Is it true that some foods take more calories to digest than they provide?

For example, an apple with 50 calories might take 75 calories to digest, so that is -25 total calories. Not only does the apple help with hunger when dieting, it actually burns calories.

I would imagine this is the case for something like celery. I've even read that drinking ice cold water burns up calories because the body had to warm it to digest the cold water!

:)

Is it true that some foods take more calories to digest than they provide?

For example, an apple with 50 calories might take 75 calories to digest, so that is -25 total calories. Not only does the apple help with hunger when dieting, it actually burns calories.

I would imagine this is the case for something like celery. I've even read that drinking ice cold water burns up calories because the body had to warm it to digest the cold water!

:)

The body uses energy to digest anything, so something very little caloric dense, like a carrot or swede (?) would be negative calories. An apple is definately not. But if you follow a good exercise program, and eat the right foods, you never need to go hungry to lose fat!

I don't know about cold water, but it's important to drink enough of it to ceep your metabolism high.

Water keeps metabolism high?

If you drink ice cold water, your body will burn calories to warm it up.

An apple will give you positive calories. Vegetables mostly leave you with negative cals.

Water keeps metabolism high?

Here's a good article on ice cold water and "superhydration."

http://www.classicx.com/html/2super.html

There is also the danger of becoming hyper-hydrated (a condition we see folks in our Emergency Room for occasionally -- usually pot smokers who are trying to 'flush' the Marijauana out of their system to pass a drug a test).


Drinking water is good, but don't OVER do it either. (1 gallon in a day would NOT be over doing it, (but it is more then you probably need))

-Allen

Thats "calorie" with a lower case "c", not Calorie with an upper case "C". 1 "c"alorie = 1000 "C"alories. "C"alories is usually used for foods, but in reality, it should be called a Kilocalorie (Kcal, or 1000 calories).

Good explanation, but your conversion here is wrong. 1 Calorie = 1000 calories. 1 Calorie = 1 kcal. If you are technical, the k should not be capitalized. The capital C Calorie is the food industry equivalent of the scientific kilocalorie. They are one and the same.

Drinking cold water only theoretically burns calories. As Bluestreak commented in another thread, the thermodynamics of the human body are much too complicated to say that you burn a certain amount of energy by ingesting an amount of cold liquid/food. As he stated, when the body feels cold, it will try to preserve heat (read: energy), not produce even more. Also, if you want to count the calories you burn from drinking cold water, you should also deduct the calories you...well, gain...from eating warm food. Take a hot bath or shower, you burn less calories from producing heat. There are more effective ways to lose weight than to drink and eat cold things.

Regarding the negative calories, I bet there are certain veggies that are "empty calories", but again, I feel that it's unneccesary to hunt these if you do follow a healthy meal plan. Now that I have started counting kcals, I don't feel I need (or want) to eat more than I do. When I feel I don't need to cut any more, I will start eating differently, not more.

I agree with Allen. Don't drink too much water. It simply isn't the answer. You need to be hydrated to function properly, but that's it. No need to over-do it.

Here's a good article on ice cold water and "superhydration."

http://www.classicx.com/html/2super.html

I believe in superhydration. Celery, maybe. Apples no way.

Hey gang. Almost anything in excess can be harmful. My friend who is a PT once told me "there's a big difference between drinking water and sticking a garden hose down your throat and turning the spiquet on full blast!" :p

Anyone ever tried to eat 300 cal (kcal) or broccoli? That's 3.5 lb of the stuff. What about cabbage, you'd have to eat 3.8lb. Cauliflower would be better for getting caloiries, only 2.6 lb needed to get 300 kcal.

Celery may be the ultimate lo-cal, but other veggies aren't too bad either.

Celery is a negative calories food from what I've read. Your body burns more calories digesting it then it would absorbing the calories from the celery.

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

first site i googled. looks good

I use this method all the time. A slice of pizza hut pizza has 400 cal, but takes 375 to digest, because of all the fat in it and what not. When I'm really dieting hard I suck back at least a large every day.

