THERMIC EFFECT OF FOOD

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  • Goal_Line
    Goal_Line Posts: 474 Member
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    I read other research that supports this.

    Sometimes I see posts here that a calorie is a calorie, and that doesn't appear to be the case.
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
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    A calorie is still a calorie. Energy output differs among the macronutrients (per the study) but this is represented in the calories-out side of the equation. In terms of energy in, 1 calorie = 1 calorie.
  • tameko2
    tameko2 Posts: 31,634 Member
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    A calorie is still a calorie. Energy output differs among the macronutrients (per the study) but this is represented in the calories-out side of the equation. In terms of energy in, 1 calorie = 1 calorie.

    ^^ what he said. When you get a TDEE calculation, it includes a rough average for TEF.
  • portalm
    portalm Posts: 201 Member
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    If Processed food is easier to digest, there by not expending the same amount of energy as a Whole food would. Youre left with in this study alone a 9.7% energy increase from processed food.

    Eating Whole foods use more energy to break down. Reducing the amount of left over energy that your body Absorbs. Makes sense!
  • kk281
    kk281 Posts: 66 Member
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    yes but if your body has to expend an extra .2 calories to utilize that 1 calorie, then you've only actually eaten .8 calories.

    The ultimate effect of this is that you will be hungrier early than if you an easier to digest meal.
  • doggiesnot
    doggiesnot Posts: 334 Member
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    I think the study is inconclusive. The sample size is very small, and there are too many influential variables.
  • kk281
    kk281 Posts: 66 Member
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    i agree, but i think it warrants further study. The concept makes since to me though. I don't think anyone can honestly say a processed food meal is going to be better for you than a whole food meal. if this study is expanded it might add another benefit to consume whole foods.

    I think the study is inconclusive. The sample size is very small, and there are too many influential variables.
  • ahamm002
    ahamm002 Posts: 1,690 Member
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    A calorie is still a calorie. Energy output differs among the macronutrients (per the study) but this is represented in the calories-out side of the equation. In terms of energy in, 1 calorie = 1 calorie.

    Well that's technically true. It does boil down to CICO. But who takes the thermic effects of food into account when calculating their TDEE?
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    A calorie is still a calorie. Energy output differs among the macronutrients (per the study) but this is represented in the calories-out side of the equation. In terms of energy in, 1 calorie = 1 calorie.

    Well that's technically true. It does boil down to CICO. But who takes the thermic effects of food into account when calculating their TDEE?

    Aas stated above, TEF is typically factored in with most TDEE calcualtors.
  • Sue_Smiles
    Sue_Smiles Posts: 1,001 Member
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    The study is interesting, I'd like more information though. I know that whole foods are better, many processed foods contain ingredients which are unhealthy for those with food sensitivities. (for instance casein can be found in vegan cheese even though it is a milk derivative and there is a whole lot of gluten found in processed meats)

    The only thing that bothered me is this:

    Subjects with severe dietary allergies, eating disorders, or regular use of medications (with the exception of birth control), or other serious health issues were excluded from participating. One subject (male, 20-year old) was excluded from final analyses because he contracted an illness during the time of the study. The subjects self-reported their body mass (kg) and height (m) for the BMI calculation (Table 1). Fourteen subjects had a BMI within the normal range of 18.5–25. One female was slightly below at 17.7, one female was slightly above at 25.8, and one male was slightly above at 26.3. These subjects were included in analyses because slight deviations outside the normal BMI range commonly occur (20).

    There is a reason many of us are here and that is to lose weight. Overweight and obese subjects were not included in the study. There was also no indication about their lifestyle - sedentary, moderately active, very active, etc. I'm curious if there are similar studies which include these particular criteria. Thank you for bringing this to our attention, though, it's definitely food for thought (haha) and regardless, cutting out as much processed food as possible is healthy no matter what.
  • mcarter99
    mcarter99 Posts: 1,666 Member
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    I've heard this theorized before.

    I think this sentence explains it: "The WF meal tested in this study has approximately three times the amount of fiber as the PF meal (Table 2, see Appendices A and B for nutrition details) and although the exact relationship of meal fiber content and DIT is poorly known (31, 32), high-fiber diets are known to decrease the assimilation efficiency of foods (33)."

