A single bout of low-intensity exercise produces modestly favorable changes in the glycemic and lipidemic profiles following the ingestion of non-isoglucidic breakfasts

In this study we investigated the acute effects of low-intensity exercise on the postprandial hormonal and metabolic milieu induced by breakfast consumption. Exercise began 100 min after the initiation of breakfast consumption and consisted in cycling at 40% VO2max for 20 min. Three different breakfasts were used to elicit the postprandial state: B1 = skimmed milk (125mL) and 30-g corn flakes; B2 = skimmed milk (220mL), 200-g apple, 30-g cocoa-cream-filled sponge cake; B3 = skimmed milk (125mL), 50-g bread, 150-g apple, and 15-g hazelnut and cocoa spread. Nineteen young healthy subjects (8M/11F; BMI 22.7±0.5 kg/m2; 31±0.7 yrs) underwent the three breakfasts, as well as an oral glucose load (50-g OGTT), under either resting or exercise conditions, in a randomized-crossover fashion. Blood glucose, insulinemia, ghrelinemia, https://air.unimi.it/retrieve/1052266/NUT-D-17-00613R1_LUZI_23May2018_h21.pdflipidemia, and satiety were measured throughout the studies. In order to evaluate the metabolic effects of exercise, the changes that glucose, insulin, ghrelin, FFA exhibited in the interval 90-120 min were analyzed with a two-way repeated measures ANOVA (factor 1: type of oral test; factor 2: resting/exercise condition). No interaction between the two factors was found for any of the examined variables. Light exercise produced a modest, significant decrease in blood glucose levels (p=0.004) and a modest, significant increase in FFA levels (p=0.002) with respect to the resting condition. These findings suggest that short, mild exercise has beneficial effects on postprandial metabolism and this may have direct bearing on the issue of counteracting the epidemic rising of sedentary lifestyle of the general population.