Imagine a food that actually burns more calories than it
provides, that helps you lose weight just by eating it. The idea
sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? These so-called negative calorie
foods have been promoted by many fitness books and diet plans.
But do they work? Is there science to back this claim or is it
just another fitness myth? Chewing and digesting food, as with
all bodily functions, burns calories without us ever noticing.
Certain foods, like celery or grapefruit, are high in dietary
fiber but extremely low in calories, leading to the conclusion
that they burn more calories than they actually provide.
According to the Mayo Clinic, about five to 10 percent of your
daily caloric expenditure goes toward chewing, breaking down and
storing your food. The low-calorie options that populate the
negative calorie food lists found all over the Internet do, in
fact require energy to digest. So, in theory at least, negative
calorie foods exist. In practice, however, there is no
scientific evidence to support t