"100 steps after meals" is of special significance for the health of Chinese groups of high-carb diet structure. The Lin Xu research group of the Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health of the Chinese Academy of Sciences found through a short-term intervention that 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise 1.5 hours after a high-carb diet can effectively reduce blood sugar and insulin levels.
For the first time, the project systematically studied the effects of different dietary macronutrient ratios, body mass index (BMI), exercise and rest states on energy metabolism and clinical cardiovascular metabolism related indicators and metabolic profiles under iso-energy conditions. The paper was recently published in the Journal of Nutrition.
With the rapid transformation of dietary nutrition and lifestyle, obesity and related cardiometabolic diseases have become a major threat to the economic development of the mainland and the health of the people. The discovery of effective dietary intervention strategies is of great significance for the prevention and control of such diseases.
Carbohydrates, fats and proteins are three macronutrients, the total amount and proportion of which are consumed, the individual's weight, as well as the individual's energy expenditure in rest or exercise, substrate metabolism, and play an important role in regulating energy balance and cardiometabolic health. However, to date, data on interventions to systematically assess the effects of different dietary macronutrient ratios, body weight and exercise on energy expenditure, glycolipid metabolism, and metabolomics are lacking.
"We designed a short-term dietary intervention study that statistically analyzed the relevant data." Dr. Sun Liang, co-corresponding author and co-first author of the paper, told reporters that the team recruited 20 male volunteers aged 18-45 years old with normal weight and overweight/obesity, and gave "high carb water + low fat", "low fat water + high fat" and "high protein + low fat" in a random order of 3 kinds of equal energy experimental meals with different macronutrient ratios, each meal was eaten continuously for two consecutive days, and the interval between the two different dietary patterns was ten days to remove the influence between each other.
In the study, the volunteers rested after a meal on the first day and performed 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise 1.5 hours after a meal the next day. The results showed that the three dietary patterns did not find significant differences in total postprandial energy expenditure, dietary heat effect and subjective satiety, but the effects on blood indicators were different.
"The 'high protein + low fat' model has the least impact on blood glucose, total cholesterol, and liver function indicators." Sun Liang introduced that the "high carb water + low fat" model will significantly increase blood glucose and insulin after a meal, while the "low carbon water + high fat" model will significantly increase the triglycerides in the blood. "It is worth mentioning that 1.5 hours after a 'high-carb + low-fat' meal and then 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise, such as cycling, can significantly make the elevated blood sugar and insulin fall down." She believes that this finding is more instructive for people who are more concerned about their own blood sugar.
The research team also collaborated with Researcher Yin Huiyong's team to conduct non-targeted metabolome detection and found 69 effect metabolome markers that could significantly distinguish 3 2-hour post-meal responses. An analysis of changes in these metabolic group markers found that the number and magnitude of changes in postprandial metabolite markers in overweight/obese volunteers were greater than in normal-weight volunteers. "In addition, their postprandial clinical indicators such as insulin and triglycerides also increased greater." Sun Liang explained that this suggests that overweight/obese individuals have a weak ability to regain metabolic homeostasis after a meal.
This study shows that the effect of total dietary energy on postprandial energy expenditure may be more significant than that of macronutrients, while isoenvironal diets with different macronutrient ratios have different effects on postprandial cardiometabolic indicators and are regulated by weight and exercise. This study provides a scientific basis for the formulation of targeted weight loss intervention programs in the future.
Author: Xu Qimin