The Thermic Effect of Food

Here's what you need to know about the thermic effect of food and how it can help you lose weight.

Some of the calories in the foods you eat are burned off during the digestion of the food, so the net amount of calories absorbed by your body is actually less than the amount contained in the food. This process is commonly referred to as the thermic effect of food (TEF).

You're probably familiar with the term "negative calories." This term refers to certain foods, such as lettuce and asparagus, which have a high thermic effect and a low calorie density. Most of the calories in these foods are burned off just to digest them, so it's almost impossible for these foods to be stored as body fat.

Foods with a high TEF will increase your metabolic rate because your body has to work harder to digest, process and utilize the food.

Lean proteins and fiber-containing complex carbohydrates are the two food groups that have a higher thermic effect and will increase your metabolic rate more than any other type of food.

Lean protein foods, such as chicken breast, egg whites and fish, have the highest thermic effect at almost 30%. This means that if you eat 100 calories of chicken breast, almost 30 of those calories are burned off just to digest it. Therefore, the net caloric value is only about 70 calories.

Fiber-containing complex carbohydrates, such as fibrous vegetables, whole grains, brown rice, beans and oatmeal, also have a high thermic effect of around 20%.

Fats have the lowest thermic effect, only around 3%. This is one of the reasons why dietary fat is so easily stored as body fat. Simple carbohydrates also have a low thermic effect.

If you consume too much of any food, it will be stored as body fat. But lean protein foods and fiber-containing complex carbohydrates, due to their high thermic effect, are less likely to be converted to body fat than other types of food.

So if you're trying to lose body fat, you should be eating several small, healthy meals throughout the day that consist primarily of foods with a high thermic effect.

Recommended Resource

Metabolic Cooking contains over 250 healthy, easy to prepare recipes that are made with ingredients that have a high thermic effect. Read my review of Metabolic Cooking

Leave the Thermic Effect of Food page and return to the Weight Loss Articles page
Leave the Thermic Effect of Food page and return to the Home page