Negative calorie foods!

Question

Negative calorie foods: Diet gimmick or weight-loss aid?

I've heard that eating negative calorie foods might be a good diet strategy. But what exactly are they?

Answer

from Donald Hensrud, M.D. - Mayo Clinic
The Internet abounds with lists of purported negative calorie foods — foods that supposedly take more energy to process and digest than they provide in calories. The theory is that you can lose weight by eating lots of these negative calorie foods. Proponents claim, for example, that you will burn 80 calories digesting a 25-calorie piece of broccoli, for a net loss of 55 calories.

Celery is another commonly cited example of a negative calorie food because it's made mainly of water and cellulose, an undigestible vegetable fiber. Other foods sometimes labeled as negative calorie include asparagus, berries, broccoli, cauliflower, grapefruit and cabbage.

Here's the reality. Throughout the day, about 10 percent of your total energy expenditure goes to digest and store the nutrients in the food you eat. Foods that contain few calories, such as celery, require a relatively large amount of energy to digest compared with the amount of calories they provide. That means it's theoretically possible to have a negative calorie food, but there are no reputable scientific studies to prove that certain foods are negative calorie or that they aid in weight loss.

The bottom line: Many of the foods touted as negative calorie foods are vegetables and fruits that can aid in losing weight as part of an overall healthy diet plan. But they're probably not negative calorie and they're not a magic bullet for weight loss. In addition, following extreme diets that promote eating only a few foods can cause you to miss out on important nutrients. The key to successful weight loss is adopting a healthy lifestyle that includes a balanced diet and regular exercise.

And with celery (as an example) getting to 10,000 cals is going to be A LOT of celery. So have fun with that! ;-)

I actually tried this once as an experiment. I got up to about 90 or some calories and frankly I just got bored of eating...

Bahahahaaa I'm gettin a good laugh at how worked up people are getting about eating healthy foods....ummmm, I'm confused! LOL.

You're not confused. You're embarrassed that people called you out on the negative calorie thing so you're trying to act like they're the ones with a problem. NO ONE is disputing that fruits and vegetables are healthful, good foods to eat. They've only said that you must count their calories.

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Really now?? Why don't you go back and read a little... cause I'm pretty sure I've seen people post stating "I won't be stuffing my face with these things" and trust me hunny, I have nothing to be embarrassed about, call me otu on whatever you like, I'm not backing down, you don't agree with what I say, that's fine with me no sweat off my back. I will continue to eat endless amounts of fruits and veggies and continue to be fit ad healthy... thank you

They had a valid point. If you eat too much of anything, including fruit, it's not going to be "negative." That's why so many people started gaining weight when WW changed their points system. I actually saw people on their forums at the time, so upset because fruit was free so they ate 10 pieces a day on top of their allotted points and started gaining weight. I don't care whether you back down or not. It doesn't make it true. :flowerforyou: