Weight-Loss Negative calorie foods, fact or myth?

[jenneymac]

I try to do some reading regarding nutrition every day now that I am losing weight. I have read some claims that certain foods actually result in negative calories meaning that the body burns more calories digesting the food than the food contains.
Example: a celery stick adds three calories but your body takes four calories to digest it so you lose a calorie eating it. I am not saying this is true, its just an example.

 

[Tamago]

Myth

It's kind of like implying you would starve to death if you had nothing to eat in a room but a pile of celery sticks.

 

[San2]

Agree with Tamago. If there was such a thing as negative calorie foods, and you ate nothing but those, would you starve?

Of course not.

It's nonsense.

 

[KaraCooks]

Myth.

It's playing mind games with math. So let's say as an example, that a stick of celery has 5 calories, and it takes you 6 calories to chew and digest them. I don't know if that's true or not, but let's say it is.

If you count the calories for celery like that, then why don't you also count the calories for chicken like that? If 4oz of chicken is 120 cals, then why not subtract the calories for chewing and digesting the chicken? If 1 apple is 80 calories, then why not subtract the calories for chewing and digesting the apple?

Of course you don't do that with all your food - so why would you do it with celery? Or jicama? Or whatever food some fool is saying is a "negative calorie food".

The caloric cost of eating food is already figured in your BMR. When you play math games with calories and try to "subtract" calories for chewing an eating - unless you're going to bother to figure out the calories you burn eating and digesting ALL of your food, then you're just lying to yourself and playing mathematical mind games.

 

[Harold14370]

Negative calorie food - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

While this concept is popular in dieting guides, there is no scientific evidence that any of the foods claimed as negative calorie foods are such[1]. Celery, a commonly cited negative calorie food, actually requires only about 10% of its calorie content to be digested (due to the thermic effect)[2]