Catabolic Foods List

Catabolic foods are foods that contain no calories, also known as "negative" calories. Once eaten and absorbed, catabolic foods cause the body to burn more calories than the food originally contained. Many diet plans recommend using catabolic foods as snacks or appetizers to help fill up the stomach before eating the main meal.

Lettuce

Originating as a weed in the Mediterranean, lettuce has become one of the most popular catabolic vegetables in the world. Although there are many varieties, there are only four main categories of lettuce. Crisphead is the lightest colored category and the least nutritious. Iceberg is the most common variety of Crisphead lettuce. Green Leaf and Red Leaf lettuce are varieties of a lettuce category called Looseleaf. Leaves of this lettuce type grow out from a stem rather than in head form. The loose leaves of the Butterhead varieties look similar to that of a blooming rose. Varieties of lettuce in this category have a slight buttery taste and texture. Last but not least, Romaine lettuce is commonly found in Caesar salad and has a crispy texture much like Iceberg lettuce but with a stronger taste.

Lemons

Another popular catabolic food is the lemon. Three varieties of the lemon include the sweet, citric and rough. Sweet lemons, also known as Meyer lemons, originated in China and were named after Frank Meyer who brought them over to the United States in 1908. Meyer lemons have a thin skin on the outside and is sweet tasting on the inside. Commonly used as rootstock in the cultivation of many different citrus fruits, rough lemon has a rough skin and an orange-yellow color on the inside. Citric lemons are the most common lemon sold is most markets. This lemon has a sour taste and is the key ingredient in lemonade.

Broccoli

One of the most nutritious catabolic food is broccoli. Broccoli contains numerous vitamins including Vitamin A, C and B. Additionally potassium, iron and zinc can also be found in broccoli. Brought to the US from the Mediterranean countries, broccoli can easily be identified as a dark green bundle of tree-like florets.