Health & Medicine
Negative Calorie Foods Diet - Fact or Fiction
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What is the negative calorie diet?
The negative calorie diet is a popular, relatively new fad diet. Proponents of the diet claim that people using the diet can lose 2 pounds or more per day. The diet has an attractive theoretical basis: that certain foods contain negative calories, and that by eating these foods, you can force your body to burn more calories that it takes in, thus burning fat, and making you lose weight.
The diet is controversial, however. Why? Skeptics claim that there is no proof that the diet works. Other people believe that it's impossible for a food to have negative calories, and thus it's impossible for the diet to work.
But since the negative calorie diet doesn't just rely on negative calorie recipes, but also encourages people to eat a large number of healthy, nutritious foods, such as raw fruits and vegetables, it hasn't received a large amount of negative press.
So what's the deal? Does the diet really work? Is the theory sound? And if the theory is not sound, then do the diet's other attributes make up for the unsound theory?
The best way to find out is to test it. Although no large, stringently controlled scientific studies have been done on the negative calorie diet, scores of people have actually tried the negative calorie diet and negative calorie recipes out. The reviews of the negative calorie diet that I have read lead me to believe that the negative calorie diet does work, but that it does not work as quickly as the people selling the diet may claim. Two pounds of weight loss a day, for most people, just doesn't happen. It's more realistic to expect to lose a couple of pounds a week or a couple of pounds a month.
But even that is promising. Actually, just about any doctor will tell you that it's not safe to lose more than a couple of pounds a week, anyway. If you're trying to lose weight, most physicians will recommend that you do it slowly and steadily. And then they will tell you that once you have it off, you need to keep your new weight-loss habits, or the weight will come back plus a little extra.
So it's probably not all that bad if the negative calorie diet doesn't work as well as the people selling it say it does.
It's also possible that the people doing the diet aren't following the instructions closely. And that might be why they're not experiencing as much weight loss as the proponents of the diet say is possible. But as I've said, too much weight loss too fast is probably not a very good idea, anyway, so this probably doesn't really matter.
This Website Is Giving Away A Free Negative Calorie Book
As a person searching the internet for info on negative calorie foods I thought you would enjoy having a book you could refer too. As it turns out I found a website that is giving away just such a book free.The website is the Super Foods Book site, and you'll get the Negative Calorie Book, and many other books covering health topics the main stream is only whispering about, when you order the actual Super Foods Book.
How does the negative calorie diet work?
The theory is simple. Every time you take in food, you take in a certain number of calories. Every time you digest food, you burn a certain number of calories to digest the food. If you eat a food that contains few calories, but that takes you a lot of energy to digest, it may be possible to expend more energy-burn more calories-digesting the food than you actually get from eating the food.
For example, you may eat a piece of fruit that contains 50 calories. If the fruit contains a lot of fiber and is difficult to digest, digesting it may make you burn 100 calories. That means that by eating the fruit, you forced your body to burn 50 calories more than it took in.
Here's the math:
50 - 100 = -50
So it's like you're eating -50 calories. That's negative 50. That's where the name of the diet comes from.
If you eat negative calorie recipes, you are eating recipes in which the total number of calories in the recipes are few than what your body burns while digesting them. Negative calorie recipes are high in "foods that lose" (negative calorie foods), but they may contain a small amount of positive calorie foods.
Supposedly, by eating enough of these foods that lose and negative calorie recipes, you can force your body to burn enough fat to make you lose weight.
For example, you may eat a piece of fruit that contains 50 calories. If the fruit contains a lot of fiber and is difficult to digest, digesting it may make you burn 100 calories. That means that by eating the fruit, you forced your body to burn 50 calories more than it took in.
Here's the math:
50 - 100 = -50
So it's like you're eating -50 calories. That's negative 50. That's where the name of the diet comes from.
If you eat negative calorie recipes, you are eating recipes in which the total number of calories in the recipes are few than what your body burns while digesting them. Negative calorie recipes are high in "foods that lose" (negative calorie foods), but they may contain a small amount of positive calorie foods.
Supposedly, by eating enough of these foods that lose and negative calorie recipes, you can force your body to burn enough fat to make you lose weight.
The Staple Of The Negative Calorie Diet
The staple of the negative calorie diet, or any healthy diet for that matter is water. You should be drinking it down every chance you get.But before you go running to the kitchen faucet we need to talk about a very important health concern about the water you and your family are drinking.
