Tropical Weight Loss
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What foods burn calories just by eating them?

Supposedly, negative-calorie foods take more energy to digest than they do to eat. So theoretically you would “burn calories” by eating them and therefore offset the calories you are ingesting. Typically celery tops this list, followed by lettuce or cucumbers.

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Imagine you consistently meal-prep, set aside an hour each day to workout, and regularly get seven to eight hours of sleep a night. Sounds great, right? You’ve been doing this for about four weeks, but the scale won’t change like you want it to. You’re annoyed—and pressed for time. So you Google the latest weight-loss tactics and see the idea of “negative-calorie” foods. “I can eat foods that burn more calories than I take in? Hmm, this could work.” But could it?

Supposedly, negative-calorie foods take more energy to digest than they do to eat. So theoretically you would “burn calories” by eating them and therefore offset the calories you are ingesting. Typically celery tops this list, followed by lettuce or cucumbers. Are you sold yet?

Defining Negative Calorie Foods

Who coined the term “negative-calorie foods”? To be honest, I’m not sure, since there’s little scientific evidence to back up the concept. But let’s go with it. Foods that top the list of “negative calorie foods” are often celery, lettuce, and ice. Perhaps some low-calorie fruits like blueberries or apples are added in. Most of these foods are really just high in water (and sometimes fiber) and low in calories. So if you’re okay with eating almost nothing, this diet may work for you. If you’re not convinced, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has written a simplified version of how metabolism works, which helps to explain why the idea of negative-calorie foods is not all it’s cracked up to be. Essentially, eating an unlimited amount of negative-calorie foods isn’t actually going to leave you with a negative energy balance. It will, however, leave you with a pretty low calorie intake for the day, and you might be low in vital nutrients too.

Could You Eat Celery All Day, Every Day?

Let’s say we wanted to take on this challenge and eat these negative-calorie foods. Our diet would consist of ice, celery, cucumbers, onions, lettuce, and some fruit here and there. Does that sound sustainable? Not really. Eating these “negative-calorie foods” can definitely be part of a healthy diet from a nutrient standpoint, but they are not enough to support a strong, capable body.

The Take-Away

We acknowledge that there are nutrients in most of these so-called “negative-calorie foods,” and they belong in a balanced diet. But ultimately the term “negative-calorie food” is just a fancy catchphrase to grab the attention of those who want to lose weight. Realistically, there is no magical food or single type of foods that will help you lose weight immediately. Instead of trying to eat “negative-calorie foods,” focus on the positives that can lead to real lifestyle changes, like portion control, appropriate food choices, consistent exercise, and balance.

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Does lemon water speed up your metabolism?

Lemon water can promote fullness, support hydration, boost metabolism and increase weight loss. However, lemon water is no better than regular water when it comes to losing fat. That being said, it is tasty, easy to make and can be used as a low-calorie replacement for higher-calorie beverages.

Lemon water is generally a very low-calorie beverage.

Assuming you squeeze the juice from half a lemon into water, each glass of lemon water will contain just six calories (1). For this reason, if you swap out higher-calorie beverages like orange juice and soda for lemon water, then this can be an excellent way to cut calories and help with weight loss. For example, one cup of orange juice (237 ml) contains 110 calories, and a 16-ounce (0.49-liter) bottle of soda contains 182 calories (2, 3). Replacing even just one of these beverages per day with a glass of lemon water could reduce daily calorie intake by 100–200 calories. Some evidence even shows that drinking low-calorie beverages with meals could decrease the number of overall calories consumed in the meal. In one study, 44 women ate lunch with either a beverage that contained calories or one that did not. Researchers then measured the calories consumed. They found that drinking calorie-containing beverages like sugar-sweetened soda, milk and juice with a meal did not make people compensate by eating less. Instead, the total calories consumed increased, due to the calories from the beverage ( 4 ). Though lemon water is not calorie-free, it is low enough in calories that it could produce a similar effect and help decrease calorie intake.

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