Facts about Negative Calorie Foods - Calorie Density is What Matters


The concept of negative calorie foods is quite simple. For foods that have very few Calories and a lot of bulk fibre and indigestible material it is possible that your body may consume more Calories eating, digesting and processing the waste than is contained in the food itself. It is not that the food itself has 'negative Calories' as this is a nonsense - it is just that eating and processing this food is costly in terms of the energy that can be extracted. The net outcome of eating the food is never a negative, just really low.

For example, it has been claimed that 100 grams of broccoli contains only about 25 Calories, and that it takes our bodies 80 Calories to digest and process this quantity of broccoli. If this is true, then the net outcome from eating 100 grams of broccoli would be a loss of 55 Calories (80-25). However it appears that there is very little published information on the Calories required to eat, digest and process broccoli, and other similar foods, and so this outcome can not be confirmed.

Claims for the negative calories when eating some foods.
Claims for the negative calories when eating some foods. Source: Public Domain

Negative Calories: Fact or Fiction, Myth of Truth?

There are other examples of the cost of food processing. The classic example is Celery. It is true that celery is very low in calories and it has a very low calorie density (that is calories per unit of weight, more about this later). Celery is about 95% water, 2% digestible carbohydrates and 2% per cent indigestible carbohydrates (cellulose). There are also very tiny amounts of protein and fat. The digestible carbohydrate in one very large stalk of celery (100 gm) will yield you only 14 food Calories, with about 7 Calories being indigestible cellulose. It has been estimated that it would require about 1-2 Calories to process the carbohydrate in the celery stick. But nobody had ever done the experiment of feeding people nothing but celery, to work out the energy cost of processing all the celery, not just the carbohydrate. There would obviously be extra energy required, not only to smash open the cells to extract the carbohydrate, but to deal with all the fibre and waste.

Clearly you would have to eat a huge amount of celery to sustain you basic energy requirements. For 2000 Calories per day eating only celery which has about 14 Calories per 100 gm, you would have to eat 14.3 kg of celery (28 pounds). If celery is indeed a negative Calorie food you would starve! There are other consequences of only eating celery, which need to be mentioned in public - Wind!

By the way, celery is nutrient poor and doesn't contain much of anything really. Nutritionally you are probably better off choosing darker greens such as Romaine lettuce, spinach, collard greens, kale, swiss chard, mustard greens, than celery, but this is a matter of taste, and celery has a nice crunch.. 

When you think about it, the argument is very similar to the 'Calorie Deficit' concept for losing weight. The idea is that you need some basic energy every day to maintain your basic metabolism, even at rest - to support your heart, breathing and the energy required to maintain your basic metabolism and to maintain your body temperature. On top of this is the extra energy you may burn through exercise. The notion is that you will only lose weight if the Calories gained from the food you eat is less than what you burn each day - that is you maintain a net Calorie Deficit.

So if you eat 1500 Calories in food, and your basal metabolic rate is 2000 Calories, and you walk for an hour a day (worth about 270 Calories at moderate pace), your net Calorie Deficit is 1500 - 2000 - 270 = 770 Calories which is equivalent to about 100 gm (0.22 pounds) of fat lost. To lose 1 kg of fat requires burning 7700 Calories; to lose 1 lb of fat requires burning 3850 Calories.

Reality Check - What are Calories?

You have to watch your Calories - not only what you eat but which calories you are talking about. Originally defined in 1824 by French chemist Nicolas Clement, a calorie (note: the small letter 'c') is defined as the quantity of energy required to increase the temperature of a single gram of water by 1 degree Celsius. BUT the food Calories (note: the large capital letter 'C') you see on food packets are actuallykilocalories - that is thousands of Calories. A kilocalorie is the amount of energy required to raise one kilogram of water by 1 degree C.

This is very confusing - the word "Calorie" on a food packet is probably spelled with a capital C, this is because the convention is that 1 food Calorie is equal to 1 kilocalorie (i.e. 100 gm of celery has 14 Calories which is equivalent to 14 kilocalories). Confusing isn't it!

The Calorie has been replaced by the Joule (usually kilojoules) as the international (SI) unit for energy, but is still used for food values. Food packets generally show Calories and grams (usually 100gm portions) as the units for comparisons.

The issue here is that when comparing food Calories as the energy content of food you have to be careful not to compare them with the energy expended in processing the food as calories burnt- as there is a 1000 fold difference.

