All about 'negative calorie' foods

What exactly are 'negative calorie' foods and do they help you lose weight? Find out right here.

The phrase 'negative calories' seems to be causing some confusion, as it suggests there are foods which possess no calories at all. All food contains some energy, because it includes an amount of carbohydrates, protein or fat, in varying amounts. All these macronutrients are energy sources, and thus all food contains some energy.

What is negative calorie food?

All food has caloric content, so the term 'negative calorie foods' may sound misleading. Some scientists say that since some foods are harder for the body to digest, the net effect of eating them creates a calorie deficit.

In other words, the body burns more calories processing negative calorie foods than the foods actually contain. In theory, the more of these foods you eat, the less calories you take in, making them ideal for those trying to lose weight.

For example, if a slice of carrot had 10 calories, but took 12 to burn, that food would have a -2 calorie effect on your body. That doesn't mean the carrots are -2 calories, but that the end result of this process is to lose weight.

However, negative calorie food diets are controversial, and not everyone agrees that negative calorie foods even technically exist. In any case, though, the fruit and vegetables on the negative calorie list are still healthy foods that should be included in any balanced diet.

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So are negative calorie foods really the key to weight loss? Unfortunately, they are not the silver bullet that many believe. Even if digesting them does use up more calories than you gain by eating them, you won't be losing more than a few calories in the process. It takes hundreds of calories to lose even half a kilo or a pound, so the small lack of calories won't do much to put a dent in your weight loss goal.

At the same time, there's one aspect of this hype that contains a grain of truth. Negative calorie foods can take the place of less nutritious and more fattening foods. Instead of snacking on potato chips, grab a crunchy stalk of celery (ajmud). Avoiding the potato chips and filling up on the celery will lead to weight loss, even if it's not because of the celery's negative calories.

Negative calorie vegetables include: Asparagus (shatwar), beetroot (chukandar), broccoli (hari phoolgobhi), cabbage (patta gobhi), carrot (gajar), cauliflower (phoolgobhi), celery (ajmud), hot chillies (mirch), cucumber (kheera), garlic (lahsun), green beans, lettuce (salad patta), onions, radish (mooli), spinach (palak), turnip (shalgam), and zucchini (tori).

Negative calorie fruits include: Apple, blueberries, cantaloupe (kharbooja), cranberry, grapefruit honeydew, lemon/lime, mango, orange, papaya, peach, pineapple, raspberry, strawberry, tomato and watermelon.

So when there is such a rich choice of delicious negative calorie fruits and vegetables, dieters can't complain that there is nothing tasty to eat. It just takes some imagination (and culinary skills, of course) to prepare great dishes, which consist of negative calorie foods. Actually, almost 100 foods are categorised as negative calorie, so there is a lot of room for experimentation in the kitchen!