Description
We put celery's negative calories to the test in a sealed lab chamber, then chase miso and pasta GI secrets in Japan and Italy, plus vinegar and gut bacteria.
In this Summer Slimming Secrets special from Food Unwrapped, we ask if any diet hacks actually work. At University Hospital Coventry, Dr Tom Barber of Warwick University measures how many calories are burned digesting celery inside a hermetically sealed metabolic chamber. After two trials of 326 g celery (about 53 kcal each), the results surprised us: chewing celery cost roughly 72 kcal to process (a net negative of 19 kcal), and a blended celery smoothie cost about 112 kcal (a net negative of 59). It is one small experiment, so handle with care, but it is the first time we have tested negative calorie food in a lab.
Next, we head to Japan to see what might make miso soup so satisfying. In Kofu, we watch rice inoculated with koji and carefully fermented into rich miso paste. In Yaisu, we follow bonito from whole fish to intensely smoky, mould-aged katsuobushi flakes that power miso stock with huge umami and virtually no fat. Could umami be why miso helps some slimmers feel fuller?
In Parma, Italy, we learn why pasta does not have to be a dieting demon. Antonio Nespoli explains how high-pressure extrusion locks starch inside a gluten network, and chef Roberto Bassi shows why cooking pasta al dente can lower its glycemic impact, helping you feel full for longer.
We also put vinegar’s acetic acid under the microscope. After visiting Henry Chevalier’s cider vinegar works in Suffolk, a small office trial compares chips with and without vinegar. Results were mixed: two participants (and James from our team) saw smaller blood sugar spikes, but others did not, likely due to many variables.
Back in London at St Thomas’ Hospital, Dr Tim Spector reveals how gut microbes shape our weight. Twin data spotlight a microbe nicknamed here as Kristen Sonella, found more often in naturally lean people. We see how diet can nudge your microbiome and meet a private clinic in Hertfordshire using fecal transplants for digestive disorders, where patient Annelise McBean reports symptom relief.
From celery’s lab-tested burn to miso’s umami, al dente pasta, vinegar’s possible sugar control, and microbiome makeovers, this episode explores what might actually help you feel fuller and eat smarter.
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