Proteins, such as those found in nuts and meat, require more energy to digest than fats or carbs.
Image Credit: Liv Friis-Larsen/iStock/Getty Images The thermic effect of food refers to the amount of energy used by your body to digest, absorb and dispose of the food you ingest. Consider this the operating cost of working your digestive system; one of the few costs in life you may be happy to pay. You burn off some of the calories you consume in order to digest and eliminate the food.
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Thermic Effect
About 10% of calories consumed over the course of the day will be burned through digestion.
Image Credit: Jacob Wackerhausen/iStock/Getty Images The overall thermic effect of food is estimated to be, on average, about 10 percent of your overall calories, according to WorldFitnessNetwork.com. If you consume 2,000 calories over the course of the day, about 10 percent, or about 200 calories, will be expended on digesting, absorbing, metabolizing and eliminating that food.
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Types of Food
Different types of food require different amounts of energy to process.
Image Credit: Shaiith/iStock/Getty Images Different types of food require different amounts of energy to process, according to WorldFitnessNetwork.com. Fats have a thermic effect of about 3 percent. If you consume 100 fat calories, only 3 calories will be spent digesting the fat. Fibrous vegetables and fruit have a thermic effect of about 20 percent, while proteins have a thermic effect of about 30 percent. If you eat 300 protein calories, you’ll burn off 90 calories digesting the protein.
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Body Composition
Those with higher muscle mass will burn more calories.
Image Credit: Jupiterimages/Stockbyte/Getty Images The number of calories you expend in digestion depends on your body composition. Those with greater muscle mass burn off more calories digesting food than those who have more fat, according to ShapeSense.com.
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references
ShapeSense.com: Thermic Effect of Food
WorldFitnessNetwork.com: Burn Fat with the Thermic Effect of Food
references
ShapeSense.com: Thermic Effect of Food
WorldFitnessNetwork.com: Burn Fat with the Thermic Effect of Food
Proteins, such as those found in nuts and meat, require more energy to digest than fats or carbs.
Image Credit: Liv Friis-Larsen/iStock/Getty Images
Image Credit: Liv Friis-Larsen/iStock/Getty Images
About 10% of calories consumed over the course of the day will be burned through digestion.
Image Credit: Jacob Wackerhausen/iStock/Getty Images
Image Credit: Jacob Wackerhausen/iStock/Getty Images
Different types of food require different amounts of energy to process.
Image Credit: Shaiith/iStock/Getty Images
Image Credit: Shaiith/iStock/Getty Images
Those with higher muscle mass will burn more calories.
Image Credit: Jupiterimages/Stockbyte/Getty Images
Image Credit: Jupiterimages/Stockbyte/Getty Images
ShapeSense.com: Thermic Effect of Food
WorldFitnessNetwork.com: Burn Fat with the Thermic Effect of Food
