Research
Hormonal
Skeletal muscle is responsible for over 80% of postprandial glucose uptake, making it the primary driver of whole-body insulin resistance and glucose homeostasis.
Your skeletal muscle is the main engine for processing sugar from your food. When muscle function declines (due to aging or inactivity), your body struggles to manage blood sugar, leading to insulin resistance. Prioritizing muscle maintenance through activity is a fundamental strategy for metabolic health.
StrongSupportsHIGH confidence
Skeletal muscle is essential for glucose clearance and is responsible for over 80% of glucose uptake from an oral glucose load, postprandial (59, 72, 307).
Why this rating
The paper is a comprehensive review citing multiple human studies and clinical data.
Source
Role of Skeletal Muscle in Insulin Resistance and Glucose Uptake
Karla E. Merz et al. · Comprehensive physiology · 2020
DOI 10.1002/cphy.c190029
narrative_reviewCited 485×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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