What are negative calorie foods? Can they help in weight loss?

WHAT ARE NEGATIVE CALORIE FOODS? Calories suddenly become very important when one is trying to lose weight. You must have seen people around you, counting every single calorie they eat. This is because it’s only when one burns more than what one consumes that they are able to lose weight. Though diet and exercise go hand in hand but when it comes to losing weight, diet plays a crucial role (remember the 30:70 rule).

A recent food fad that has grabbed most people’s attention is the ‘negative' calorie food. Read on to know what are negative calorie foods and if they are really helpful.

NEGATIVE CALORIE FOODS: Negative calorie foods are the foods that burn more calories to get digested than what they contain. This implies you can have any amount of these foods without actually gaining any weight. When you consume these foods, your body ends up burning more calories in digesting them than what they actually contain, hence nullifying the addition of calories.

The negative calorie foods are usually plant-derived and are high in fibre and water content. These foods boost your metabolism as they are rich in fibre, which takes longer time to burn and thus keeps your metabolism revved up.

NEGATIVE CALORIE FOOD AND WEIGHT LOSS: Whatever we eat has calories. Empty calories are the ones that have no nutritional value and that just get stored in your body making you gain weight. All the junk and sugary food come under this category.

Foods with high fibre and water content in them are usually low in calories and their digestion requires more energy and calories. Celery is one of the best negative calorie foods. 100 grams of celery has 16 calories and your body utilises much more than 16 calories in order to digest it.

So, negative calorie foods can help one lose weight as they are not only low in calories but they also help burn more calories than what normal foods do.

SOME EXAMPLES: Broccoli, lettuce, watermelon, carrots, berries, cucumber, apple, tomato and zucchini are some common examples of negative calorie foods.

VERDICT: Following an extreme diet or eating only one specific group of food can make you miss out on other important nutrients. The only key to successful weight loss is a healthy diet with regular exercise.