Does burning sugar in muscles change where water goes in your body?
Muscle glycogen depletion does not alter segmental extracellular and intracellular water distribution measured using bioimpedance spectroscopy.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
No detectable fluid shift despite massive glycogen loss
It’s long been taught that each gram of glycogen holds 3–4 grams of water, so losing glycogen should pull water out of cells. But BIS showed no change in intracellular or extracellular water compartments.
Practical Takeaways
Don’t panic if your weight drops after a hard workout — it’s likely glycogen and water, not muscle.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
No detectable fluid shift despite massive glycogen loss
It’s long been taught that each gram of glycogen holds 3–4 grams of water, so losing glycogen should pull water out of cells. But BIS showed no change in intracellular or extracellular water compartments.
Practical Takeaways
Don’t panic if your weight drops after a hard workout — it’s likely glycogen and water, not muscle.
Publication
Journal
Journal of applied physiology
Year
2018
Authors
Keisuke Shiose, Yosuke Yamada, K. Motonaga, Hideyuki Takahashi
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Claims (10)
When young guys eat certain carbs that don’t digest and burn through their stored energy, their blood sodium dips just a little — but not enough to throw off body scan measurements.
After a really tough workout, young guys lose about half a liter of fluid from outside their cells within a day — and it happens whether their energy stores are low or full, so fluid changes aren't just about fuel levels.
Even when young guys burn off a lot of muscle fuel (glycogen) in their legs over a day, a special body scan that measures water doesn’t pick up any change in leg water levels — meaning it might not notice the water shifts that happen when fuel stores drop.
When young guys burn off a lot of energy during intense cycling, their muscles lose stored fuel (glycogen), but this doesn’t seem to change how water is distributed in their arms, legs, or body — at least not enough for common body scanners to detect.
After intense cycling, young men burn through a lot of muscle fuel (glycogen), but that doesn’t change how water is split between cells and surrounding areas in their arms, trunk, or legs—measured by a common body scan method.