Acute and residual effects of aerobic exercise on fructose-induced postprandial lipemia on lean male subjects.

PURPOSE: The addition of fructose to one or more meals daily may lead to increased postprandial lipemia (PPL). Aerobic exercise has been successful in preventing those increases; however, the duration of exercise effects is still unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the acute and residual effects of aerobic exercise and fructose ingestion on PPL.

METHODS: Twelve young and sedentary men completed a crossover blinded randomized trial. On day 0, they performed 45 min of aerobic exercise at 60% of VO2peak , or 45 min of resting. On day 1, they received a high-fat meal together with one of the following conditions: (a) a fructose-rich beverage (FRUCT), or (b) exercise performed 13 h before the fructose-rich beverage ingestion (FRUCTEX), or (c) a dextrose-based beverage (DEX). On day 2, all subjects received a high-fat meal plus dextrose. Five blood samples were taken on days 1 and 2, to measure triglycerides (TG), HDL cholesterol, VLDL, total cholesterol (TC), glucose and insulin.

RESULTS: On day 1, the delta of the TG peak was higher for FRUCT compared to DEX condition (+ 73.7%; p = 0.019). Total area under the curve (AUC) of TG was lower on the condition FRUCTEX compared to FRUCT (+ 30%; p = 0.001). There was no effect of the beverages or the exercise on VLDL, TC, HDL and non-HDL cholesterol (p > 0.05). There were no differences found in any of the parameters assessed on day 2 (p > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: Fructose consumption (0.5 g/kg) severely increased postprandial TG on day 1, but not on day 2. Previous exercise performance could lead to ~ 30% reduction on the AUC of postprandial TG in 13 h, but not after 37 h followed by fructose consumption. The regularity of physical exercise practice seems to be essential to promote a constant hypolipemic effect.