What you eat after exercise matters

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What you eat after exercise matters

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-01/aps-wye012810.php

Many of the health benefits of aerobic exercise are due to the most recent

exercise session (rather than weeks, months and even years of exercise

training), and the nature of these benefits can be greatly affected by the food

we eat afterwards, according to a study published in the Journal of Applied

Physiology (http://jap.physiology.org).

" Differences in what you eat after exercise produce different effects on the

body's metabolism, " said the study's senior author, F. Horowitz of the

University of Michigan. This study follows up on several previous studies that

demonstrate that many health benefits of exercise are transient: one exercise

session produces benefits to the body that taper off, generally within hours or

a few days.

" Many of the improvements in metabolic health associated with exercise stem

largely from the most recent session of exercise, rather than from an increase

in 'fitness' per se, " Dr. Horowitz said. " But exercise doesn't occur in a

vacuum, and it is very important to look at both the effects of exercise and

what you're eating after exercise. "

Specifically, the study found that exercise enhanced insulin sensitivity,

particularly when meals eaten after the exercise session contained relatively

low carbohydrate content. Enhanced insulin sensitivity means that it is easier

for the body to take up sugar from the blood stream into tissues like muscles,

where it can be stored or used as fuel. Impaired insulin sensitivity (i.e.,

" insulin resistance " ) is a hallmark of Type II diabetes, as well as being a

major risk factor for other chronic diseases, such as heart disease.

Interestingly, when the research subjects in this study ate relatively

low-calorie meals after exercise, this did not improve insulin sensitivity any

more than when they ate enough calories to match what they expended during

exercise. This suggests that you don't have to starve yourself after exercise to

still reap some of the important health benefits.

The paper, " Energy deficit after exercise augments lipid mobilization but does

not contribute to the exercise-induced increase in insulin sensitivity, " appears

in the online edition of the journal. The authors are A. Newsom, Simon

Schenk, M. , P. Harber, Nicolas D. Knuth, Haila Goldenberg

and Dr. Horowitz. All are at the University of Michigan. The American

Physiological Society (APS: www.the-aps.org) published the research.

Study Design

The study included nine healthy sedentary men, all around 28-30 years old. They

spent four separate sessions in the Michigan Clinical Research Unit in the

University of Michigan Hospital. Each session lasted for approximately 29 hours.

They fasted overnight before attending each session, which began in the morning.

The four hospital visits differed primarily by the meals eaten after exercise.

The following describes the four different visits:

They did not exercise and ate meals to match their daily calorie expenditure.

This was the control trial.

They exercised for approximately 90 min at moderate intensity, and then ate

meals that matched their caloric expenditure. The carbohydrate, fat, and protein

content of these meals were also appropriately balanced to match their

expenditure.

They exercised for approximately 90 min at moderate intensity and then ate meals

with relatively low carbohydrate content, but they ate enough total calories to

match their calorie expenditure. This reduced-carbohydrate meal contained about

200 grams of carbohydrate, less than half the carbohydrate content of the

balanced meal.

They exercised for approximately 90 min at moderate intensity and then ate

relatively low-calorie meals, that is, meals that provided less energy than was

expended (about one-third fewer calories than the meals in the other two

exercise trials). These meals contained a relatively high carbohydrate content

to replace the carbohydrate " burned " during exercise.

The exercise was performed on a stationary bicycle and a treadmill. The order in

which the participants did the trials was randomized.

In the three exercise trials, there was a trend for an increase in insulin

sensitivity. However, when participants ate less carbohydrate after exercise,

this enhanced insulin sensitivity significantly more. Although weight loss is

important for improving metabolic health in overweight and obese people, these

results suggests that people can still reap some important health benefits from

exercise without undereating or losing weight, Dr. Horowitz said.

The study also reinforces the growing body of evidence that each exercise

session can affect the body's physiology and also that differences in what you

eat after exercise can produce different physiological changes.

Next Steps

The research team is now performing experiments with obese people, aimed at

better identifying the minimum amount of exercise that will still improve

insulin sensitivity at least into the next day.

Funding: The National Institutes of Health

Physiology is the study of how molecules, cells, tissues and organs function to

create health or disease. The American Physiological Society (APS) has been an

integral part of this scientific discovery process since it was established in

1887.