Research

Hormonal

Muscle glycogen depletion following exercise increases in vivo insulin-stimulated carbohydrate storage and total glucose disposal (M-value) in glycogen-replete humans, provided no immediate carbohydrate re-feeding occurs.

If your goal is to maximize your body's ability to store glucose as glycogen (a marker of insulin sensitivity) after a workout, try not to eat carbohydrates immediately after exercising. However, if you prioritize performance or recovery, eating carbs is still beneficial and does not make the exercise 'useless'; it just means you won't get this specific metabolic boost.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
In the E group, the total insulin-stimulated CHO disposal rate (M) was 17 (P < 0.04) and 10% (P < 0.03) higher after exercise during the low and high dose insulin infusion, respectively. No significant changes in M were observed in the EF group.
Clifton Bogardus et al. · Journal of Clinical Investigation · 1983

Why this rating

Controlled clinical trial with rigorous euglycemic clamp methodology, though small sample size (n=13/7).

Source

Effect of muscle glycogen depletion on in vivo insulin action in man.

Clifton Bogardus et al. · Journal of Clinical Investigation · 1983

DOI 10.1172/jci111119

crossover · n=20Cited 251×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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