Negative calorie foods or negative carb foods are ones which burn more calories in the digestion process than you get by eating them. Some examples are celery, cabbage, cucumbers, chili peppers and broccoli. Negative calorie foods are terrific to include in your weight loss program because they are filling due to the high fiber content and you still get plenty of vitamins and minerals from them. It is a win-win situation.
Anything that is not fat or protein is a carb — that includes all of your veggies, dairy, fruits, sugars, and grains. All carbs are not created equal though. The nutrient content plays a big role in a carb’s value as does the fiber content. When buying processed carbs always pick whole foods so that you are getting the natural wholesome goodness that you deserve. After that when you look at the ingredients list check out the fiber content. This will give you a good indication of the total carbs. Deduct the fiber from the carbs and that will give you the net carbs. Legumes are not negative carbs. Actually they have a pretty high carbohydrate content. They also have a lot of fiber. Hence, the song beans, beans the musical fruit, the more you eat the more you toot! That song is not 100% true. The more you eat, I mean on a daily basis putting a handful in your salad, or omelets or soup. I am not talking about eating a big plate of baked beans. When you actually eat beans (legumes) every meal, or at least every day, you will become accustomed to them and you will not toot!
It is the fiber that the processed food diet is missing. Processed foods have no fiber, or very little fiber. So when you are eating processed foods, not only are you getting white grains, stripped of nutrients, you are also not getting the fiber. It is the fiber that reduces the carb count to less than zero is some cases. It is the fiber that keeps your metabolism burning. It is the fiber that aids in weight loss. White carbs, processed carbs are all sugar, no vitamins, nutrients or fiber. OK, I know some of you are saying, that they are enriched. Great, let’s strip our food of everything and throw in a handful of man-made vitamins!
Other negative or close to negative calorie foods include:
There are many more foods that are close to being negative calorie and you can probably figure out which ones those are intuitively. If you ate nothing but negative calorie foods for the rest of your life, then you would waste away to nothing. Your body would be deficient in calories for energy and over time you would become more and more weak and eventually just disappear! Of course, that won’t happen in this day and age.
Add some negative calorie foods into every meal to feel full and still lose weight. Incorporating negative calorie foods into your weight loss program will fill you up, give you vitamins, minerals, fiber and most of all it will keep your metabolism roaring like a bonfire! You can learn more about the WOW program of weight loss and how to increase your metabolism. Just click the apples to learn more about the WOW! program.
I was wondering, do you really believe in the concept of negative calorie foods? I’ve been trying to do some research on the subject, & it seems that everyone has very conflicting opinions! It’s true that some people are just ignorant of what “negative calorie food” actually means, (Yes, all food starts out containing calories, even if it’s only a few). I DO believe in them, and here’s why: Normally during the day, I wasn’t eating much of anything at all, (hypothyroid, so everything I eat seems to turn into fat). I knew that I was probably slowing my metabolism down even further by doing this, (& I wasn’t losing any weight anyway), so I started having a bowl of oatmeal with stevia for ~breakfast every morning for two months, & ended up gaining weight from it. I do everything I can to boost my metabolism on a regular basis, (30 minutes of fast speed-intervals on the treadmill every morning, longer cardio + strength training every evening, eating a low-starch diet, no fried foods, no sugar or white flour at all, etc), & I still don’t lose any weight just from that. SO, after hearing about negative calorie foods, I thought that might be just what I needed to add to my regime, because I read that if you eat these foods all day, not only will you end up with a caloric-deficit at the end of the day, but you will also keep your metabolism stoked-up because your body is constantly working to digest the food. Anyway, I’ve been doing this for a few weeks now, and I’ve lost two pounds, (& it’s the only thing I’ve changed in my diet/life). I’m not sure if the caloric-deficit part is true or not, but it seems to be working for me so I’m going to stick with it, (I’m losing weight much better than when I wasn’t eating at all)!
Hi Lena, You are certainly an avid reader of WOW! I appreciate your continued comments. Of course I believe in negative calorie foods. I would not have written and article about it if I didn’t. They are not really negative calories and yet the fiber that they contain burns more or equal to the same amount of calores as you take in. Eat as much as you want in the way of negative calorie foods. They are vitamin rich and will certianly assist you in living healthy and maintaining ideal weight.
February 10th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Hey Deb~
I was wondering, do you really believe in the concept of negative calorie foods? I’ve been trying to do some research on the subject, & it seems that everyone has very conflicting opinions! It’s true that some people are just ignorant of what “negative calorie food” actually means, (Yes, all food starts out containing calories, even if it’s only a few). I DO believe in them, and here’s why: Normally during the day, I wasn’t eating much of anything at all, (hypothyroid, so everything I eat seems to turn into fat). I knew that I was probably slowing my metabolism down even further by doing this, (& I wasn’t losing any weight anyway), so I started having a bowl of oatmeal with stevia for ~breakfast every morning for two months, & ended up gaining weight from it. I do everything I can to boost my metabolism on a regular basis, (30 minutes of fast speed-intervals on the treadmill every morning, longer cardio + strength training every evening, eating a low-starch diet, no fried foods, no sugar or white flour at all, etc), & I still don’t lose any weight just from that. SO, after hearing about negative calorie foods, I thought that might be just what I needed to add to my regime, because I read that if you eat these foods all day, not only will you end up with a caloric-deficit at the end of the day, but you will also keep your metabolism stoked-up because your body is constantly working to digest the food. Anyway, I’ve been doing this for a few weeks now, and I’ve lost two pounds, (& it’s the only thing I’ve changed in my diet/life). I’m not sure if the caloric-deficit part is true or not, but it seems to be working for me so I’m going to stick with it, (I’m losing weight much better than when I wasn’t eating at all)!
~Thanks, Lena
February 10th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Hi Lena, You are certainly an avid reader of WOW! I appreciate your continued comments. Of course I believe in negative calorie foods. I would not have written and article about it if I didn’t. They are not really negative calories and yet the fiber that they contain burns more or equal to the same amount of calores as you take in. Eat as much as you want in the way of negative calorie foods. They are vitamin rich and will certianly assist you in living healthy and maintaining ideal weight.