Negative Calories: Lose Weight While You Eat?

"Is it true that celery burns more calories to eat than the food itself contains? I've heard the same thing about Pineapple. Is it true?"

I recently received this question from a reader, and I felt I should take some time and get to the bottom of the often misunderstood nutritional Catch-22 called "The Negative Calorie Diet."

I think we've all heard this claim, but is it true, or is it an Urban Myth? And if it is true, does that mean that other foods, besides celery, take more energy to eat than they contain?

In order to answer this, we have to consider that a "calorie" is identified as a unit of energy, basically the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water one degree Celcius. And, it is important to remember also that if the foods you eat contain more calories than you are using, you start to store up that un-used energy in the form of fat.

Nothing wrong with fat! Every body needs it. It gives our bodies flexibility; makes our skin soft and supple; allows our organs to operate efficiently. However, too much fat can lead to problems. It's hard for the organs of the body to do their jobs efficiently when surrounded by fat. It's tough for our blood to course correctly through our veins and arteries when they are clogged with fat and plaque. It's difficult for our muscles to support us when they are marble-ized with fat like a 12-ounce Rib Eye steak.

So how do we get rid of the fat? We burn the calories!
How do we burn the calories?
Well, we could excersize...or we could eat more.

Yes, that's right. According to the "Urban Myth," and to recent research, Eating more of the right types of foods can actually help us lose fat! It all goes back to the idea of calories. As we stated, if the foods we eat contain more calories than our bodies are using, we gain weight. Inversely, if the body uses more calories to chew and digest foods than the foods that are being chewed and digested actually contain, the extra energy it takes to process those foods will have to come from the stored fat in our bodies!

This is genius!
or...
It's completely nuts.

To figure it out, check out the link below that will take you to a website where you can judge for yourself. It will point out a variety of foods that contain less calories than the body uses to chew and digest them, making them Fat Reducing Foods! Aside from Celery, there's Garlic, Asparagus, Watermelon, Mango and a host of other summer-time yummies that, according to research, claim to burn away fat while you eat them!

So, go look them up and see if your favorite food is listed. After you check them out, come on back and tell me what you think about this whole idea. I'll be here, burning fat and eating my own words. Yum!

http://www.fatfreekitchen.com/negative-calorie-foods.html