Negative calorie foods are a controversial diet that has been the basis of many arguments from dieters and dietitians alike. Argued by some as being a fantastic supplemental diet, and by others as being a foolish fad, it can be difficult figure out what’s true and what’s not. The online arguments make the confusion even worse as it becomes obvious that there are many very different interpretations as to what this diet is about and how this diet plan actually is laid out to be followed.
At first glance negative calories seem too good to be true, and you never fault a dieter with being cautious. Studying the list will help dieters make sense that this is a supplemental diet to help reduce overall calories: not some miracle to eat “negative calories” each and every day. Many do consider negative calorie foods to be a fad, but these same foods are mainstays in many other diets. Still, the question is: are negative calorie foods a healthy part of a diet, or dangerous fad?
This question has answers from both sides – which is why the argument over this diet plan continues on unabated. It’s true that there’s no such thing as a “negative calorie,” but this is a straw man argument because the negative calorie foods diet never says that there is. The way this diet plan made its name is because it argues that some foods take more calories for the human body to digest and metabolize than the foods themselves give. So if an apple takes 120 calories to digest, but only has 110 calories, than there’s a deficit of -10. That’s where the argument comes in for negative calorie foods.
This claim has been argued, as well, but in the end the question is will people lose weight if they eat a lot of negative calorie foods? The answer is yes. All of these foods are either fruits or vegetables, most of which have a very high water content and most of which are also very high in fiber, as well. This helps to keep the dieter full while minimizing the calories that are there to be burned.
The arguments may continue on, but does that really matter? Even if negative calorie foods do not truly produce a real life deficit in calories, eating a ton of high fiber and high water fruits and veggies will almost certainly help the majority of dieters lose weight.