To be blunt tap water sucks. I'm mot just talking about how bad it tastes and smells either, this stuff is teaming with chemicals and waste.
You might be saying to yourself "yeah but the government has safety standards for our drinking water so it should be perfectly fine"
Well not really.
Will a glass of tap water kill you on the spot? Of course not, but just because small abouts chlorine, lead, and human feces has been deemed safe by the government doesn't mean you wouldn't be better off NOT consuming them.
After all this is same government that says certain prescription drugs are safe too, until they ending up killing 1000's of people.
I think you'll all agree that when it comes to YOUR health it's best to take matters into your own hands, and you can do that by picking up an inexpensive water filter like the ones reviewed here.
Trust me, it will make all the difference in the world.
Free list of negative calorie foods
What are some negative calorie foods?
You can find most negative calorie foods ("foods that lose") in your grocery store's produce aisle. Because foods that lose must make you burn more calories than they contain, the foods on the list all contain very few calories and/or a lot of fiber, which takes extra energy to digest.
Here are just a few examples of some foods that are supposedly negative calorie foods:
- Asparagus
- Beets
- Papaya
- Watermelon
- Apple
- Orange
- Grapefruit
- Green beans
- Zucchini
- Turnips
In other words, the negative calorie diet focuses very heavily on fruits and vegetables. Now, some traditional diet foods such as celery and lettuce are on the list, too. And of course, these foods are very low in calories, so it would be natural to assume that they're foods that lose. No surprise there. But celery and lettuce are not particularly nutritious. Beets, papayas, and oranges, on the other hand, are very nutritious. So although some people could go on the negative calorie diet and eat nothing but celery and lettuce and practically starve themselves to death, it's important to note that the negative calorie diet does offer a variety of nutritious foods, so starving yourself to death is not really the negative calorie diet's purpose.
Also notice that some potentially high calorie foods such as pineapples, papayas, and mangoes are included in the diet. What's going on here? Well, papayas and mangoes may be loaded with calories, but they're also loaded with enzymes. And enzymes are an important aid to digestion. The theory is that by packing the body with lots of enzymes and with lots of nutrients to help the body make its own digestive enzymes, digestion will proceed much more smoothly. This is important because the negative calorie diet is so full of fiber-rich foods.
You can find most negative calorie foods ("foods that lose") in your grocery store's produce aisle. Because foods that lose must make you burn more calories than they contain, the foods on the list all contain very few calories and/or a lot of fiber, which takes extra energy to digest.
Here are just a few examples of some foods that are supposedly negative calorie foods:
- Asparagus
- Beets
- Papaya
- Watermelon
- Apple
- Orange
- Grapefruit
- Green beans
- Zucchini
- Turnips
In other words, the negative calorie diet focuses very heavily on fruits and vegetables. Now, some traditional diet foods such as celery and lettuce are on the list, too. And of course, these foods are very low in calories, so it would be natural to assume that they're foods that lose. No surprise there. But celery and lettuce are not particularly nutritious. Beets, papayas, and oranges, on the other hand, are very nutritious. So although some people could go on the negative calorie diet and eat nothing but celery and lettuce and practically starve themselves to death, it's important to note that the negative calorie diet does offer a variety of nutritious foods, so starving yourself to death is not really the negative calorie diet's purpose.
Also notice that some potentially high calorie foods such as pineapples, papayas, and mangoes are included in the diet. What's going on here? Well, papayas and mangoes may be loaded with calories, but they're also loaded with enzymes. And enzymes are an important aid to digestion. The theory is that by packing the body with lots of enzymes and with lots of nutrients to help the body make its own digestive enzymes, digestion will proceed much more smoothly. This is important because the negative calorie diet is so full of fiber-rich foods.
Are there any side effects with the negative calorie diet
Speaking theoretically, I can tell you that over the long term, sticking only to negative calorie fruits and vegetables like the ones listed can cause health problems. That's because your body needs certain nutrients that these types of fruits and vegetables just can't provide. It's true that they provide many vitamins and minerals and plenty of fiber. However, they are very low in protein and fat. Your body uses both protein and fat for many of its processes. Eating protein and fat is absolutely necessary to keep your body healthy. Regardless of what you may have heard about fat being unhealthy, you literally must eat some fat, or you will eventually have serious health problems. I'm not saying to load up on red meat at every meal. But you do need some fat just like you have to have vitamins, or your body will not have everything that it needs to keep itself healthy. And the same thing is true for protein.
