The Thermic effect of food (TEF) or Thermogenic effect

This is the term used to describe the energy our bodies uses in order to consume and process food. (Bite, chew, swallow, digest, transport, metabolise and store)

For most people this total number typically amounts for about 7-10% of calories consumed based on the Standard English diet. (not a great diet) So if you consume 2500 calories a day you will use 175 (7%) of them biting, chewing, digesting etc… so you will actually absorb 2325 calories that day.

If we break this down:

Protein has a TEF of 25-30%

Carbohydrates about 5-10%

Fruits around 15%

Vegetables 30%

Fats between 0-3%

 

So… can you see where I am going with this?

If you exchange 100 calories of carbohydrates for 100 calories of protein you would actually burn off another 20-25 calories! If you swapped 100 calories of fat for 100 calories of vegetables you would eat up an extra 27-30 calories!

So if you switch from the person above who eats a highly processed, low fibre, low protein diet using only 7% of calories for consuming and processing their food to eating a higher protein, low in refined carbohydrate / sugar, high in vegetables and fruit you can easily increase your thermogenic effect.

Now you would probably use around 16% of your calories.

So… if you still ate the same amount of calories as before but changed the type of calories, 16% of them would be used to process and digest your food so now you will be using 400 of them for processing and digesting, you would then only absorb 2100 each day.

 

That would mean you would burn an extra 225 calories a day by doing absolutely nothing!

That’s the equivalent of about 20-25 minutes running on the treadmill every single day!

That would mean you would burn an extra 82,125 calories each year!

The equivalent to losing 2 stone of body fat!

 

Small changes add up to a big difference in the long term so every little thing you do or small change you make all add up to a massive change overall and help you to reach all the goals you are aiming for.