Negative Calorie Food List
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Most people think that “negative calorie” foods are a myth, or sound too good to be true. The truth is there are foods that have “negative calories”, but this negative calorie count is often misunderstood.
In order for a type of food to have a negative calorie count, it must contain fewer calories than it costs your body to digest and assimilate. There are not a lot of items on the negative calorie food list, as most foods contain substantially more calories than their digestion requires. In theory, if you were to eat only negative calorie foods you would lose a lot of weight while staying relatively healthy. Unfortunately the lack of energy you would suffer would make you lethargic and susceptible to diseases.
When constructing a diet out of the items on the negative calorie food list, the important thing to remember is that you have to include some protein as well to make sure that you are at least eating a positive balance of calories every day. If you maintain a negative calorie intake you will suffer from severe health limitations and a lack of energy.
There are basically two types of food items on the negative calorie food list. You guessed it – you won’t find ice cream or steak on the list! The list contains only fruits and vegetables, and only a few of each fall into the “negative calorie” category. More fruits and vegetables contain a significant number of calories and the negative calorie food list items are the exception rather than the rule.
The fruits that are considered to be on the negative calorie food list include cantaloupes, mandarin oranges, peaches, clementines, plums, damsons, raspberries, grapefruit, rhubarb, strawberries, watermelons, honeydews, lemons, guavas and apricots. There are a few others that exist, but these are generally not found in most grocers and the abundance of negative calorie fruits makes it easy to find a few at the supermarket at any time of year.
These fruits have the added benefit of being high in fiber, which is one of the most important dietary ingredients. Without a constant source of good natural fiber you can eat as healthily as you like and still put on weight, as well as increase your chances of digestive tract illnesses and cancer. Remember that vegetables and salads are not nearly as good a source of fiber as pulpy fruits.
While vegetables might not be as high in fiber as fruits, they generally contain more minerals and micro nutrients that cannot be found in any other food source. Most vegetables are not on the negative calorie food list, but those that are include cauliflower, peppers, celery, radish, leek, cabbage, lettuce, carrots, marrow, chicory, spinach, cress, cucumber, turnip and tomato. Celery is one of the most famous members of the negative calorie food list, but it is actually not the most deserving of the bunch.
Carrots actually contain far more hard cellulose and require more chewing and more chemical digestion, and are one of the lowest energy vegetables you can eat. Of course, eating these fruits and vegetables is no sure fire way of losing weight, and having a diet consisting of negative calorie food list items can be very detrimental to your health.
If you are setting up a diet to maximize weight loss, try to consume at least 50% low fat foods and protein with each meal in addition to negative calorie foods. This will allow your body to get enough energy to survive as well as all of the vitamins and minerals you need, and you will be losing weight simply by eating!