Metabolism
Seems very obvious to most.
BMR, calorie intake, especially macro split and activity/exercise levels.
Determined mostly by factors such as your age, body composition, height and sex.
May be impacted by exercise, your circadium rythmn and hormones and related conditions such as menopause.
See body max index (BMI), basal metabolic rate (BMR), total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) and weight.
Also see eating patterns and fibre.
The thermic effect (of food (TEF)) is what we actually mean by metabolism; calories are burnt in the process of actually consuming, absorbing (and potentially storing) macro and micronutrients in the food and drink we consume. TEF Overall represents around 10% of your overall calorie intake. TEF is also known as specific dynamic action (SDA), dietary induced thermogenesis (DIT) or simply thermogenesis.
For specific macros, it is approximately this percentage of intake calories (in other words, you have to burn this amount of what you are consuming in order to consume it);
- alcohol: 22.5% (so at 7 calories per gram, this results in an intake of 5.43 calories) - note that anything you eat while drinking alcohol is mostly converted to fat
- carbohydrate: 5-10% (at 4 calories per gram, this results in an intake of 3.6 calories in the best case, 3.8 in the worst)
- fat: 0-3% (at 9 calories per gram, this results in an intake of 3.6 calories in the best case)
- protein: 30-30%
Patterns
Eating little and often does not result in a different TEF or BMR.
Supplements
References
Metadata
Created: 2026-06-15
Last Updated: 2026-07-09