What are negative calorie foods? And how can something you eat have less than zero calories?
Technically there is no such thing as a negative number of calories. Almost all foods have calories (water has zero calories, which is the lowest amount you can get).
But it also costs us some effort to eat or drink food. When we eat or drink, we expend calories.
Therefore, the diet industry decided that a food that requires more effort to eat or drink than it provides is called a negative calorie food.
Before you get too excited, the list of these foods isn’t very long, and it’s not exactly exciting either. You certainly wouldn’t be able to do a complete diet on this:
- apples
- Asparagus
- beets
- blueberries
- Broccoli
- melons
- carrots
- Cauliflower
- celery stalk
- Celery root
- blueberries
- cucumbers
- Eggplant
- chicory
- garden cress
- Garlic
- Pink grapefruit
- green beans
- Green cabbage
- Lemons
- Lettuce
- Onions
- papayas
- pineapples
- plums
- radishes
- raspberries
- Spinach
- strawberries
- tangerines
- Tomatoes
- turnips
- Zucchini
But it does mean you can use some of these foods to add variety to your diet without worrying about packing on the pounds.
For example, you could make a very nice salad with lettuce, carrots, celery, and tomatoes. Just be careful not to rack up calories by topping the salad with dressing.
Similarly, you could make a fresh fruit salad with apples, pineapples, strawberries, and blueberries. Once again, make sure you don’t ruin the negative caloric effect by adding a lot of cream!
One of the best ways to use negative foods is as “fillers.” They can be a good side dish and will have the effect of filling you up without adding calories.
You can also drink water instead of tea or coffee to help cut down on the extra calories in milk that you would normally use. Twist in a slice of lemon or lime to add some interest.