Most studies measure muscle growth by weighing your whole body and subtracting fat — but that includes water and fuel, not just muscle. That’s like measuring your car’s weight to see if the engine got bigger.

45

Pro

0

Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

45

Community contributions welcome

45

The Effect of Carbohydrate Intake on Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Systematic Review With Meta-Analysis

Human

2026 Feb 19

This study found that most past research used methods that can be fooled by water and glycogen changes, not real muscle growth — and the authors agree we need better ways to measure true muscle gain, which matches the claim exactly.

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

The Effect of Carbohydrate Intake on Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Score: 45

DOI: 10.1007/s40279-025-02341-z

Similar Assertions

Eating more carbs doesn’t make your muscles grow bigger when you’re already getting enough protein and calories — your muscles respond more to lifting weights than to how many carbs you eat.

45

0

74%

We can’t say for sure if carbs help build muscle — the data is too shaky. It might help a little, but we just don’t have strong enough proof yet.

45

0

71%

No matter which way you measure muscle growth—whether you count all non-fat weight, lean tissue, or just skeletal muscle—you get pretty much the same result when guys lift weights. So, you can use any of these methods and still track muscle gain accurately.

0

71%