How many calories does digesting food burn?

Reviewed 2 November 2026 · How these numbers are calculated

Digesting, absorbing and storing food burns about 10% of the calories you eat: the thermic effect of food (TEF). It depends on what you eat: protein costs about 20–30% of its calories to process, carbs about 5–10%, and fat 0–3%. On a 2,000-calorie day, a higher-protein diet burns roughly 50 more calories through digestion than a low-protein one: helpful, but small next to your total.

Thermic effect by macro

Share of each macro’s calories used to digest and store it
Macro	Typical TEF	Per 100 kcal eaten
Protein	20–30%	20–30 kcal
Carbohydrate	5–10%	5–10 kcal
Fat	0–3%	0–3 kcal

Commonly cited ranges; a mixed diet averages about 10%.

Does a high-protein diet burn more?

Estimated calories burned digesting a 2,000-calorie day
Diet	Protein / carbs / fat	Digestion
Low protein	15 / 55 / 30%	170
Higher protein	30 / 40 / 30%	220

Using the midpoints of the ranges above.

About 50 calories a day is real but modest. Protein's bigger advantages are that it keeps you full and protects muscle while you lose weight; see how much protein you need and what are macros?

Where TEF fits in your daily burn

Your TDEE has four parts: resting burn, everyday movement (NEAT), exercise and digestion. Deficitly counts digestion as 10% of your intake, which at maintenance is 10% of your total. See BMR vs TDEE and calories in, calories out.

Myths

"Eat six small meals to stoke your metabolism." TEF follows how much you eat in total, not how often: three meals and six meals of the same food burn about the same.
"Negative-calorie foods." Celery and the like take a little energy to digest, but not more than they contain.
"Spicy food burns fat." Chilli can nudge your burn up slightly, by far too little to matter for weight.