Local

Dietician recommends 4 of the best ‘negative calorie foods'

PITTSBURGH — The idea of negative calorie foods isn’t a new one, but they’ve been getting a lot of attention online recently.

These foods are low in calories and high in fiber and water content.

“They’re given that name because the actual energy in the food is less than it may take you to digest or store the food,” registered dietician Kimberly Schwabenbauer said.

Schwabenbauer said he four favorite negative calorie foods are celery, peppers, leafy greens and grapefruits.

“One large celery stock only has about 10 calories, so you can eat quite a bit of celery without getting a lot of calories,” Schwabenbauer said.

She said the best leafy greens are arugula, spinach and kale.

“Often times there are more nutrients in the leafy greens than in iceberg lettuce,” Schwabenbauer said.

According to Schwabenbauer, a cup of grapefruit has only 74 calories.

“It has a lot of vitamin C, licoin and falvanoics that are really going to help you throughout the day,” Schwabenbauer said.

She said consumers should be aware of how they eat the foods, and be careful not to load them with sugar, fatty dips or dressings.

“These foods are great, but they are not going to be what you exist on for the day,” Schwabenbauer said.