Zero-calorie foods are all the rage these days, but are they REALLY zero calories?

現在到處都是零卡路里食物，不過他們真的是零卡路里嗎？

And is it even possible for a food to HAVE zero calories?

食物真的有可能是零卡路里嗎？

Hey guys, Tara here for Dnews, and I’m sure a lot of you out there drink diet soda on occasion,

大家好，我是Dnews的Tara。我確信你們之中很多人偶爾會喝健怡可樂

and if so, perhaps you’ve found yourself wondering

果真如此的話，你們可能曾想過

“How is it possible that this has zero calories?”

這東西怎麼可能不含卡路里？

Or for that matter, how can any food have zero calories?

或是換句話說，怎麼可能有食物不含卡路里

It’s an interesting question, and the truth is - they really can’t.

這是個有趣的問題。事實是，這真的不可能

Aside from water, there is no truly zero calorie food or beverage.

除了水以外，沒有任何食物或飲料是真的零卡路里

And here’s why you probably didn’t know that.

接下來是你或許不知道這個事實的原因

First off, most foods labeled as having “zero calories” actually DO contain a small amount of calories.

首先，許多標示為零卡路里的食物，實際上含有少量的卡路里

But as long as it’s less than 5, then the FDA legally allows manufacturers to round down

不過只要低於5卡，食品藥物管理局便法律上認可製造商把它去尾數

meaning a food with 4.9 calories per serving, can still be listed as having zero calories.

意思就是一個每份含量只有4.9卡的食物，它仍可被標記為0卡路里

Splenda, the “zero calorie sweetener,”

Splenda，零卡甜味劑

actually has 3.4 calories per packet. But for an even better example, let’s look at this product:

實際上每包含有3.4卡。讓我們來看看另外一個更好的例子

I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter spray. It’s advertised as a non-fat,

「I I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter spray」這個產品的廣告聲稱

zero-calorie food with a serving size of 5 sprays. But it’s actually not zero-calorie,

只要在五次的噴劑量內，它便是不含脂肪的零卡食物。不過實際上這可不是真的零卡路里

it contains 4 calories for every 5 sprays. And when you consider the fact that its main

每五次的噴劑含有4卡路里，而且當你把主原料－黃豆油納入考量時

ingredient, soybean oil, contains about 120 calories per tbsp

黃豆油每茶匙含120卡

then that means the entire bottle has almost 900 calories

這便意味著整罐產品就高達900卡

even though its advertising suggests that it is a zero calorie food.

雖然它被廣告為零卡食物

So misleading labels are definitely part of the problem.

所以誤導人們的產品標籤絕對是一部分的問題

Another problem is the myth perpetuated around “negative calorie foods.”

另外一個迷思則是環繞在「負卡路里食物」上

These are things like celery or cucumbers, that contain very few calories

像是芹菜、小黃瓜等僅含有少量卡路里的食物

and it’s a common misconception that your body expends more energy digesting them than the amount of calories it takes in.

我們常會誤以為我們的身體花了比吸收進去還要多的能量來消化它們

Unfortunately, there’s really no science to back that up.

不幸的是，並沒有科學能證實這個理論

Let’s go back to the example of celery. A single stalk of celery has 6 calories

回到芹菜的例子吧。一根芹菜含有6卡

and the “thermic effect” of celery, which is the percentage of its calories you burn by digesting it

所謂的「攝食產熱效應」是指你消化食物所燃燒的熱量比例

is around 8%. 8% of 6 calories is about half of a calorie

而芹菜的「攝食產熱效應」大約在8%左右，而6卡的8%大約是半卡

which means that even after you account for digestion, your net calorie consumption is still 5 ½.

這意思是說，把你的消化納入考量後，你的淨卡路里攝取量仍是5.5卡

Obviously that’s negligible in the long run, but it proves an important point.

很明顯地，長遠來看，這因素是可忽略的。不過這卻證實了一個重要的點

Foods with the highest thermic effect, are proteins, which still only have a thermic effect of around 20-35%.

擁有最高的攝食產熱效應的食物是蛋白質，不過它仍只有約20-35%的效果

Meaning there are no truly negative-calorie foods or beverages.

