Protein & Nutrition Blog – Marmels
Protein & Nutrition Blog – Marmels
Does Protein Boost Your Metabolism? What Science Says
by Mo Mandegar, PhD
on Jun 28 2026
Protein is the rare food that genuinely nudges your metabolism, and the reason is unglamorous: digesting it is expensive work. It has the highest thermic effect of food (TEF) of any macronutrient, burning 20 to 30 percent of its own calories in digestion versus 5 to 10 percent for carbs and 0 to 3 percent for fat. Here is how big the effect really is.
