The Science of Lactate - Blog

From Muscles to Metabolism: Understanding the Role of Lactate in Health

What is lactate?

Once considered a waste product, lactate is now recognized as a critical player in energy production, signaling, and even recovery. Here’s a closer look at how muscle contraction, energy metabolism, and lactate influence performance, health, and disease management.

Lactate as a preferred fuel

Contrary to the outdated notion of lactate being merely a fatigue-inducing byproduct, recent insights show that lactate is a preferred fuel for both muscles and the brain. When energy demand is high, lactate becomes a more efficient fuel than glucose.

In fact, lactate is favored over glucose in both the brain and muscles under certain conditions. However, this preference comes with a trade-off: lactate metabolism inhibits fatty acid metabolization.

Resistance training improves metabolic health by increasing muscle mass, which in turn boosts metabolism. A higher metabolic rate helps in maintaining a healthy weight and prevents obesity-related diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

For athletes, the ability to clear lactate efficiently is a sign of metabolic health. During recovery, they predominantly rely on fat stores, leading to low resting lactate levels. Conversely, individuals with conditions like diabetes may have elevated resting lactate levels, indicating impaired lactate disposal and fatty acid oxidation.

In the context of aging and cognitive decline, physical exercise has been shown to be neuroprotective. The lactate produced during exercise is not just a metabolic fuel; it also stimulates neurogenesis, offering protective effects against conditions like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.