Research
Macro partitioning
Co-ingesting protein with carbohydrate during endurance exercise does not improve performance or glycogen resynthesis when carbohydrate recommendations are met.
Do not rely on adding protein to your in-exercise nutrition for performance or glycogen storage. Stick to recommended carbohydrate intakes. Save protein for post-exercise recovery.
GoodRefutesHIGH confidence
there remains no compelling evidence that co-ingesting protein with carbohydrate before or during endurance exercise confers any performance advantage, nor facilitates the resynthesis of liver or muscle glycogen stores during recovery, at least when carbohydrate recommendations are met.
Why this rating
Based on multiple metabolic studies comparing CHO vs CHO+Protein.
Source
Protein Nutrition for Endurance Athletes: A Metabolic Focus on Promoting Recovery and Training Adaptation
Oliver C. Witard et al. · Sports Medicine · 2025
narrative_reviewCited 19×
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