Negative Calorie Food: Is There Really Such a Thing?

Posted in Diet Tips by Connor Spowers on July 3, 2011 No Comments yet

You have probably heard of the term negative calorie food and wondered what the heck that they were talking about. Then you read an article and think to yourself that it cant possibly be true.

Well it is BUT well maybe possibly be no

Yes, there is a but lets first talk a bit about what a negative calorie food is and how a food can have negative calories. First off, every food except water has calories thats a fact.

When we eat these food, our bodies need energy to digest this food. Now it may only be a few calories but it still a few calories. The more dense and complex the food is the more calories our bodies use to turn this food into nutrients for the body.

So a simple food like a sugary candy or a food that is highly processed will hardly take any calories at all to digest.

For example: take food like an apple or broccoli. Both are rich with nutrients, high in fiber and densely rich. These food take longer to digest so your body has to work harder and longer to digest them so they take more calories to burn the food.

Now since both of these foods are already low in calories, they actually take a few more calories to digest and burn the food then the amount of calories that is in the food itself so you can a negative calorie sum for the food.

This is where you get the term negative calorie food.

Scientists still cant agree whether or not there truly is a negative calorie effect. Some say yes and others say that the food still contains more calories than what is used in the digestion process but both groups agree that the food on the negative calorie list are some of the best food for you and that you should be adding them to your diet anyway.

In addition to being high on the nutrient scale, they are are high in fiber ( which can help you feel full longer and will keep away cravings) plus they are high in water hydrating our body.

Here is a list of the most popular negative calorie food to add into your diet: Apples be sure to also eat the apple skin Cabbage cooked or raw ( raw tastes sweeter and takes longer to digest) Cucumber Eggplant Lettuce the darker green the better Beets Asparagus fresh or frozen is best Celery Blueberries great on top of oatmeal Broccoli raw or cooked Cauliflower raw or cooked Radishes Cantaloupe Papaya papaya aids in digestion and may be good for heartburn some do get the poops so if it is a new food for new only have a small amount. Carrots again raw or cooked Green beans raw of cooked these are great raw to snack on like carrot sticks Tomatoes Zucchini great steamed sorry zucchini bread doesnt count Grapefruit if you are on medications read your label to see if you should avoid grapefruit within an hour or two of your meds Endive Garlic Onion Pineapple Spinach raw spinach makes a great salad. Raw spinach often is sandy so wash well Turnip turnips are a little hot ( just a little) and are a great addition to a salad Raspberries one of my favs Strawberries be sure to wash well & if possible buy organic strawberries. They are loaded with insecticides. Tangerines Prunes if you use dried prunes be sure have ones that have no sugar added and only have 1 or two as they are high in calories when dried Cranberries

As you can see the list is made up of fruits and veggies and not a single processed food in the list.  By the way there are many more foods that some consider negative calorie foods just make a few internet searches and youll find loads of info. Remember that these foods are to added to your diet, dont rely on just these. Besides them all being high in fiber and if you all of a sudden just feat on them you will not only get constipated but also gas.  So go easy.

Negative calorie food can help you keep your weight down, keep craving away, help you feel full longer and are very nutritious so enjoy!

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