# @mackinprof on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DUtKKGPloM6
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/59739146-mackinprof-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/3c2a11573b.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-02-13T16:57:10.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Stuart Phillips (@mackinprof) — https://gondola.cc/mackinprof

## Caption

Do protein calories still “count”? 👇

Yes. But not in the way most people think.

There’s a popular narrative right now that protein calories “don’t count.”
That they can’t be stored as fat.
That protein somehow “breaks” calories-in-calories-out.

Understandable. Incomplete.

Here’s what the science actually shows:

1️⃣ Protein still obeys energy balance
If you overconsume energy — from any source — fat mass increases.
That’s physiology, not opinion.

2️⃣ But protein changes what happens to those calories
Protein is metabolically expensive.
Digesting it, building new proteins, and disposing of nitrogen all require energy.
Higher protein intake:
• Raises resting and total energy expenditure
• Increases thermic effect of food
• Supports lean mass gain
So protein calories are less efficient at becoming body fat — not incapable.

3️⃣ Fat gain tracks calories. Lean mass tracks protein (to an extent).
In tightly controlled overfeeding studies:
• Fat gain is similar across protein intakes
• Lean mass gain differs (but stops at a point of ~20% of Ein) 
Higher protein → more fat-free mass → higher metabolic cost.

4️⃣ Modern energy balance models already include biology (10.1093/ajcn/nqac031)
Energy balance today includes:
• Macronutrient-specific thermic effects
• Substrate oxidation differences
• Lean mass changes altering REE
• Hormonal and neural regulation

This isn’t CICO vs biology. It’s CICO with biology fully included.

Bottom line:
Protein calories count.
They just count differently.
Harder to store.
More supportive of lean tissue.
More likely to raise energy expenditure.

But not exempt from thermodynamics.

Nuance > slogans.

#Protein #Metabolism #EnergyBalance #CICO #NutritionScience #FatLoss #ExerciseScience #Physiology #EvidenceBased

Further reading…
doi:10.1001/jama.2011.1918
doi:10.1126/science.283.5399.212
doi:10.1016/j.cub.2015.12.046

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## Tags

nutritionscience, cico, evidencebased, metabolism, energybalance, protein, exercisescience, fatloss, physiology

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