The Negative Calorie Diet

The premise of this diet regimen is that some foods require so much energy to chew, digest, metabolize and eliminate that the calories burned in processing it is greater than the calorie it contains. The result—a “negative caloric effect” and the irony that the more you eat, the more calories you burn.

There are several versions of this diet, all making the same point: eat and drink food with a negative caloric effect. That includes celery (made of water and cellulose, and vitamins and minerals with no calories), and very fibrous fruits and vegetables like blueberries, applies, cantaloupes, cranberries, lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, and asparagus. 

      Some say that you can lose up to two pounds a day, or 14 pounds a week, on the negative calorie diet. Results vary per person (eat your celery with a high fat dressing, and your diet won’t get you very far), but at any rate, no physician would recommend losing that amount of weight in such a short amount of time, and never through depriving your body of important nutrients. Your body needs proteins and essential fats to function well, or your health and well-being will hit zero-limits as well.

      The good thing about the negative calorie diet is that it recommends fruits and vegetables, which has a lot of vitamins, minerals and fiber. Just don’t take it to the extreme. You need to have a variety of foods, and eat healthy portions—watching the calories, of course, but never completely cutting them out.