Eating protein alone can trigger the same insulin response as eating carbs, so you don’t need both.
Scientific Claim
Adequate dietary protein intake stimulates sufficient insulin secretion to maximize suppression of muscle protein breakdown, rendering additional carbohydrate intake redundant for insulin-mediated anabolic signaling.
Original Statement
“Protein is also insulinogenic. So when you consume enough protein in your diet, as you shoot on a high protein diet as a lifter, you already produce enough insulin from the protein to make it unnecessary to also consume carbohydrates on top of that.”
Context Details
Domain
nutrition
Population
human
Subject
adequate dietary protein intake
Action
stimulates sufficient insulin secretion to
Target
maximize suppression of muscle protein breakdown, rendering additional carbohydrate intake redundant
Intervention Details
Evidence from Studies
Supporting (0)
Contradicting (1)
Addition of carbohydrate or alanine to an essential amino acid mixture does not enhance human skeletal muscle protein anabolism.
The study found that eating just protein is enough to stop muscle breakdown and build muscle — adding sugar or other carbs didn’t help any more. So, you don’t need extra carbs if you’re getting enough protein.