I heard that you burn more calories chewing foods like celery, grapefruit, and apples than they contain. Is this true?
I’ve been praying since college that someone would develop a negative-calorie pizza — one that would take so much energy to eat that it ended up leaving enough calories to justify the ice cream I wanted for dessert. No word from the Big Guy at the Pearly Gates, but if someone stumbles on to something, I hope there’s an 800 number.
Your body does expend energy to digest and absorb all those vital nutrients from the food that you eat. In fact, about ten percent of your daily caloric intake is used to digest and utilize your food. In other words, a person consuming 2,000 calories uses about 200 of those calories in the daily food conversion process. Unfortunately, there aren’t ANY foods that take more energy for your body to break down and digest than they contain.
To your benefit, the three foods you asked about aren’t big calorie items: A stalk of celery contains a minuscule six calories; a medium apple has a mere 81 calories; a half grapefruit is a bargain at 37 calories. Most fruits and vegetables are a waist watcher’s best friend and will help a calorie-conscious dieter. Fruits and vegetables satisfy your sweet tooth or craving for crunch with few calories or fat.