    You can also make your body work harder and burn more in digestion by eating your food frozen, by the way. :happy:
  • portalm
    portalm Posts: 201 Member
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    All and all i think what is really important is taking a moment to look more closely at the food industry...

    This warrants more studies....

    Hopefully with more studies conducted we can change the way the Food industry is, by worrying more about producing healthy non processed food.

    There are many factors and variables that arent looked at in this study- Hence the study part, we have to look more closely at what we are doing and eating!

    Yes counting calories is working very well for everyone! Its pure math... use more energy than you eat. At the end of the day i think we need to look at the data we recieved from this study and say OK what type of test are we going to run now...
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
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    A calorie is still a calorie. Energy output differs among the macronutrients (per the study) but this is represented in the calories-out side of the equation. In terms of energy in, 1 calorie = 1 calorie.

    Well that's technically true. It does boil down to CICO. But who takes the thermic effects of food into account when calculating their TDEE?

    Aas stated above, TEF is typically factored in with most TDEE calcualtors.

    And additionally, making changes to macronutrients without changing net intake doesn't typically result in an appreciable difference in TEF unless you're making massive changes, like swapping out 200g of one macro for another/etc.
  • portalm
    portalm Posts: 201 Member
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    You can also make your body work harder and burn more in digestion by eating your food frozen, by the way. :happy:

    I LOLED!
  • beckajw
    beckajw Posts: 1,738 Member
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    For me, I believe that eating an apple may burn a few more calories than eating potato chips. However, I was able to lose weight using calories in vs. calories out. Maybe I didn't lose as fast as I would have if I only ate whole foods. But, I did it in a way that was sustainable for me. I did it in a way that I enjoyed. So, while I eat whole foods sometimes. I will continue to supplement them with processed foods sometimes.
  • portalm
    portalm Posts: 201 Member
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    For me, I believe that eating an apple may burn a few more calories than eating potato chips. However, I was able to lose weight using calories in vs. calories out. Maybe I didn't lose as fast as I would have if I only ate whole foods. But, I did it in a way that was sustainable for me. I did it in a way that I enjoyed. So, while I eat whole foods sometimes. I will continue to supplement them with processed foods sometimes.

    Absolutely if anything everyone's body is different. Not to mention everyones will power or desires or wants or needs. By all means continue doing what works for you!

    This was just an informational post.
  • lizzybethclaire
    lizzybethclaire Posts: 849 Member
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    It's an interesting take, but I have to agree with the others. A calorie is a calorie.
  • Captain_Tightpants
    Captain_Tightpants Posts: 2,215 Member
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    TEF is such a tiny portion of the energy equation, it's not even worth thinking about. People who get caught up in the little details like this usually end up missing the big picture (take in less than you burn) and then wonder why their weight loss is stalled.
  • mcarter99
    mcarter99 Posts: 1,666 Member
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    Yeah, the high fiber meal burned 4 more calories in digestion than the other? That's going to take a while to add up. There are probably a lot of better reasons to eat whole foods than to burn 4 extra calories per meal. But if you're looking for another reason for the pile, it's one!

    Edit: I don't know if I'm misinterpreting it. I don't know what that symbol in there is. If it's saying the WF meal took 19.9% of it's energy content to digest vs. 10.7% for the PF meal, that does seem pretty significant.

    Average energy expenditure for the WF meal (137�14.1 kcal, 19.9% of meal energy) was significantly larger than for the PF meal (73.1�10.2 kcal, 10.7% of meal energy).
  • beckajw
    beckajw Posts: 1,738 Member
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    For me, I believe that eating an apple may burn a few more calories than eating potato chips. However, I was able to lose weight using calories in vs. calories out. Maybe I didn't lose as fast as I would have if I only ate whole foods. But, I did it in a way that was sustainable for me. I did it in a way that I enjoyed. So, while I eat whole foods sometimes. I will continue to supplement them with processed foods sometimes.

    Absolutely if anything everyone's body is different. Not to mention everyones will power or desires or wants or needs. By all means continue doing what works for you!

    This was just an informational post.

    I know. I'm not attacking, just stating an opinion. I saw the story on the news this morning and found it interesting too.

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