Okay, so the latest social media trend is “experts” (I use this term loosely) telling people that you can essentially eat your way into a calorie deficit with something called “negative calorie foods”.
Yep, I know.
So what in the Gwyneth Paltrow is going on here?
Well, it all revolves a mechanism known as the thermic effect of food.
TEF (for short) describes how much energy the body uses to break down the food which we eat, so if something contains 5 calories but it’ll take 8 calories to digest then this would “in theory” be described as a negative calorie food, and it would be very useful for people on fat loss diets.
The key phrase there, though, is “in theory”…
Why “Negative Calorie Foods” Are A Fucking Myth
Honestly, I imagine the kind of “experts” who spew this type of misinformation spend the bulk of their free time stapling their tongues to their foreheads.
Here’s a list of so-called “negative calorie foods”:
| Examples Of So-Called Negative Calorie Foods | ||
|---|---|---|
| Apple | Berries | Broccoli |
| Carrot | Celery | Grapefruit |
| Lettuce | Watermelon | + other water-based snacks |
(NOTE: An apple contains 116 calories, and they’re definitely not negative!)
The reason this theory is silly is because the thermic effect of food is too small to have the kind of impact they’re promising.
Don’t get me wrong, the TEF is a real thing, but research shows us that it only equates to about 10% of the food itself, which makes it physically impossible for any food to burn more calories than it contains.
For example, the thermic effect of a 400 calorie food would be a maximum of 40 kcals.
Furthermore, there has never been an instance (fucking ever!) of a food with a higher thermic effect than 10%, so when these nuclear bell-ends promise you those kind of results they are outright lying to you.
Why This Is Often A Gateway To Future Problems
Be wary of these type of “experts”, because they are often responsible for opening a Pandora’s Box of dietary issues for their audience.
Honestly, in my 22 years as a personal trainer, most of the dietary behaviours which people needed help with had built up over years of falling for bullshit like this.
Learning how to change the bad nutritional habits of a lifetime takes a lot of work, and you deserve all the credit in the world for putting in the effort. That’s why it infuriates me when some unqualified cock taboggan puts out blatant misinformation.
Fuck those fuckers with a capital fucking fist.
Further Reading:
If you enjoyed this blog, then you’ll probably also like reading these.
>> Why “Mono Diets” Are Absolute Bullshit
>> Don’t Waste Your Time With Weight Loss Detoxes
>> The Rules To Ripped
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