Research
Hormonal
Oral consumption of 2.42 g of free-acid β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate (HMB) acutely stimulates muscle protein synthesis (MPS) to a similar extent as 3.42 g of leucine, while uniquely reducing muscle protein breakdown (MPB) by 57% in an insulin-independent manner.
Take 2.42 grams of free-acid HMB on an empty stomach to acutely boost muscle protein synthesis and reduce muscle breakdown. This works without spiking insulin, making it a distinct anabolic signal compared to leucine or protein meals.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Orally consumed 3.42 g free-acid (FA-HMB) HMB (providing 2.42 g of pure HMB)... stimulated muscle protein synthesis (MPS; HMB +70% vs. Leu +110%). HMB consumption also attenuated muscle protein breakdown (MPB; −57%) in an insulin-independent manner.
Why this rating
High-quality human tracer study with rigorous controls, though limited to healthy young men and acute timeframes.
Source
Effects of leucine and its metabolite β‐hydroxy‐β‐methylbutyrate on human skeletal muscle protein metabolism
Daniel J. Wilkinson et al. · The Journal of Physiology · 2013
DOI 10.1113/jphysiol.2013.253203
rct · n=15Cited 474×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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