The concept of negative calories is quite new and yet it is already used as a guideline and basis for many diets. The idea behind this is that there are certain foods that burn more calories than they contain. With this trick, the pounds should be torn down while eating. But is that true? Are there really negative calories?
It is too good to be true: Unfortunately, it is a diet myth. There are foods that can actually stimulate metabolism and stimulate fat burning, and others that contain very few calories, but there is not a single food in the world that burns more energy when digesting the body. In the following we explain why a minus-calorie diet is hardly possible.
Your body burns calories all the time
The body needs energy for every movement and the body's own process and food drives the body's power plant. Foods provide the necessary energy so that your heart pumps the blood, your lungs breathe in and breathe and work properly and all other body systems work properly, including digestion. It is an ongoing process, i.e. breakfast can provide the energy that is needed to digest dinner. And the simple secret behind every diet means: calorie deficit. If you want to lose weight, you have to burn more calories than you consume. However, this does not mean that you have to concentrate on counting calories.The nutrition expert Richard Hartmann clarifies on his blogIn detail, why calorie counting is nonsense, which calorie types there are and how calories can be misleaded. The negative energy balance is only a small aspect of losing weight.
Which foods contain negative calories?
To theFoods that are advertised as calorie -burning, include celery, apples, pineapple, broccoli, asparagus, grapefruit, cucumber, kohlrabi, radishes and other sharp foods. Cold water and ice cubes are sometimes referred to as negative calories because the body burns additional calories to warm it up in the digestive process.
To understand why it is impossible that certain foods burn calories when digesting, you should also know what a calorie is. By definition, a kilocalory is a physical unit and reflects the amount of energy that is required for heating one liter of water by a degree Celsius. With regard to food, a calorie indicates the energy content of food, ie the physiological calorific value that is made available to the body in the nutrient utilization. Water has zero calories and foods that contain a lot of water are very low in calories, but no food has a negative energy value.
The thermogenic effect in digestion
If your body burns calories for the digestion of food, this is called thisProcess thermogenesis. For thermogenesis, an average of 10 to 20 percent of the calories of a food are consumed to digest it. Proteins have a larger thermogenic effect than carbohydrates or fats. So if an apple has about 52 calories, the digestion of this apple requires an energy expenditure of approximately 10 calories. So 42 calories remain and are stored as energy in the cells. In order to maintain negative calories, the body would have to consume more than 100 percent to digest the apple - and that is impossible.
Slim downnegative caloriesis not possible
There are already many websites online that list foods with negative calories, as well as numerous diet programs that promise quick weight loss. These foods are perfect for losing weight, but not because they contain minus calories. Most foods in these lists are very low in calories and can therefore be eaten without hesitation during a diet.
So instead of looking for negative calories, rely on a healthy, balanced diet in connection with sports and try to keep the calorie balance more easily in the negative area. However, you won't lose weight when eating.
