Obtrusive 13C-backgrounds can be a problem in 13C NMR-based studies of ligand binding to bacterial membrane transport proteins in their natural state in inner membranes. This is largely solved for the bacterial galactose-H+ symport protein GalP by growing the producing organism Escherichia coli on 13C-depleted glucose (13C </= 0.07%) as the main carbon source. 13C solid-state NMR-based binding studies for the inhibitor forskolin 1 and the transported substrate glucose 2, both singly labeled with 13C, are reported and discussed. For 1, tight binding is observed, while for 2, significant exchange takes place during the time scale of the NMR experiment.