{"id":402,"date":"2025-07-11T10:11:18","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T10:11:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lean-app.com\/?p=402"},"modified":"2025-08-20T08:17:27","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T08:17:27","slug":"thermic-effect-of-food-tef","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lean-app.com\/en\/thermic-effect-of-food-tef\/","title":{"rendered":"Thermic Effect of Food TEF"},"content":{"rendered":"

Track Your Digestion Energy (TEF)<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Lean calculates the energy you burn digesting your food through the Thermic Effect of Food (TEF).<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\"\u00c9cran<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"\u00c9cran<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Calculate your digestion effect based on your eating habits and consumption style. Accurately track and optimize the thermic effect of your food.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Lean is the only app<\/strong> on the market that accounts for and precisely tracks the Thermic Effect of Food (TEF). In short: eating also burns energy.<\/strong> Digestion energy is too often overlooked, even though it represents a significant part of your daily energy expenditure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

TEF (Thermic Effect of Food)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Composant<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

TEF (Thermic Effect of Food) is the term used in scientific literature to describe the energy your body spends digesting the food you eat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Too often overlooked, TEF is actually the third-largest source of energy expenditure in the human body \u2014 even ahead of EAT<\/a>(the energy burned through exercise). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On average, TEF accounts for about 10%<\/strong> of your daily caloric intake.
However, this percentage varies depending on the type of macronutrient<\/strong> (proteins, carbohydrates, fats).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Diagramme<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How does it work? <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the Lean app, you\u2019ll track the foods you consume in the \u201ckcal\u201d tab of the application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tracking Food Intake in the Lean App<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Lean app automatically calculates the energy your body will burn digesting the foods you log. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lean always factors in the Thermic Effect of Food (TEF) when calculating your \u201cRemaining\u201d calories. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How is TEF calculated?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Each food contains macronutrients: Proteins<\/strong>, Fats<\/strong> and Carbohydrates.<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When these macronutrients are absorbed, your body burns energy to digest them. However, the Thermic Effect of Food varies significantly depending on the macronutrient:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Macronutrient<\/td>% of calories burned during digestion<\/td><\/tr>
Proteins<\/td>20 \u00e0 30 %<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Carbohydrates.<\/td>5 \u00e0 10 %<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Fats<\/td>1 \u00e0 3 %<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Why is there such a difference? <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It comes down to the chemical complexity<\/strong> and metabolic pathways<\/strong> required to process each molecule:<\/p>\n\n\n\n