Does Eating Celery Actually Burn Calories?

You Should Know: Maybe you’ve heard the claim that celery has a magical quality we all wish other foods had. The common wisdom is that eating it burns more calories than it contains, earning it “negative calorie” status. But is that true? A 2013 study in the Proceedings of the Nutrition Society put that theory to the test.

Going Deeper: Researchers had women eat 100 grams of celery (16 calories) and then tracked their energy expenditure for three hours. Digesting it burned 13.76 calories, close to the total but not quite over it, so celery didn’t create a negative energy balance in the end. Still, digestion used up 86% of what the celery provided. And there’s no solid evidence that other foods, like cucumbers or lettuce, can produce a true negative-calorie effect, since digestion uses only a small portion of the calories in a food.

Takeaway: You won’t necessarily generate a calorie deficit from eating celery, but it adds fiber and volume to a meal without piling on calories.

Bottom Line: Celery remains a nutritious snack that’s low in calories and high in fiber, but its “negative calorie” status doesn’t stand up to rigorous testing.