Is celery negative calories?

It is true that celery has almost no calories. A medium stalk contains all of 6 calories. It’s also pretty good for you in that a large stalk has about a gram of fiber and is high in calcium and trace minerals. Interestingly, celery is also fairly high in sodium for a vegetable—about 50 mg for a large stalk.

The theory that many people put forward is that your body uses more than 6 calories chewing and digesting the celery. There are actually books written about this but, unfortunately, there’s no research to support the claim.

The body uses between 10 and 15% of the calories you consume for the total process of digestion. In someone consuming 1,500 calories per day that’s 225 calories in 24 hours. It takes the same 225 calories for digestion whether you eat 1,500 calories per day in celery or in bread. The difference is that you would have to eat 250 stalks of celery per day to eat 1,500 calories as opposed to about 15 slices of bread.

Here’s how celery can help people lose weight: it tastes good, it takes time to chew, it’s filling and it’s low in calories.