Thermic Effect and How it Affects Calorie Counting

One way to look at negative Calories foods is to consider Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) - the amount of energy you need to keep you alive when you are simply resting. This is measured by putting a subject into a chamber, and taking measurements of how much oxygen they consume, and how much carbon dioxide they produce. Surprisingly perhaps, these studies have shown that the digestion of an average meal, causes the resting metabolic rate to increase by 50 % for about four hours. However, most of the energy required to digest the meal does not come from the act of chewing, but from the energy required to break down the food in your stomach, the muscles that push it through your gut, and the energy consumed to break down and process the food in the gut.

About half is used to break down the food into smaller lumps in your stomach - to crush and liquidly it, and force it along the 10 m length of your gut, and to make the enzymes to chemically break down the food into molecules small enough to enter the cells lining the gut.

The other half of the energy is consumed by the cells re-assembling those basic molecules back into larger molecules, for example, combining amino acids to make proteins and molecules to make carbohydrates that we an use.

This is what is known as the Thermic Effect of food, which is the extra energy expended above the resting metabolic rate that is due to the cost of processing food for digestion, chemical breakdown, absorption, storage and re-synthesis into complex molecules for use.

All this activity can increase your BMR by 50%.

In humans, the energy expended in processing food varies with the food type. In percentage terms it is about 25 percent for proteins; 2 - 3 percent for fats; and about 5 -10 percent for average carbohydrates.

So if you eat a meal of 100 Calories consisting of each of these food types, after digestion you would be left with about 75 Calories from the protein, 97 to 98 Calories from the fat, and 90 to 95 Calories from carbohydrates.

Looking at celery as an example - it is about 95 per cent water, 2% digestible carbohydrates and 2% indigestible carbohydrates, and negligible amounts of protein and fat.

So strictly speaking, for the carbohydrate contained in the celery, about 2% of the extractable energy will be used to digest and process the celery and the rest (98%) will be available as extra Calories you can absorb - so the outcome will not be negative, in terms of the carbohydrate.

The digestible carbohydrates in 100 grams of celery amounts to about 8 Calories, while the indigestible carbohydrates will give you 4 Calories. The energy needed to process all these carbohydrates will be about 2 Calories, which leaves you with about 6 Calories.

So strictly speaking, the only way you can have a real negative food is when the energy required to process it is more than 100% of the energy readily available in the food (which is a nonsense).

However, the energy required to process the fibre, and other materials that don't yield energy to your body is not known, as it has not been measured, but may be more than 6 Calories which could give a net negative result. 

There is a 14 Calories yield from 100 grams of Celery so in 1 kg of Celery there is just 140 Calories available. The body must move the entire1 kg bulk of ingestible fibre and water and break down the celery structure to process it, all for for a mere 140 Calories in return. Compare that to a single slice (40 gm) of white bread, which has about 100 Calories.

However, despite the processing energy not being known, the negative energy losses, if they are real are likely to be very small and insignificant.

Even if you ate one kg of celery and had a negative calorie outcome of 25%, this would only give you a loss of 35 Calories. An average sized person (180 pounds) can burn an equivalent 100 Calories per mile or 220 Calories per kilometre. Therefore it may be better to walk to burn Calories, rather than rely on eating mountains of celery.

A kilogram of fat is equivalent to about 7600 Calories. You would have to eat about 220 kg of celery to burn off 1 kg of fat (7600 Calories) with a Negative Calorie count of 35 Calories per kg.

In imperial measure terms - a pound of fat equals 3800 Calories; eating 1 pound of celery burns 16 Calories as negative Calories, and so you would have to eat 240 pounds of celery to lose a pound of fat.

Remember that these negative calorie estimates of 25% are very high and so the actual losses are probably much less. That's a mountain of celery you would have to eat!

So summarizing, contrary to general contention, masticating and ingesting the celery does not consume the Calories, rather it is the process of digesting the cellulose and fibre and processing the carbohydrate chemically that uses most for the energy. Although celery has a lot of stored energy, the proportion we can extract from it is very small because most of it is fibre and cellulose cannot be broken down and used. The break down of the plant tissues and cells walls may produce a net outcome of negative Calories, but the amounts are small, even if they are real. So eating negative calorie foods to lose weight is itself unlikely to be successful.

