The negative calorie myth

Gum and certain vegetables are often called "negative-calorie" foods because they supposedly take more energy for your body to chew or digest than they contain.
The negative-calorie myth was put to the test when researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, asked people to chew sugarless gum at a rate of 100 bites per minute. After calculating the energy expended (about 11 calories per hour), they concluded that a person who chomped on a piece every waking hour of the day for a month would lose less than 0.45 kilograms. As for celery?  All that crunching does burn energy, but it amounts to less than the 6-calorie stalk contains. The bottom line: If you really want to shed kilograms, give your jaw a rest and start moving your body.

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