這意味著負卡路里食物或飲料實際上並不存在

Except… for ice water. Ice water technically has zero calories, but your body has to expend

除了冰水以外。技術上來說，冰水不含任何卡路里

extra energy to bring it back up to your normal body temperature. For 8 oz of water,

不過你的身體必須消耗額外的能量才能把它回升到體溫

that burns about 8 calories. So theoretically, if you were drinking 8 8oz glasses of ice

8盎司的水就會燃燒8卡，所以理論上來說，如果你喝下每天喝下8杯8盎司的冰水

water a day, you’d be burning about 64 calories a day. For a year, that equates to 6 ½ pounds.

你每天便會燃燒64卡。以一年來算的話，相當於6.5磅

Now as far as weight loss is concerned, that's pretty minimal.

如果只考量到減重的話，影響是微乎其微的

But of course the other benefits you get from drinking that much water definitely aren’t.

不過如果你喝這麼大量的水的話，當然是有其他益處的

Now, what about foods that are heavy in mass, but claim to have zero or very low calories?

不過那些高質量卻又聲稱零卡或低卡的食物又是怎麼一回事呢？

How do those work? Well, the idea is that those foods are made up of ingredients your body simply can’t break down.

它們又是怎麼運作的？ 這概念就是那些食物是由你身體無法分解的原料所組成的

If you were to think about it in very abstract terms,

打個抽象的比方吧

you could almost like'n it to eating a piece of plastic. Your body can’t digest it,

你可以吃下一片塑膠，不過你的身體並沒有辦法分解它

so it simply passes through your system,

所以它就僅會經過你的消化系統

meaning you don’t consume or burn calories from eating it.

意味著你不會因為吃下它，而獲得或是燃燒任何卡路里

Now most of the time, foods that are like that, contain a lot of fiber, which is indigestible

通常像這類的食物都含有大量的纖維

by humans - although we still consume it, because it keeps our intestines flowing and healthy.

它們無法被人類所消化。雖然我們仍會攝取他們，不過這是因為它們能保持我們腸道健康順暢

So if you were to eat a big, heavy hunk of food that was almost entirely fiber,

所以如果你吃了含有大量纖維的超大份量食物

it would still have an extremely low calorie count

它還是有可能只含低卡路里

because your body can’t absorb any of it.

因為你的身體沒有辦法吸收它

So you see, the idea of a zero calorie food is pretty much a misconception.

所以如你所見，零卡食物的概念其實是個誤解

Almost all foods, even those labeled as “zero calorie” do contain a small amount of calories.

幾乎所有食物，包括那些標示為零卡路里的食物，實際上都含有微量的卡路里

And the only true “negative calorie” food is iced water. Which isn’t even a food. It's a beverage.

而唯一真正的負卡路里食物只有冰水，而且水只能算是飲料，還不能算是食物

See? EVERYTHING WE KNOW IS WRONG!

了解了嗎？ 我們先前所知道的都是錯的！

Switching gears for a second, if you’ve been thinking about starting up your own blog

離題一下，如果你想要架設你自己的部落格或是網站

or website, then why not check out Domain.com? When you buy a domain name from Domain.Com,

何不試試Domain.com呢？ 當你從Domain.com買一個網域名稱時

you’re also buying the power to influence and control

你也是在買一個當人們在網上搜尋你時

what people find when they search for you online.

你能夠影響、控制他們的能力

Domain.com is affordable, reliable, and easy-to-use, and let’s face it - no domain extension

Domain.com是非常物廉價美、可靠且容易上手的

will help you tell your story like a ".com" or ".net" domain name.

然後面對現實吧，沒有任何網域展名會比.com或是.net更能幫助你傳達你的故事

Better yet, the guys over at Domain.com have set us up with a special offer, just for you

更棒的是，Domain.com還提供了特別優惠

lovely Dnews viewers. All you have to do is enter the coupon code DNEWS at checkout, and

只有給你們這些可愛的Dnews觀眾。你只要在結帳時輸Dnews的優惠序號

you’ll get 15% off Domain.com’s already affordable domain names and web hosting.

你就可以在原本就經濟實惠的網域名稱、網站架設上，另外獲得15%的折扣

So when you think domain names, think Domain.Com.

所以當你想到網域名稱時，想想Domain.com吧

In the meantime, let us know in the comments what you think of this episode and if there

與此同時，與我們分享你的這集的看法吧

are any other misconceptions about food you’d like cleared up.

或是你還有想要釐清其他有關食物的誤解，也歡迎留言

That’s it for me, but as always - thank you guys for watching!

今天的時間就到這啦，不過還是要如往常一樣謝謝你們的觀賞！