Whether the net energy is negative or not is not the real issue. You should take advantage of foods that have a :

Errors with Calories Labels on Packets

The Calorie labels on food packets worldwide are founded on a scheme that Wilbur Olin Atwater developed in the late 19th century. Atwater calculated the energy available in foods by taking a small sample, burning it in a chamber and measuring the heat produced. He needed to account for the energy that was not extracted by humans and was lost in the waste ( faeces, urine etc.). He calculated and measured the energy in the waste, and when subtracted this from the total energy in the food. This gave the Calorie estimate for the food type. These original calculations and methods are still used today. However it is now known that there is considerable energy consumed by the body in processing the food (as discussed above). It has been estimated that these extra costs can decrease the number of Calories available in the meal by between 5 and 25 % depending on the type of food eaten, with the highest extra cost for proteins. Even though these errors are recognised there has been no decision to change the published values because the differences are quite small. These errors are related to what produces the negative calorie food concept. It means that the actual calories available in the foods is less than the published figure especially for proteins.

Calorie Density - Calories per Weight of Food and Calories per Volume of Food

If you want to change your weight - either to lose weight, gain weight, or just be healthy, the concept of Caloric Density in terms of the number of Calories per unit weight and Calories per unit volume is very important. This concept is probably more significant than the concept of Negative Calorie foods.

The Calorie Density of a given food is the estimated numbers of Calories in a given portion of food. The usual portions used are 100 gm of weight and a metric cup (1 cup = 240 ml ) for the volume. In this article I am going to use 100 ml as the volume (half a cup), because it is a better standard and it is the volume of 100 gm of water.

As an example, cooked brown rice has a Calorie Density of 1.35, which means that it has 1.35 Calories per gram weight, and 135 Calories per 100 gm of cooked brown rice. In terms of volume the relationship between the weight of brown rice and its volume is 0.78 gm/ ml. This means that the number of calories in 100 ml of cooked brown rice (half a cup) is about 106. ( 106 Calories / 100ml). This provides a good way of comparing foods in terms of density.

Why is this important? It is obvious that if you eat foods that have a low calorie density and a low calorie count for a given volume as a replacement for high density foods you will consume fewer calories. It is a matter of 'fullness' and 'bulk' of the food you eat. Most vegetables and fruits have a low calorie density. For example, a carrot has a density 0.44 (44 Calories per 100 gm) an apple has 0.59, a banana has 0.6 and a potato has 0.76. By comparison a piece of roast beef has a caloric-density of 3.31, a piece of chicken 2.12, pork 2.28, Bacon 5.56, Chocolate 5.00, and Olive oil 9.00.

In terms of volume a 100 ml portion of Apple contains 39 Calories, Banana 73, Celery 8 and Lettuce about 5. Compare these values with Beef 205, Chicken 160, 100 ml of French Fries 238, and Chocolate 400.

Clearly if we want to lose weight, you have to generate a calorie deficit. The thing to do is to mostly eat foods of low caloric density and to replace much of your old diet with foods like vegetables, fruits and grains. You will need to do this not just temporarily to lose weight, but permanently to keep your weight down.

It is the replacement of high density foods with low density foods for a given meal that can be effective is reducing you Calorie intake - 'filling up on bulky, high fibre foods'. It is a little more complicated however, because many of the low Calorie density foods are mostly 'bags of water'. Just drinking water will fill you up - but not for long. So you need to choose bulky, low calorie density foods, that are hard to process and stay in your stomach for a long time.

Shown below are detailed table of foods showing Calories per 100gm and Calories per 100ml portions. For cup volumes simply multiply by 2.

Note that these values are approximate as it is hard to get reliable values.Volumes depend in packing, and cooked foods vary considerably. Also the values from various sources differ considerably. The values shown provide a general guide for comparison purposes only.

Also shown are lists of the foods with the 20 highest and 20 lowest calorie densities.

