The Study
Muscle glycogen depletion does not alter segmental extracellular and intracellular water distribution measured using bioimpedance spectroscopy.
This study watched 12 guys closely to see if low muscle sugar (glycogen) changes where water is stored in the body. It found no big changes in water levels in arms, legs, or trunk. But because we don’t know for sure if they were randomly assigned to groups, we can’t say for certain that low glycogen caused no change—we can only say they didn’t see a difference.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
When muscles use up their sugar (glycogen), they lose some water too. But this study checks if that water loss changes how water is spread in the body using a special scale.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 545 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Even though you lose weight when you burn muscle sugar, the way water is stored in your body doesn't seem to change in a detectable way.
- 2Muscle sugar dropped by half.
- 3Body 'fat-free mass' went down by 600 grams without sugar recovery.
- 4But the water inside and outside cells didn't change in arms, legs, or trunk.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Journal of applied physiology
Year
2018
Authors
Keisuke Shiose, Yosuke Yamada, K. Motonaga, Hideyuki Takahashi
Related Content
Claims (10)
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.
After a really tough workout, young guys lose a little bit of fluid from outside their cells — and it happens whether their energy stores are low or back to normal, so something other than fuel levels is affecting fluid changes.
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.
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.
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.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.