Research
Energy balance
Total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) in healthy, free-living, non-athlete individuals is primarily composed of resting energy expenditure (approx. 60%), physical activity energy expenditure (approx. 30%), and the thermic effect of food (approx. 10%).
To understand your daily energy needs, recognize that most energy (60%) is used just to keep your body running at rest, about 30% goes to movement, and 10% is used to digest food. This breakdown helps in estimating caloric requirements for health maintenance.
StrongSupportsHIGH confidence
TDEE is broadly partitioned into REE, PAEE, and TEF. These components represent approximately 60%, 30%, and 10% of TDEE, respectively, in healthy, free-living, nonathlete individuals under thermoneutral conditions (64, 65).
Why this rating
Based on a narrative review citing multiple primary studies and established methods.
Source
Energy Expenditure in Humans: Principles, Methods, and Changes Throughout the Life Course
Rodrigo Fernández‐Verdejo et al. · Annual Review of Nutrition · 2024
DOI 10.1146/annurev-nutr-062122-031443
narrative_reviewCited 30×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Resting energy expenditure (REE) is primarily determined by the mass and specific metabolic rates of organs and tissues, with fat-free mass (FFM) explaining the majority of variance in REE.Strong
- The thermic effect of food (TEF) varies significantly by macronutrient composition, with protein eliciting a thermic effect at least three times higher than isocaloric carbohydrates, while fat elicits a much lower thermic effect.Strong
- Physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE) is highly variable among individuals and can range from almost none in bedridden individuals to approximately 50% of TDEE in highly active individuals.Strong
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