20 Foods with Low Calorie Densities

Food
Cal/100g
Cal/100ml
Water
0.001
0.001
Iceberg lettuce
13
3
Chives, chopped fresh
20
4
Lettuce: Boston, Bibb
14
4
Chinese cabbage
14
4
Lettuce, Cos, Looseleaf
18
5
Watercress
19
6
Mushroom
28
6
Mushrooms, Chinese black
28
6
Chicory greens
20
6
Scallions (green onions)
32
7
Mushrooms, whole
28
7
Savoy cabbage
24
7
Parsley
44
7
Cucumber
15
8
Celery
17
8
Mushrooms, sliced
28
8
Endive (escarole)
20
8

20 Foods with High Calorie Densities

Food
Cal/100g
Cal/100ml
Vegetable oils
884
1326
Lard
890
1068
Cod liver oil
800
880
Canola or Olive Oil
847
847
Oil, vegetable
900
801
Oils -corn, sunflower, olive
900
801
Olive oil
900
729
Butter
740
712
Hershey's Milk Chocolate
536
697
Hershey's Kisses
533
692
Margarine
740
688
Pepperoni
829
663
Mayonnaise
705
656
Pork rinds - fried
617
556
Chocolate, melted
500
510
Sunflower seeds
600
510
Macadamia nut
691
484
Pecan Nuts, raw
690
483
Hazelnuts, whole
650
468

Alphabetical List of Calorie Densities - Part A

Food
Cal/100g
Cal/100ml
Food
Cal/100g
Cal/100ml
Almonds, ground
590
212
Chickpea, dried
360
180
Almonds, slivered
578
265
Chicory greens
20
6
Almonds, whole
578
416
Chinese cabbage
14
4
Anchovies
300
210
Chips Ahoy cookies
529
159
Apple, dried
275
220
Chives, chopped fresh
20
4
Apples, diced
53
34
Chocolate
500
400
Apples, fresh
53
32
Chocolate chips
500
380
Apricot, dried
260
166
Chocolate, grated
500
210
Apricot, fresh
51
39
Chocolate, melted
500
510
Arrowroot
366
348
Chow Mein Noodles
459
321
Artichoke, globe
47
42
Cockles
50
35
Asparagus
23
15
Coconut (dried, sweetened, shredded)
504
161
Avocado, fresh
160
128
Coconut (raw)
353
141
Bacon, average grilled
380
304
Coconut, dried
662
463
Bacon, fried
512
410
Cod chip shop food
200
160
Bagels
261
196
Cod fresh
100
80
Bamboo Shoots
27
31
Cod liver oil
800
880
Banana
91
73
Collard leaves & stems
40
12
Barley, uncooked
348
271
Cookies
500
150
Beans, dried
300
255
Corn snack
500
200
Beef Jerky (store bought)
282
198
Corn tortillas
236
95
Beef or Chicken bullion
141
141
Corn, syrup
281
416
Beef, burgers frozen
280
224
Corned beef hash
173
156
Beef, cooked
256
205
Cornflakes
370
111
Beef, raw
164
131
Cornmeal
381
274
Beef, Roast
280
224
Cornstarch (cornFlour)
381
244
Beef, sausage
350
280
Cous Cous
353
229
Beet
43
30
Crab fresh
110
88
Beet greens
24
14
Crabapple
68
61
Biscuit digestives
480
264
Cracker Jack
423
254
Biscuit mix
480
264
Crackerbread
325
195
Black currant
54
43
Crackers - Goldfish
476
286
Black raspberry
73
58
Crackers, Nabisco Aircrisp Cheese Nip
441
265
Blackberry
62
56
Cranberries - Dried
321
225
Blue style cornmeal, or other types
360
184
Cranberries, Fresh
45
19
Bran, unsifted
213
49
Cranberry
46
41
Brazil nuts, whole
653
418
Cream crackers
440
264
Bread
329
82
Cream fresh
