What to eat before a workout to burn more fat
Metabolic impact of feeding prior to a 60-min bout of moderate-intensity exercise in females in a fasted state
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
If you want to burn more fat during your workout, don't eat sugar beforehand — but protein won't hurt your fat burn and might help you burn more calories after.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
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Evidence Score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. Considered the gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
If you want to burn more fat during your workout, don't eat sugar beforehand — but protein won't hurt your fat burn and might help you burn more calories after.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 553 / 90
Evidence Score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. Considered the gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Publication
Authors
Ratliff KM, Kerksick CM, Moon JM, Hagele AM, Boring JL, Walden K, Gaige CJ, Stecker RA, Sunderland KL, Mumford PW
Related Content
Claims (10)
Hydration in a fasted, low-insulin state significantly enhances fat oxidation compared to hydrated states following carbohydrate intake.
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.
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.
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.
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.