Why the Thermic Effect of Food Doesn’t Matter For Fat Loss

Eating a high-protein diet will not magically help you lose body fat.

A few weeks back I saw a post discussing this “protein hack”, which discussed the thermic effect of food. This is a great example of why you shouldn’t listen to people that just got a weekend nutrition certification 2 months ago. They may understand fun facts about nutrition, but lack the understanding of practical application of these principles.

It is true that you will expend more calories breaking down high-protein foods vs. fat and carbohydrate rich foods. It’s also true that the difference is so marginal it will have no effect on long-term fat loss.

When you run the numbers, you see that replacing fat and carb calories with protein calories does indeed increase your calorie expenditure…by a whopping 50-75 calories if you double protein intake lol.

Expending an additional 50-75 calories per day is not going to result in additional fat loss.

Of course, there are plenty of other benefits of a high-protein diet. But don’t fool yourself, to lose body fat you must start with total calorie intake.

Can’t “hack” your way there.