Is it true that there are products with negative calorie content?

It is common that some products have a negative calorie content, that is, the body spends more energy on their digestion than it receives. First of all, they include celery. We decided to check if there is a negative calorie content in fact.

They write about products with negative calorie content Media and blogs dedicated to the right nutrition And diets. In addition to celery, the list is usually Included многие овощи, фрукты и ягоды: огурцы, шпинат, спаржу, брокколи, кабачки, салатные листья, перец, морковь, свёклу, цветную капусту, баклажаны, редис, репу, помидоры, фасоль, апельсины, мандарины, грейпфруты, яблоки, голубику, чернику, ежевику, клюкву, бруснику, Currants, raspberries, strawberries, pineapples, apricots, mangoes, peaches, figs, watermelons, melon. Stories about negative calorie content look encouraging - these products should allow consuming an unlimited amount of food, not to experience hunger and at the same time create a calorie deficiency in the body, which, in turn, will allow you to lose weight. In fact, products with negative calorie content are a universal answer to the question “What would eat like that to lose weight?”

Products consist From proteins, fats and carbohydrates in different proportions. Squirrels, fats and carbohydrates always have some kind of calorie content. The only product in nature that does not contain either proteins, or fats, or carbohydrates is a simple water, it can conditionally be considered a product with zero calorie content (it is not entirely correct to call water a product or food). Caloria is so much energy, which is necessary in order to heat 1 g of water per 1 degree. Therefore, again conditionally, cold water consumption can be attributed to the process that only consumes calories, but does not give the body energy. If we talk about products in a more familiar sense, then the situation is a little different.

Here, for example, how Describe The leader of the rating of products with negative calorie content - celery: “100 g of vegetables are equated with 14 calories. To absorb it, the body will have to spend twice as much - 28 calories. ” The amount of energy that the body spends on digestion, called the thermal effect of food. According to scientists, it is about 10% of our entire energy exchange. The other two components are physical activity and the main exchange (the energy necessary to maintain life). The main exchange, which includes ensuring breathing, heartbeat, excretory system, maintaining body temperature, etc., accounts for half to three quarters of all energy metabolism.

Both celery and other products that attribute negative calorie content, Contain A lot of fiber - dietary fiber. Fibers There are Two types: soluble and insoluble. Soluble fibers during digestion are converted in the colon into a gel -shaped substance, but insoluble do not change in any way when passing through the food tract. At the same time, the digestion of fiber is really quite energy -consuming process Compared to digestion, for example, fats. 

In order to check whether food consumption can take more energy than to give, scientists from the University of Alabama (USA) in 2019 conducted experiment. The experimental lizards of the Agamov family, omnivorous reptiles, whose digestive process have the maximum similarity with human ones, became experimental animals. For ten days, animals were fed exclusively by celery. Following the logic of negative calorie content, the lizards should have experienced such a significant shortage of energy that they would die from exhaustion to the end of the experiment. However, this did not happen, the animals were alive, moreover, judging by the analyzes conducted, they still received energy from food.

On average, pure growth (that is, the energy remaining after digesting and eliminating from the body) in lizards was 24% of the calories contained in the celery. Scientists deduced the formula for calculating the pure increase in energy and analyzed, in addition to celery, other products that are attributed to negative calorie content, in application to a person. The list included broccoli, apples, carrots, grapefruit, tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon, brass leaves and blueberries. It turned out that the body on average would receive about 63–65% of the calories contained in these types of food. That is, these products can really be considered low -calorie, but by no means have a negative calorie content.

The authors of the study Summing up Bottom line: “Regardless of how many calories are contained in food, you will always receive some number of them. In the case of celery, there will not be so many calories, but still they will be. ” Moreover, they note: the jamming of Bigmak celery will not create a negative calorie balance that promotes weight loss.

Associate Professor of the Department of Endocrinology of Sechenov University, Candidate of Medical Sciences Olesya Gurov Explains: “The very concept of calorie content implies that the kilocalories are in a plus. If it took more energy to process any food than it brings to the body, it would have no nutritional value. Therefore, of course, the same celery or spinach has calorie content, just minimal. ”

Thus, no matter how low -calorie the product may be and how much fiber it contains, our body will always spend less energy on its digestion than it will receive in the process. This makes the idea of ​​negative calorie content with an anti -scientific myth. 

Treatment

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. What is calorie?
2. Is it true that separate nutrition is an effective way of losing weight?
3. Is it true that spinach contains an exceptional amount of iron?