Muffin Top-Less

Negative Calorie Foods… myth or truth? Check out this brief article by 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.