I have heard, however, from some people who have tried the negative calorie diet that fish is on the list of foods that lose. Fish is an excellent source of protein and high-quality fats. Assuming that the person trying the negative calorie diet ate enough fish, it would be possible for them to stay on the diet for a long time and still remain healthy.
That is provided, of course, that they knew when to stop losing weight. If, in fact, the negative calorie diet does work the way it says it does, by providing fewer calories than those required for digestion, then it would be important for the person to stop the diet at some point, or they would become dangerously underweight, and eventually die.
I have heard, however, from some people who have tried the negative calorie diet that fish is on the list of foods that lose. Fish is an excellent source of protein and high-quality fats. Assuming that the person trying the negative calorie diet ate enough fish, it would be possible for them to stay on the diet for a long time and still remain healthy.
That is provided, of course, that they knew when to stop losing weight. If, in fact, the negative calorie diet does work the way it says it does, by providing fewer calories than those required for digestion, then it would be important for the person to stop the diet at some point, or they would become dangerously underweight, and eventually die.
Negative calorie recipes
When choosing native calorie recipes, it's important to remember that not all recipes that contain foods that lose are negative calorie recipes. In order for recipes to be negative calorie recipes, they must contain mostly or exclusively foods that lose. In other words, you can't throw apples into recipes that contain a pound of butter or two cups of sugar and expect the results to be negative calorie recipes.
Some of the best negative calorie recipes are heavily laden with combinations of raw fruits or vegetables. Many negative calorie recipes are salads, salsas, or soups. Fruit salads full of negative calorie fruits are a good example. Vegetable soups are usually good, too. But remember, when you cook vegetables, you soften the fiber in them. The softer the fiber is, the easier the food is to digest. So the more you cook your vegetables in your negative calorie recipes, the fewer calories they take to digest. And that defeats the purpose of the negative calorie diet.
Here's one of my favorite negative calorie recipes full of foods that lose:
Polish Mix:
2 cups chopped cabbage
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 chopped tomato
Fresh, chopped garlic to taste
Sauté onions and cabbage until tender crisp. Add tomato and garlic. Sauté two minutes more. Salt and pepper. Serve.
Some of the best negative calorie recipes are heavily laden with combinations of raw fruits or vegetables. Many negative calorie recipes are salads, salsas, or soups. Fruit salads full of negative calorie fruits are a good example. Vegetable soups are usually good, too. But remember, when you cook vegetables, you soften the fiber in them. The softer the fiber is, the easier the food is to digest. So the more you cook your vegetables in your negative calorie recipes, the fewer calories they take to digest. And that defeats the purpose of the negative calorie diet.
Here's one of my favorite negative calorie recipes full of foods that lose:
Polish Mix:
2 cups chopped cabbage
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 chopped tomato
Fresh, chopped garlic to taste
Sauté onions and cabbage until tender crisp. Add tomato and garlic. Sauté two minutes more. Salt and pepper. Serve.
Foods that store fat and foods that burn fat
Certain foods send your body a signal to store fat. You should stay away from those types of foods. A few examples of foods that do that are:- foods that contain sugar
- highly processed foods
- alcohol
On the other hand, there are certain foods that tell your body that everything is OK and that it's safe to use up calories. They turn up your metabolism so that you can lose weight. Here are some examples of foods that can do that:
- fish
- green tea
- fresh, raw fruits
- most vegetables, especially raw, dark leafy green vegetables
- water
- legumes (beans and peas
Balance is the key. Although any one of these foods on this list is good to eat, you don't want to eat any one of them exclusively. In other words, it wouldn't be good to just eat tomatoes and nothing else. Or you wouldn't want to go on a diet that consisted of fish only. By providing your body with a variety of healthy foods, you will help provide the balance of the nutrients it needs so that you can stay healthy.
Although many of the foods on that list are in the negative calorie diet, legumes (beans, peas, and lentils) are not negative calorie foods. Beans, for example, are fairly high in calories. But they're also high in fiber and protein. And as long as your diet contains a fair amount of the other items on the list, you probably won't have to worry about getting fat.
How To Make Staying On The Negative Calorie Diet, Or Any Other Diet Easy
The problem most people have with staying on any diet is they're stuck in their old eating habits. Let's face it, if you've been indulging in fast food and other junk food most of your life making the switch to the negative calorie diet is not going to be easy.
