Neg. calories? Is this true?

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I was reading in another site about negative calories. Apparently it's food that takes more calories to burn it than it had to begin with - like a 50 calorie carrot stick would take 75 calories to burn - leaving you with a deficit of 25 calories.

Anyone know if that is true? And, if so...how can you track that?

Replies

  • keiko
    keiko Posts: 2,919 Member
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    I don't think it's true, I don't have any proof though.
  • Dave198lbs
    Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
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    come on

    this is another of those things from Alabama or Jersey

    does it make sense?

    this is a popular myth...like the tooth fairy and that stuff

    stick with me Hickory...you will be fine
  • McLachfan
    McLachfan Posts: 50
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    I've heard that before and always wondered about that. Just today I read a post about this very topic and there was a very detailed explanation as to why this is NOT true. However, as my WW coach always said... "You didn't get fat overeating on celery and carrot sticks... They're good for you so eat them!" :laugh:
  • NTAC
    NTAC Posts: 1 Member
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    what' that about Jersey?
  • AJCM
    AJCM Posts: 2,169 Member
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    The amount is negligable - like the "myth" that your body has to "heat" ice water to digest it....

    (I use quotation marks for myth because while it is true, the benefit is so inconsequential, yet is given some value, as if drinking a few glasses of ice waters in a day will burn enough calories to affect change)

    My red peppers in my sandwich today were 6 calories.... so I may have burned an extra 3....
    :wink:

    The calorie counter in My Fitness Pal is going to assume that you are burning a basic amount of calories going about your daily activities, which include preparing, plating, chewing, and digesting food.
    :flowerforyou:
  • j4nash
    j4nash Posts: 1,719 Member
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    wish i could burn 75 carrots eating a carrot! :tongue:
  • shkaki
    shkaki Posts: 234 Member
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    there is a value called the thermogenic effect of food (sp?) meaning-it does require some amount of calories for your body to digest foods. But it is a VERY low percentage in comparison. Now if you laid in bed all day and just ate 10 celery sticks, it might help with weight loss. But having them as snacks or part of a regular diet will not alone cause you to burn more than any other food that your body is busy digesting. I hope this info helped.

    I suggest doing a search for the thermogenic effect of food if you'd like to know more!
  • Bunnies_Revenge
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    No, not really. Proccessed food though are already broken down for you, so you're simply storing whatever calories the food came with into fat. Hint the reason doctors tell you to stay away from them.

    Non-processed foods have to be digested by your body when you eat them, thus burning calories. So a 50 calories carrot stick will probably only store like 25 calories as fat. Its not creating a negative count, so yeah...
  • Falcon
    Falcon Posts: 853 Member
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    50 cals in a carrot, in a whole carrot theres 15 cals, where did you get this interesting info from?

    This is a big myth not true
  • sevenfourshoreline
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    come on

    this is another of those things from Alabama or Jersey

    HAHAHA
  • Bunnies_Revenge
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    50 cals in a carrot, in a whole carrot theres 15 cals, where did you get this interesting info from?

    This is a big myth not true

    Lol I was using it as an example. I don't like carrots all to often, so I don't eat them.
  • adopt4
    adopt4 Posts: 970 Member
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    I have made that comment on this site recently, but my point was that you can eat carrots, for example, a lot of them when you are hungry, and having a problem staying within your calorie limits, that those are the things you should be eating, go ahead and crunch away... now I have to go find where I foudn the negative calorie thing, it was on this site... back to edit after I search...
  • Dave198lbs
    Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
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    carrots are sugar bombs

    I wouldnt be eating more than 1 or 2 a day

    eat some fat like nuts or cheese with sugar foods
    the fat slows down the sugar onslaught to the body
  • adopt4
    adopt4 Posts: 970 Member
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    ok so I found where I learned this little myth... and then the 4000 people that said it wasn't true... LOL

    I guess when I said that (I will change my wording from now on) is what I meant was if you HAVE to eat, if you are hungry and can't keep that under control in the beginning, eat something crunchy and raw like carrots or celery to appease that desire, without killing your calories.

    Sorry for being one who perpetuated the myth without doing further research.:blushing: