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Thermogenic Effects Defined
The Thermogenic Effect, as it pertains to food,
is a term used to refer to the way that the foods you eat can increase the
amount of heat your body generates as it digests them, resulting in an
increased metabolism for a short amount of time.
At its most basic level, the Thermogenic Effect is a result of your body
having to consume energy in order to digest your food. Some sources of
energy are less available than others, and thus require more effort to make
use of in the body. It is important to note that this effect only applies on
a macronutritional level--it will make either no difference or a
ridiculously negligible difference if you try to make it harder for your
body to digest foods by not chewing them as well. The rule still applies:
liquify it. As you seek an increased metabolic rate, you'll likely end up
with indigestion and bloating.
Protein is at the top of the hierarchy of macronutrients, as far as the
Thermogenic Effect goes. A whopping 27% (on average) of the calories you
consume from protein are used in the process of digesting the protein. Most
of this is attributed to the fact that the protein has to be broken down
into amino acids which then can be made use of, which is a labor-intensive
process intracellularly. If you were to consume 300 Calories in pure protein
(such as by a pure protein powder, or eggwhites, or something similar), the
Thermogenic Effect would burn off 81 of those calories just during the act
of digestion, leaving you with 219 calories.
Information above cited from "Understanding the
Thermogenic Effects of Food" on www.associatedcontent.com |
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