Eddy's Blog
Do you know how many calories your body burns up just by eating food?
Yes that’s the correct question I want to ask you. Every time you eat food your body has to digest and assimilate that food. In doing so, the body burns calories.
Maintaining a healthy weight range is generally explained in simple terms.
• Eat more food than you burn off in one day and you gain weight.
• Eat less food then you burn off and you lose weight.
Calories in vs calories out is usually how this is explained. Food is a source of heat/energy which needs to be released to burn off, and the only way to release this energy is to move….right? Well yes that’s correct but not entirely. All nutrients have a different effect on our body. By effect I directly refer to the Thermal Effect of Food (TEF). Studies have shown that eating certain foods that contain 100 calories (as an example) does not always mean that your body will then take 100 calories in. The TEF of foods varies and foods that are less processed, foods including protein and vegetables have a much higher TEF than highly processed foods, sugars or fats. Here is the basic TEF of the 3 main macronutrients.
• Fats – up to 5%
• Carbs – 5 to 10%
• Proteins – between 19-32%
As an example if you eat a chicken breast containing 25g of protein, instead of your body absorbing 100 calories from that protein(25g of protein at 4 calories per gram=100 calories) your body will only absorb an average of 75 calories. Interesting to note that the TEF of protein is so high that you can actually eat more protein than carbs and fats and still end up being leaner than if you ate less carbs and fats. Of course it is not as simple as that. We also need to take in a number of other variables including the fact that protein fills you up more (satiety) and that fats also tend to send strong signals to your brain telling you that you are full. Carbs and sugars on the other hand are far less effective at sending these signals.
At the end of the day, along with the many other benefits that this wonderful macronutrient contains, ‘Protein’ when eaten, is responsible for less weight gain and far greater satiety.