But, seriously, there aren't going to be many foods worth eating that will have a negative effect. I think that lettuce may be one, and celery, but anything enjoyable to eat like an apple or something will have a positive calorie intake.

There is no way that I could eat 10 apples in a day and count it as a negative effect. Dito for strawberries!

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

first site i googled. looks good

I don't believe it - someone want to offer a proper, non-commercial explanation? Celery I can believe. Apple, well no, not even with all the fiber. How much energy does it really take to digest food and if it is very different for different foods should we be taking this into account? It this issue in the definition of calories it takes to digest something? That means that 2 apples take much more energy to digest than 5 oz of pork tenderloin. (assuming the tenderloin is not a negative calorie food) Why would this be??

Just looking for answers if the article is correct.

BTW I like their disclaimer

Hey gang. Almost anything in excess can be harmful. My friend who is a PT once told me "there's a big difference between drinking water and sticking a garden hose down your throat and turning the spiquet on full blast!" :p

That is true, but the levels we are talking about here are coming closer on the side of excess then not. Like I said, this is fairly common for pot-smokers who want to pass a drug test and then end up in emergency room.

Yes, we should drink water, but drinking a lot "extra" does not gain significant benefit and does carry significant risk.

Here is an article from www.DrMirkin.com

HOW MUCH WATER DO YOU NEED?

Gabe Mirkin, M.D.

Do you believe that a person needs to drink eight glasses of water every day? If you do, you will spend a lot of time running to the bathroom.

Why do so many people believe this rule? The number originally came from the National Academy of Sciences of the United States Food and Nutrition Board, which publishes recommended daily allowances of nutrients. The 1945 edition of the Food and Nutrition Board recommended: "A suitable allowance of water for adults is 2.5 liters (about 8 cups) daily in most instances." This amount is based on the calculation of one milliliter of water for each calorie of food. HOWEVER, the Board also noted that most of the water you need is in the food you eat.

All foods contain water. Even the driest nut or seed has a lot of water in it. Furthermore, when food is digested, it is converted to energy, carbon dioxide and WATER. Most people can get the fluid the body needs from food, and they only need to drink enough water to prevent constipation.

When you eat, the pyloric valve at the end of your stomach closes to keep food in the stomach. Then the stomach takes fluid that you drink and food that you eat and turns the solid food into liquid. If you don't drink enough fluid, your stomach takes fluid from your blood and adds it to the food in the stomach to create the soup. The pyloric valve will not let food pass to the intestines until this liquid soup is formed. Then the liquid soup passes to the intestines and remains a soup until it reaches your colon. Only then is the fluid absorbed to turn the soup into solid waste in the colon. If you do not have enough fluid in your body, your body extracts extra fluid from your stool and turns your stool into hard rocks, causing constipation.

A study in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition shows that plain water is not needed as long as enough fluid is obtained from other drinks and food. Twenty-seven healthy men consumed one of two diets for three-day periods and were studied in a lab setting. The first diet included plain water while the second omitted it, relying on only foods, orange juice, diet soda, and coffee for fluid. None of the nine measures of hydration were affected.

A reasonable amount for a healthy human is one cup of water or any other fluid with each meal. If you have a problem with constipation you may not be drinking enough water, but if you are not constipated, you are getting plenty. You'll also want to replace fluids whenever you sweat a lot, particularly when you exercise or in hot weather. Drink water whenever you feel thirsty, but there's no health benefit from forcing yourself to drink eight glasses of water a day.

Journal of the American College of Nutrition, April, 2003.

The morale is drink regularly and whenever you are thirsty.

-Allen

I was thinking that unground flax seed would be a no calorie or negative calorie food since the macronutrient content is surrounded by the undigestible fiber coating.

i am pretty sure if you do that you are really just eating fiber and not getting the benefit of the seed itself. did i misunderstand what you are saying here?