195
215
Bread crumbs
329
82
Crisps (chips US) average
500
300
Bread Naan (normal)
320
80
Croissants
407
122
Bread white (thick slice)
240
60
Crumpets
198
40
Bread wholemeal (thick)
220
55
Cucumber
15
8
Broccoli, flowerets
32
10
Cupcakes, cream filled
399
100
Brussels sprouts
45
36
Currants
134
86
Buckwheat groats
200
144
Damson plum
66
59
Butter
740
712
Dandelion greens
45
41
Cabbage, shredded
18
13
Date
274
233
Cake, Butter
386
116
Dates, chopped
320
205
Cake, fruitcake
323
123
Dates, pitted
296
252
Candy, Baby Ruth
466
372
Deviled ham spread
282
226
Candy, Balance Bars
395
316
Domino's Pizza Queen
207
104
Candy, Chewy Granola Bars
388
310
Donuts - Chocolate coated
476
143
Candy, Clif Bars
353
282
Doughnuts
629
189
Candy, Hard
400
320
Doughnuts, powdered
423
127
Candy, Little Debbie Nutty Bars
536
429
Dried Fruit Mix
272
217
Candy, M&M's - plain
494
395
Duck roast
430
387
Candy, M&M's, peanut
519
415
Egg Noodles
370
141
Candy, Mars bar
480
384
Egg whites
147
137
Candy, Marshmallows
317
67
Egg yolks
147
168
Candy, Milky Way
476
381
Egg, boiled
147
118
Candy, Mint sweets
400
320
Eggplant
25
20
Candy, Nutri-Grain Bars
374
299
Endive (escarole)
20
8
Candy, Power Bars
353
282
Evaporated milk
155
144
Candy, Snickers
480
384
Farina
50
38
Canned Smoked Oysters in Oil
194
155
Fat Free pretzels
353
212
Canola or Olive Oil
847
847
Fennel
28
17
Cantaloupe
30
33
Fig, dried
274
192
Carrots, raw
46
32
Fig, fresh
80
72
Cashew nut
561
264
Fish cake
200
160
Cashews (shelled)
600
282
Fish fingers
220
176
Cashews, oil roasted
750
353
Flour tortillas
314
188
Cauliflower
27
12
Flour, buckwheat
366
264
Celeriac
40
39
Flour, cake
366
139
Celery
17
8
Flour, potato
366
264
Cereal - Grape Nuts
353
180
Flour, rice
366
234
Cereal, Corn Chex
363
109
Flour, rye
366
139
Cereal, Corn Flakes
353
106
Flour, semolina
366
271
Cereal, Rice Krispies
350
70
Flour, U.K. self-raising
366
172
Cereal, Trix
406
122
Flour, U.S. all-purpose
366
154
Chapatis
300
240
Flour, wheat bread
366
154
Cheerios
363
109
Flour, white sifted
366
194
Cheese - grated canned parmesan
388
272
Flour, whole wheat
366
201
Cheese & peanut butter crackers
494
346
Fortune Cookies
363
218
Cheeseburgers
269
188
Fries just baked mc cain
178
151
Cheese Whiz
293
205
Fritos Corn Chips
564
339
Cheese, Blue
388
194
Fruit roll-ups (store bought)
353
282
Cheese, Brie
317
254
Fudge brownies
437
350
Cheese, Cheddar sharp
388
272
Gammon
280
224
Cheese, cheddar, grated
388
198
Garlic
137
110
Cheese, colby, grated
388
182
Garlic, minced
137
88
Cheese, cottage
320
310
Gelatine
355
330
Cheese, cream
353
317
Ginger, crystal
250
150
Cheese, grated parmesan
370
281
Ginger, fresh
80
78
Chestnut, dried
377
226
Gooseberry
39
31
Chestnut, fresh
194
116
Grapefruit
41
33
Chicken
200
160
Grapes
69
66

