The thermic effect of food (TEF) is proportional to the food energy taken in and is usually estimated at 10% of energy intake. This means around 10% of the calories consumed through the intake of food is generally used in the progress of metabolism, digestion, and absorption. This contributes to the overarching energy expenditure in addition to physical activity and anything that involves the use of energy.
The thermic effect of food is estimated to be around 10% of energy intake. Very little food energy is used for work, and most is converted to thermal energy or stored as fat.
The thermic effect of food is the amount of energy expended by the body to digest, absorb, and metabolize food. It is usually estimated to be around 10% of energy intake.
For example, if you consume 2000 calories of food, approximately 200 calories would be used for digestion and metabolism.
This proportion is consistent with the fact that very little of the energy released from food is used to perform work, and more than 90% is converted to thermal energy or stored as chemical energy in fat.
