Research
Macro partitioning
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.
Eating protein costs more energy to digest than carbs or fat. Prioritizing protein in your diet can slightly increase your daily energy expenditure through the thermic effect of food.
StrongSupportsHIGH confidence
Karst et al. (56) showed that the thermic effect of protein (white egg, casein, gelatin) was at least three times higher than that of an isocaloric carbohydrate (starch) in healthy men... In contrast, fat (sunflower oil, butter) evoked a much lower thermic effect, no different from the fasting (control) condition (56).
Why this rating
Based on specific studies cited.
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
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