Alphabetical List of Calorie Densities - Part B

Food
Cal/100g
Cal/100ml
Food
Cal/100g
Cal/100g
Green snap bean
32
26
Oatmeal, uncooked
350
119
Guava
62
50
Oats, Quick Cook
353
120
Gumdrops
420
286
Oats, rolled
320
109
Gummi bears
400
256
Oil, vegetable
900
801
Haddock fresh
110
88
Oils -corn, sunflower, olive
900
801
Halibut fresh
125
100
Okra
36
22
Ham
240
192
Olive oil
900
729
Ham - cooked
176
141
Olive, green pickled
116
88
Hard Candy
388
349
Olives
219
166
Hazelnuts, whole
650
468
Olives, chopped
116
88
Herring fresh grilled
200
160
Onion, chopped
45
29
Hershey's Kisses
533
692
Onion, green
36
23
Hershey's Milk Chocolate
536
697
Onion, minced
45
38
Honey
282
406
Onion, sliced
45
25
Honeydew melon
33
30
Onions - French fried
635
349
Horseradish, raw
87
70
Oranges - fresh
32
29
Hot Cocoa mix
406
284
Papaya
39
31
Hummus (prepared)
166
149
Parsley
44
7
Iceberg lettuce
13
3
Parsnip
76
53
Jam
250
238
Pasta ( normal boiled )
110
44
Jam, Grape Jelly
222
211
Pasta (wholemeal boiled )
105
42
Jams and jellies
282
268
Pasta Roni
353
141
Japanese persimmon
77
69
Pasta, egg noodles
350
133
Japanese Plum
48
43
Pasta, macaroni
350
172
Jello Instant Chocolate Pudding
353
212
Pea, dried
340
238
Jelly Beans
370
296
Pea, edible podded
53
42
Jerusalem artichoke
75
73
Pea, fresh green
84
67
Kale leaves
53
37
Peach , dried
268
161
Kale leaves & stems
38
23
Peach, fresh
38
30
Kellogg's cereal
290
58
Peanut Butter
586
445
KFC drumsticks
291
233
Peanut, no skin
568
386
KFC medium fries
294
250
Peanut, with skin
564
384
KFC Potato Wedges
207
176
Peanuts - dry roasted
564
384
KFC regular fries
265
226
Peanuts, chopped
564
384
KFC Tenders
249
199
Peanuts, oil roasted
700
448
KFC twister
273
218
Pecan Nuts, dry roasted
714
457
Kidney
160
128
Pecan Nuts, raw
690
483
Kipper
120
96
Pepper, Sweet red
31
22
Kohlrabi
29
13
Pepperoni
829
663
Kumquat
65
59
Persimmon, native
127
102
Lamb (roast)
300
240
Pheasant roast
250
200
Lard
890
1068
Pilchards (tinned)
140
112
Leek
52
36
Pine nuts
673
357
Lemon
27
32
Pineapple
52
47
Lentil, dried
340
289
Pinto bean, dried
349
244
Lettuce, Cos, Looseleaf
18
5
Pistachio nut
594
416
Lettuce: Boston, Bibb
14
4
Pita bread (white)
261
65
Lima bean, dried
345
276
Pizza Margherita
195
78
Lima bean, fresh
123
111
Plum, prune type
75
60
Lime
28
25
Pop Tarts (All Other Flavors)
381
152
Liver
150
120
Pop Tarts (Frosted Brown Sugar, etc.)
413
165
Liver pate
300
240
Popcorn - Jiffy-Pop
476
190
Lobster boiled
100
80
Popcorn average
460
184
Low fat spread
400
320
Poppy seeds
500
285
Luncheon meat
400
320
Pork
290
232
Lychee, fresh
64
58
Pork pie
450
360
Macadamia nut
691
484
Pork rinds - fried
617
556
Macaroni (boiled)
95
48
Porridge oats (with water)
55
44
Macaroni and cheese
100
60
Potato chips - Lays
529
185
Macaroni, uncooked
380
186
Potato, raw with skin
76
65
Mackeral
300
240
Potatoes, boiled
87
74
Mango
66
59
Potatoes, cooked diced
87
74
Maple syrup
260
355
Potatoes, french fries
320
272
Margarine
740
688
Potatoes, mashed
82
73
Mayonnaise
705
656
Potatoes, roasted
100
85
McDonald Fries
298
238
Prawns, cooked
100
80
McDonalds Big Mac
98
79
Pringles
600
210
McDonald's Chicken Salad
71
57
Protein Powder
353
212
McDonalds Hamburger
235
165
Prune, dried
255
204
McDonald's MacBacon
309
247
Pumpkin
26
20
McDonald's McChicken
235
188
Pumpkin seed
553
387
McDonald's Pancake
222
133
Pumpkin, cooked
150
114
McDonalds Quarter Pounder
250
175
Quaker Oats
274
93
McDonald's Salmon salad
41
33
Quick Grits
346
118
McDonald's: salad (small)
40
28
Quince
57
46
Melon
27
30
Rabbit
180
144
Milk, dry powdered
346
100
Radish
17
10
Milk, sweetened condensed
330
428
Raisins
325
208
Mixed nuts
650
442
Red cabbage
31
25
Molasses
290
429
Red raspberry
57
63
Muesli
390
156
Rhubarb
16
13
Muffins, English
215
65
Rice Brown (cooked)
135
106
Mung bean sprouts
35
21
Rice White rice, cooked
140
104
Mung bean, dried
340
204
Rice White rice, uncooked
250
223
Mushroom
28
6
Rice, A Roni (uncooked)
335
235
Mushrooms, Chinese black
28
6
Rice, Brown (uncooked)
360
266
Mushrooms, chopped
28
9
Rice, Instant rice (uncooked)
360
266
Mushrooms, sliced
28
8
Rice, steamed
140
95
Mushrooms, whole
28
7
Rice, White uncooked
363
247
Mussels
90
72
Rice, Wild uncooked
353
282
Mustard greens
31
16
Ruffles potato chips
564
198
Mustard seed
65
42
Rye grain
334
267
Mustard, prepared
65
69
Ryvita Multi grain
331
99
Nectarine
64
58
Salmon fresh
180
144
Noodles & Sauce
409
286
Saltine crackers
423
127
Noodles (boiled)
70
49
Sandwich
226
113

