Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Do Negative Calorie Foods Work? What Are Negative Calorie Foods?

By Benny Height

The negative calorie foods diet is an eating plan that has come under a lot of fire and a lot of scrutiny. Considered very controversial, it's sometimes hard to figure out what points are actually true and which are just smoke. The arguments make it even more confusing as it becomes obvious that there are many very different understandings as to what this diet is about and how it should (or should not) be followed.

In a world full of literally hundreds of dangerous fad diets, no one can be blamed for being skeptical of something that seems too good to be true. Being cautious isn't a bad thing. The name "negative calorie foods" is probably a major cause of a lot of the confusion and argument, as well as some people misunderstanding that this is a supplemental diet, not a full time eating and weight loss plan. The question remains: is this eating plan legitimate or is it some kind of unhealthy fad diet?

There are a lot of arguments over this point. Many people argue that there can be no such thing as a "negative calorie." This is true, because there can't tangibly be anything with a negative value in real life. This isn't what the negative calorie foods diet is saying, however. What this diet is saying is that there are foods that force the body to work and take more calories to burn, digest, and process than the food has in it. This creates the "negative calorie" effect and therefore you have negative calorie foods.

This claim has been argued, as well, but in the end the question is will people lose weight if they eat a lot of negative calorie foods? The answer is yes. All of these foods are either fruits or vegetables, most of which have a very high water content and most of which are also very high in fiber, as well. This helps to keep the dieter full while minimizing the calories that are there to be burned.

The arguments may continue on, but does that really matter? Even if negative calorie foods do not truly produce a real life deficit in calories, eating a ton of high fiber and high water fruits and veggies will almost certainly help the majority of dieters lose weight.

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