculous statement I have seen in a while….

      I thought it was rather witty. ;)
    • Posts: 9,562 Member
      I want to believe in magic :)
    • Posts: 18,770 Member
      edited January 2015
      Chewing your fingernails is negative calories, surely? Consuming something that's already a part of you, then expending the calories to process it... I might have hit on the next big thing! The nail biting diet!
    • Posts: 6,208 Member
      Yes OP!! But only if you do this whilst eating...
      latest?cb=20140406032813
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