Alphabetical List of Calorie Densities - Part C

Food
Cal/100g
Cal/100ml
Food
Cal/100g
Cal/100ml
Sandwich Greek (kebabs)
299
149
Sweet green pepper
22
18
Sapote
125
100
Sweet potato, raw
114
87
Sardines in tomato sauce
180
144
Sweet potatoes, cooked
130
117
Sardines tinned in oil
220
176
Tangerine
46
41
Sausage pork fried
320
256
Tofu
63
51
Sausage pork grilled
280
224
Tomato, chopped
23
16
Sausage roll
480
336
Tomato, green
24
16
Savoy cabbage
24
7
Tomato, ripe red
22
15
Scallions (green onions)
32
7
Trout fresh
120
96
Scampi fried in oil
340
272
Tuna (in oil)
183
156
Sesame seeds
570
388
Tuna (in spring water)
106
90
Shallot
72
73
Tuna tinned oil
180
144
Shrimp, cooked
100
80
Tuna tinned water
100
80
Sour cream
200
102
Tuna, canned
187
159
Soybean, dried
460
368
Turkey
160
128
Soybean, fresh
134
121
Turkey roast
140
112
Spaghetti boiled
101
81
Turnip
30
21
Spaghetti, uncooked
370
189
Turnip greens
28
17
Spam
300
240
Veal
240
192
Spinach, cooked
26
20
Vegetable oils
884
1326
Spinach, raw
26
18
Walnuts, chopped
618
303
Split peas, Cooked
150
128
Walnuts, ground
618
222
Split peas, Raw
336
286
Walnuts, shelled
618
315
Steak & kidney pie
350
280
Water
0.001
0.001
Strawberries - fresh
32
19
Watercress
19
6
Sugar, Brown
370
315
Watermelon
26
26
Sugar, caster
389
181
Wheat bran
213
64
sugar, castor
400
324
Wheat Chex
356
71
Sugar, white table sugar
366
311
Wheat germ
363
109
Sultanas
296
189
Wheat Thins
494
148
Summer sausage
335
285
Wheat, hard grain
330
257
Summer squash
19
10
Winter squash
50
25
Sunflower seeds
600
510
Yellow snap bean
27
16
Sweet corn
96
67
Yogurt
66
69




The negative calorie food pyramid
The negative calorie food pyramid. Source: Public Domain
Can many low calorie vegetables require more calories to digest and process than they contain as energy?
Can many low calorie vegetables require more calories to digest and process than they contain as energy? Source: Public Domain
Many vegetables have very few calories - Are they negative calorie foods?
Many vegetables have very few calories - Are they negative calorie foods? Source: Public Domain
Can you offset the calories in the prawns by adding a negative calorie food such as celery
Can you offset the calories in the prawns by adding a negative calorie food such as celery. Source: Public Domain
Many vegetable have low calories and when added to dishes they provide bulk and lower the calorie density of the food.
Many vegetable have low calories and when added to dishes they provide bulk and lower the calorie density of the food. Source: Public Domain
So called negative calorie foods are mostly low-calorie fruits and vegetables such as celery, grapefruit, lemon, lime, apple, lettuce, broccoli, and cabbage. 
  There is no scientific evidence to support a negative calorific impact
So called negative calorie foods are mostly low-calorie fruits and vegetables such as celery, grapefruit, lemon, lime, apple, lettuce, broccoli, and cabbage. There is no scientific evidence to support a negative calorific impact. Source: Public Domain
Many vegetable have low calories and when added to dishes they provide bulk and lower the calorie density of the food.
Many vegetable have low calories and when added to dishes they provide bulk and lower the calorie density of the food. Source: Public Domain
Are Negative Calorie Foods Just A Myth?
Are Negative Calorie Foods Just A Myth? Source: Public Domain
Yucky - many people find so-called negative calorie foods unattractive - like eating grass
Yucky - many people find so-called negative calorie foods unattractive - like eating grass Source: Public Domain