If you want to burn fat during your workout, eating protein before you start won’t hurt your fat-burning—eating sugar will. So protein might be a smarter pre-workout snack.

53

Pro

0

Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

53

Community contributions welcome

53

Metabolic impact of feeding prior to a 60-min bout of moderate-intensity exercise in females in a fasted state

Randomized Controlled Trial

Human

2022

This study found that when women ate protein before exercising, they kept burning fat like normal, but when they ate carbs, their fat burning dropped — exactly what the claim says.

Contradicting (0)

0

Community contributions welcome

No contradicting evidence found

Gold Standard Evidence Needed

According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

Source Study

Metabolic impact of feeding prior to a 60-min bout of moderate-intensity exercise in females in a fasted state

Score: 53

DOI: 10.3389/fspor.2022.1070477

Similar Assertions

Eating protein before a workout doesn’t stop your body from burning fat like eating sugar does—so if you want to burn fat while exercising, protein is safer than carbs.

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After working out, eating protein makes your body keep burning more calories—but it doesn’t make you burn more fat afterward. The extra calories come from somewhere else, like digesting the protein itself.

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After a workout, your body burns more calories for a while if you ate protein before you started—more than if you ate sugar.

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If you eat sugar before a 60-minute walk or light jog, your body burns less fat during the workout—but if you eat protein instead, it doesn’t hurt fat burning at all.

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Eating protein before a workout makes your body keep burning more calories for a while after you stop—more than if you ate sugar instead.

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