Oct
23
Today’s reader question comes to us from Minnesota.
I heard there are foods which count for negative calories. Things that actually work off calories if I eat them. The one I keep hearing about is celery. Is this true? Can I have a meal and then eat celery to work off the calories?
Well, yes and no.
What Are Negative Calories Foods?
These foods are ones where the calorie content is so low that our bodies actually spend more calories digesting the food than they get out of it. Our bodies actually have to spend energy digesting food. There is energy spent on digesting and even more energy used for moving the food around internally. All of this energy means calories spent. So if these calories spent are higher than the calories we get out of our food, the food adds up to negative net calories. Another example might be a cold drink with very few calories. The calories our bodies would spend to heat up the liquid as it enters our body might be more than the calories our digestion can extract from that liquid leading to a net calories loss.
The Mythical Celery
Celery is mentioned most often when we talk about negative calorie foods because it’s become an urban myth of sorts. There were even some fad diets based on negative energy foods that used celery as a prime ingredient. Yes, celery does cost more energy to digest than it provides. On average, a stalk of celery has 6 to 8 calories in it. Because it mainly fiber, our bodies use up slightly more than that to digest it. So on average, our bodies might lose 2 or 3 calories per stalk of celery that we eat. So yes, it is a negative calorie food, but before you rush out and begin your celery only diet, let’s think things through.
Simple Math
You’ll lose around 2 to 3 calories per stalk of celery. So let’s see, in order to lose the four hundred calories you just gained from that chocolate bar, you’re going to need to eat 200 stalks of celery. In order to work off the 1000 calories you just ate in that pizza, you’re going to need to eat 500 stalks of celery. Alternatively, you could work off about 100 calories with a 30 minute walk. Which one would you rather do, walk for 30 minutes or eat 50 stalks of celery? I prefer the walking.
Diet Staple
That said, low calorie but high fiber foods like celery should definitely be a part of your diet. They’re full of essential vitamins and minerals and they fill you up without a lot of calories. However, don’t assume that they’re some sort of magic bullet. Eating nothing but celery and cold water is NOT a healthy diet.
Summary
So yes, negative calorie foods do exist, but they’re not the magic bullet solution to weight loss. Eating healthy and getting some physical activity is the key to that.
Some more facts about celery, courtesy of Snopes.com
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