Does ingesting carbohydrate spare muscle glycogen?

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This meta-analysis examining the effect of consuming carbohydrates during prolonged endurance exercise on the use of skeletal muscle glycogen.

• The research synthesized data from 31 crossover studies involving both running and cycling, concluding that carbohydrate ingestion leads to a small but statistically significant reduction in net muscle glycogen utilisation, a process known as glycogen sparing.
• Although no consistent moderating factors like carbohydrate type or ingestion rate were identified across the trials, the researchers suggest that this modest sparing effect may be physiologically meaningful during extended or repeated bouts of intense exercise.
• The findings support current carbohydrate intake guidelines for endurance athletes but note the limited power of individual studies to detect such small effects.

​Carbohydrate ingestion during prolonged exercise and net skeletal muscle glycogen utilization: A meta-analysis