Caloric Adjustment from Protein?

qtipdtb
qtipdtb Posts: 4 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I read that around 20-30% of calories of protein get burned in the digestive process. I'm wondering if you have to adjust for this when aiming at a caloric goal.

I eat about 150 grams of protein a day. So that's 600 calories coming from protein. So 120 to 200 of those are getting burned in the digestive process. So, for example, if I'm after a caloric surplus, do I need to eat more calories to make up for that difference?

Replies

  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    It's still a small number (compared to the large numbers required to gain weight) so no, you don't need to adjust for it.

    Simply adjusting based on your weight trend works fine. Everything is an estimate and some of those estimates may well cancel out the thermic effect of digesting protein.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,265 Member
    Theoretically yes, practically no. It's all a best guess. Tracking and adjusting over time will dictate more or less calories for a particular goal and not the thermodynamic properties of individual foods. Basically, don't sweat it. Cheers.
  • westrich20940
    westrich20940 Posts: 921 Member
    Ummm...your body uses energy to digest everything you eat. You do not need to take this into account when tracking your calories. It's part of your BMR.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    An estimate of TEF is already included in algorithms for estimated calorie needs.
  • JBanx256
    JBanx256 Posts: 1,479 Member
    per Dr. Mel Davis of Renaissance Periodization (direct copy/paste):
    TEF is also calculated into modern cal/gram for macros (4/g for protein for example...without TEF consideration it would be 6/g). This along with very limited impact and relying on weight change to dictate precise diet recs means it's not something to waste any time worrying about during diet design!

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