negative calorie diet

Question
Have you ever heard of negative calorie foods? There are some books and websites that claim that if you eat something very low in calores, you lose the calories you ate and maybe more in the digestive process, so you lost more calories than you gained eating this particular food. Is this true? I try to keep my calorie intake the same everyday, plus or minus 100 calories or so. But i love apples and eat up to 5 a day and want to eat them even if i'm over my calorie intake and sometimes i do, but apples are on the negative calorie food list so if the whole negative calorie thing is true i'll be able to sleep easier at night knowing its okay that i went over my limit with a negative calorie food, which wouldn't really count as going over. I hope that makes sense. So is the whole negative calorie thing true, or is it just a whole scam to make people feel better and buy their books to make money? Thanks.

Answer
Hi Eden

The truth about any food or diet is that they contain calories. To understand the falsehood of a negative calorie diet, you must understand the definition of a calorie.

A calorie is simply a measure of energy. One calorie equals 4 Joules of energy. The purpose of food is to provide energy to the body. Food is design to contain energy and therefore calories. There is no such thing as foods with negative calories (except in the minds of slick marketers trying to sell you their product).

You must consume less calories than you take in to lose weight. Success or failure depends on the method you choose to control calories.

It's your overall calorie consumption that matters.  To lose 1 to 2 pounds per week, most females should stay between 1200 and 1500 calories per day. Men should consume between 1500 and 1900 calories per day to lose the same amount of weight.

Instead of focusing on foods with negative calories, which don't exist, strive to stay within your calorie limit to lose weight. You will need to switch to lower calorie foods and you should eat 4 to 5 times per day. The more small meals you eat, the more efficient your body becomes at burning fat.

If you need added information--let me know.

Take Care
Jackie  

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