What are foods with negative calories? By definition, these are foods that take more energy to digest than they contain. It’s called the thermic effect. The food you eat requires energy to digest. According to studies, it’s about 10% of all the calories you consume. High fiber foods like vegetables, use about 20% of their calories for digestion. Proteins use 30% and fats just 3%. Most of these foods are vegetables or fruit, so they’re normally low in calories and part of healthy eating. However, do they actually cause a calorie deficit just by digesting? One thing is certain, they’ll fill you up because they’re high in water and fiber, so you’ll be less likely to eat higher calorie foods, which will help you shed weight.
Celery is always first on the list of negative calorie foods.
Celery is low in calories and high in water and fiber. It has such few calories that you’d think it would take more calories to digest than it contains. There’s no way to prove it does, since there are no scientific studies proving it one way or another but including it your diet will help you shed pounds, regardless of whether it’s a negative-calorie food or not. Celery also acts as a diuretic, to help reduce water weight.
The net calorie intake for most vegetables and fruits can be minimal due to the thermic effect.
Think fibrous foods that fill you up longer, may have high water content, but still aren’t starchy or high calorie. Watermelon and cantaloupe are two fruits with almost zero calories due to thermogenesis—the cost of calories it takes to digest food. Consider vegetables like leafy greens, which are already low in calories. Adding spices can even reduce the calorie count while adding flavor.
Boost your calorie burning with spices.
Cayenne peppers and other hot food actually boost calorie burning with the heat it builds in your body that increases the temperature. That temperature increase also increases your metabolism, to burn even more calories and lower the calorie count in your food. Other spices that can help weight loss include turmeric, cumin and cinnamon.
- Want low to no calorie noodles? Make zoodles or other popular vegetable noodles. Sliced eggplant make great lasagna noodles and spaghetti squash is the perfect low calorie dish for your next bowl of spaghetti.
- Fresh asparagus contain almost no calories. Steam baby asparagus, top with a little lemon and salt for the perfect side dish. You can also chill those steamed asparagus and dip in a lemon sauce for a snack.
- How you prepare a food will make a difference in whether it’s low in calories or not. Fried cabbage is high in calories but chopped cabbage with apples and carrots for a salad can drive the calorie count down—but not below zero.
- Beets, spinach and kale boost fat burning and contain few calories themselves. If you’re looking for a way to lose weight that’s based on your preferences and needs, we can help with a personalized program made specifically for you.
For more information, contact us today at ProWeightLoss