Finding The Best Negative Calorie Foods

We've been hearing the term "negative calorie" a lot, but what does it really mean? Negative calories or negative calorie food refers to foods that contain so few calories that you burn more calories eating than the food actually contains. So the term "negative calorie" isn't exactly accurate as all food has calories. But, it's an industry term associated with low calorie foods. Because the association is so well known, we will use the term 'negative calorie foods' to refer to ‘low calorie foods' in this article.

Some people consider water one of the best negative calorie foods, though it's not a food at all. Water contains no calories at all, and if drunk cold, the body actually uses calories to warm it to match our body temperature. Because of the misuse of the term ‘negative calorie', some people fall victim to believing the way to lose weight is to eat just negative calorie foods. Obviously, this isn't a healthy alternative as our bodies need some calories that it can convert into energy.

The best way to eat negative calorie foods is as a snack between meals. It's the best way to fill you up enough to tide you over until the next meal without seriously affecting your daily calorie count.

Some of the best negative calorie foods are: Apples, Asparagus, Beets, Blueberries, Broccoli, Cantaloupes, Carrot, Cauliflower, Celery, Cranberries, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Endives, Garden cress, Garlic, Grapefruit, Green beans, Green cabbage, Lemons, Lettuce, Onions, Papayas, Pineapples, Prunes, Radishes, Raspberries, Spinach, Strawberries, Tangerines, Tomatoes, Turnips and Zucchini.

You probably noticed you already eat some of these so called best negative calorie foods. Hopefully the average person will opt to snack on an apple or grapefruit instead of a garlic clove or onion, but the point is to provide a list of low calorie foods. Adding any of these foods to your meals is also beneficial as it doesn't add to the calorie count of the meal.

As with everything in life, it's about balance. Will you consume more calories than you should sometimes? Sure. And that's ok. A big part of living a healthy life is being aware of what you are eating. If you didn't know that cranberries are very low in calories, well, now you know. Knowledge is half the battle. The more knowledgeable you are about inaccuracies promoted as truth, the better able you will be to make educated decisions about the foods you eat.