Does Celery Have Negative Calories?

The term 'negative calorie foods' is one that is branded around a fair bit in relation to dieting and weight loss. The myth that there are actually foods out there that are not only calorieless, but in fact contain a negative amount of calories, is a bit of an urban legend, and one that some people unfortunately believe is true.

One food that is heavily linked with the negative calorie food myth is the vegetable celery. It's a fact that hundreds of people come online to ask the question 'does celery have negative calories?', every single month.

Just think about the question for a minute though, a food that has a minus number of calories, it's quite simply ludicrous.

However, if you look at it in a different light, such as how few calories a food might contain, and the number of calories the body is going to burn up by eating such a food, then you are getting a little bit warmer.

I do have to point out though, that even the smallest stick of celery has two or three calories in it, an amazingly tiny amount in comparison to pretty much every other food you are every likely to eat. So I am sorry to disappoint anybody who was hoping to find out that celery has negative calories, it is just not true.

It's a fact that water has zero calories in, that's one you can take to the bank, but as far as calories found in foods go, you will be hard pushed to find anything with less calories in than celery.

Is celery a negative calorie food?

So this is where things get interesting. You have heard about celery being a negative calorie food, and have even been told before that it actually contains less than zero calories, but what does it all mean?

Celery is a negative calorie food in the sense that the body will use up more calories in chewing it, digesting it, processing it, absorbing it's nutrients, metabolizing and then getting rid of the any waste remains, than it will take on board from the celery. If a small piece of celery contains 2 calories and your body burns up 3 calories while all of this is going on, then your total is a negative number. This is what makes celery a negative calorie food.

Negative calorie food examples

If there were hundreds of foods that the above explanation of negative calorie foods applied to, then diet and weight loss would be a piece of cake, but there aren't.

In order for this calculation to be anywhere near effective the foods that you eat need to be incredibly low in calories, and also cause the body to work harder than normal when it comes to the processing the food and so on.

Below are a few more examples of negative calorie foods:

* Celery

* Water cress

* Watermelon

* Tomatoes

Summary

So does celery have negative calories inside it? No. Does eating it mean you are likely to lose calories rather than gain them? Yes.

Sadly you can't fill your diet with so called negative calorie foods and lose weight overnight, that is just not possible. However, foods that come under this umbrella are going to help to boost your metabolism, and also ensure that your calorie count stays low. If your aim is to lose weight, then introducing these foods, and taking out high calorie processed foods from your diet, is going to be a very positive step in the right direction. Every little bit of helps contributes to big changes over time.

Steve Wright is an internet writer and nutritional expert. With various websites to his name including the popular http://www.calories-in-foods.com/, he strives to share his work with as many people as possible online. Residing and working in the UK he is an avid follower of the ATP world tennis tour and Liverpool FC.

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