"negative-calorie" foods??

Factual Questions
1

So I’m on this weightloss oriented group on yahoo. We trade tips and recipes and encouragement, it’s a good group.

The other day this ditzy woman comes on and “helpfully” posts a list of what she called “negative calorie” foods. Someone asked what a “negative calorie” food was and she piped up:

" it means they burn more calories during the eating and digestion process than the item has calories itself."

Here is the list:

apples
apricots
artichokes
asparagus
beet greens
beets
blackberries
blueberries
broccoli
brussels sprouts
buffalo fish
cabbage
cantaloupe
carrots
cauliflower
celeriac
celery
cherries
chervil
chicory
chinese cabbage
chives
clams
cod
corn
crabs
cranberries
cucumbers
currants
damson plum
dandelion greens
eggplant
endive
flounder
frogs legs
garlic
grapefruit
grapes
green beans
honeydew
huckleberries
kale
kohlrabi
kumquats
leeks
lemons
lettuce
limes
lobster
loganberries
mangoes
mushrooms
muskmelons
mussels
mustard greens
nectarines
okra
onions
oranges
oysters
papaya
parsley leaves
parsnips
peach
pears
peas
peppers
pineapple
pomegranates
prunes
pumpkin
quince
radishes
raspberries
red cabbage
rhubarb
rutabagas
sauerkraut
scallions
sea bass
shrimps
sorrel
spinach
squash
steaks
strawberries
string beans
tangerines
terrapin
tomato
turnips
watercress
watermelon

So, I could gorge myself on a huge shrimp appetizer, followed by steaks (note the plural on the list), a half-dozen ears of corn on the cob, hig scoops of squash, and follow it up with a quart or two of peaches and pears and lose lots of weight?
Where did this crazy idea come from and do people actually believe it? :smack:

2

The Master speaks.

3

Thanks. I did read that and the snopes.com thing also.

I guess my question is more "why on earth would anyone believe such a crock. STEAK is “negative calorie”??

4

In response to the woman’s “list”, someone posted this:

"Wow, thanks! I think tonight I’ll have a 1/2 pound lobster tail (they’re pretty
cheap here in Maine), a couple ears of corn and a big bowl each of
broccoli and green beans. For dessert, I can gorge on all-you-can
-eat fruit salad made from apples, mangoes, apricots, peaches, pears,
strawberries, etc. Oranges are on there to, I looove OJ! I’ll get a
quart of that too.

How much wieght do you think I’ll lose with just tonight’s
dinner alone? You think maybe a pound? I’m so excited!!"

In response, the woman replied:

“There is no need to be nasty. Or stupid. Of course it depends on quantity”

How do people who believe in this figure that it “depnds on quantity”. In other words, if a 50-calorie apple is actually “negative calorie”, then that implies that I will burn more than 50 calories by ingesting it. Right? Let’s say for argument’s sake that the apple has an alleged “negative-calorie” value of -10. So I lose 10 calories by eating it. If I eat two apples, I’m down 20 calories. 10 apples, 100 calories, and so on. Hey, 100 calories is significant! If I could manage to choke down a whole bag of 20 apples, then by the negative-calorie crowd’s logic, I am now in the hole by a whopping 200 calories.

Wow. :o)

5

She missed out potatoes. No really, they are a negative calorie food if all you do is carry a huge sack of them them up and down a long flight of stairs.