Wouldn't it be nice if their was a way to reprogram your body to no longer crave unhealthy food?
Well there is! And you've probably heard at least one person raving about it.
It's called the Master Cleanser Diet or Lemonade Diet, and in addition to being a very effective weight loss diet by itself it's also a powerful habit breaker that can break even the toughest junk food addiction.
And it only takes 10 days.
I've know people who've literally transformed their lives by doing this Master Cleanse, and it's so simple that it's almost hard to believe, at least until you experience it for yourself.
Here's a good Master Cleanse book that will show you everything you need to know including a few things that will make the cleanse easier to finish.
If you spend 10 days on the Master Cleanse then follow that up with the Negative Calorie diet you're almost guaranteed to experience Will Power Free Weight Loss.
Wouldn't it be nice if their was a way to reprogram your body to no longer crave unhealthy food?
Well there is! And you've probably heard at least one person raving about it.
It's called the Master Cleanser Diet or Lemonade Diet, and in addition to being a very effective weight loss diet by itself it's also a powerful habit breaker that can break even the toughest junk food addiction.
And it only takes 10 days.
I've know people who've literally transformed their lives by doing this Master Cleanse, and it's so simple that it's almost hard to believe, at least until you experience it for yourself.
Here's a good Master Cleanse book that will show you everything you need to know including a few things that will make the cleanse easier to finish.
If you spend 10 days on the Master Cleanse then follow that up with the Negative Calorie diet you're almost guaranteed to experience Will Power Free Weight Loss.
Final thoughts on negative calorie foods and healthy dieting
There are certain foods that are supposed to keep you trim because they specifically speed up your metabolism all by themselves. For a long time, grapefruit was considered one of these wonder diet foods. Now, oolong tea seems to be the new diet beverage of choice. Supposedly the tea causes people to lose weight, even when they don't change their diets and don't do any extra exercise.
Although this does seem to be the case, please be cautious. Eating a healthy diet and exercising do wonderful things for your health besides helping you lose weight. Doing those two things together can make you feel better emotionally, give you more energy, ward off both short-term and long-term diseases, build strength and flexibility, and possibly even slow down aging. Tea by itself can't do all of that. It would be a shame for you to rely on tea to take the easy way out, when you could be getting all of the other benefits that exercise and a good, nutritious diet can provide for you.
So all in all, even though the negative calorie diet seems to be based on an interesting (and possibly even sound) theory, and may be able to help people lose weight, anyone using the negative calorie diet should:
- be sure to consume an adequate amount of fat and protein
- be sure to eat enough calories not to lose weight to quickly
- be sure to stop losing weight when they've arrived at a healthy weight, rather than getting dangerously underweight
They should also:
- be careful of trusting any single food to provide weight loss
- eat a variety of nutritious foods to keep their diet balanced
- incorporate exercise into their routine to keep them at peak health
Most people already know what they need to do to lose weight it's just a matter of doing it.
Although this does seem to be the case, please be cautious. Eating a healthy diet and exercising do wonderful things for your health besides helping you lose weight. Doing those two things together can make you feel better emotionally, give you more energy, ward off both short-term and long-term diseases, build strength and flexibility, and possibly even slow down aging. Tea by itself can't do all of that. It would be a shame for you to rely on tea to take the easy way out, when you could be getting all of the other benefits that exercise and a good, nutritious diet can provide for you.
So all in all, even though the negative calorie diet seems to be based on an interesting (and possibly even sound) theory, and may be able to help people lose weight, anyone using the negative calorie diet should:
- be sure to consume an adequate amount of fat and protein
- be sure to eat enough calories not to lose weight to quickly
- be sure to stop losing weight when they've arrived at a healthy weight, rather than getting dangerously underweight
They should also:
- be careful of trusting any single food to provide weight loss
- eat a variety of nutritious foods to keep their diet balanced
- incorporate exercise into their routine to keep them at peak health
Most people already know what they need to do to lose weight it's just a matter of doing it.
Good Books From Amazon
Eating Well After Weight Loss Surgery: Over 140 Delicious Low-Fat High-Protein Recipes to Enjoy in the Weeks, Months and Years After Surgery
Amazon Price: $11.53 (as of 10/11/2008)
100 Days of Weight Loss: The Secret to Being Successful on Any Diet Plan
Amazon Price: $10.19 (as of 10/11/2008)
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