What is  negative calorie food, anyway? Is it just another diet gimmick, or can they really help you lose weight and keep it off? First of all, there is no such thing as a “negative calorie” – all foods have calories.

When people talk about “negative calorie foods” they are referring to foods that require more energy expended to digest them than you ingest when eating them. Example: water. Water isn’t technically a food, but it has zero calories. When you drink water, your body has to expend energy to absorb and process the water, so you now have a “negative calorie” effect, where you have burned more calories than you ingested.

The same concept can apply to foods that do have calories, especially if the calories are low in quantity. Remember too that even as your body is digesting food and absorbing liquid, it is also expending energy to keep vital bodily functions going, like respiration, heartbeat, blood circulation, and the like.

While negative calorie foods are not miracles (you can’t eat them exclusively, and certainly not huge quantities of them), adding some of them into your daily diet isn’t a bad idea. Most of them contain good nutrients, and since they are low in calories they can help you feel more satisfied even while you are losing weight.

Below is a list of well-known negative calorie foods:

Lettuce

Cabbage

Apples

Beets

Asparagus

Celery

Blueberries

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Radishes

Cantaloupe

Lemons

Papaya

Carrot

Green beans

Prunes

Cranberries

Tomatoes

Cucumber

Eggplant

Zucchini

Grapefruit

Endive

Garlic

Onion

Pineapple

Spinach

Turnip

Raspberries

Strawberries

Tangerines

The best way to use these foods is to incorporate them into a well-rounded, balanced diet. Remember that eating large quantities of any foods exclusively isn’t good for you. Your body needs nutrients from all food groups, not just one or two.

Also, be sure not to gorge on these foods, even if they are called “negative calorie” foods – they still have calories. Not to mention the fact that you’ll probably feel sick if you eat too much, even if it’s a food that’s good for you.

Finally, enjoy! These foods are all delicious in their own ways – find creative ways to combine them to create flavorful meals and boost your health and well-being (and reduce your waistline) at the same time.