Which tissues take up a meal's glucose
After a carbohydrate meal, skeletal muscle is the largest site of insulin-stimulated glucose disposal, commonly cited as around 60 to 70 percent of the load, because muscle has a large mass and abundant insulin-responsive GLUT4 transporters. The liver takes up a substantial share (roughly 20 to 30 percent), storing much of it as glycogen and helping buffer the rise.
The brain uses a steady amount (around 5 percent of a meal's glucose) but does so largely independent of insulin, relying on GLUT1 and GLUT3 transporters. Fat tissue typically accounts for only a small fraction directly, despite its role in longer-term energy storage. These percentages are approximate averages, not fixed values.
How insulin sensitivity reshapes the split
Because muscle uptake is so insulin-dependent, insulin resistance shifts the picture: when muscle responds poorly, more glucose lingers in the blood and a larger relative burden falls on the liver and on rising insulin output. Regular exercise increases muscle glucose uptake both through and independent of insulin, which is one reason activity improves glucose handling.
This is general educational information about average physiology, not medical advice. Individual glucose disposal varies with fitness, body composition, and health status; clinical decisions belong with a qualified professional.