EFFECTS OF LOW AND MODERATE INTENSITY TREADMILL WALKING ON POSTPRANDIAL LIPEMIA IN HEALTHY-YOUNG ADULTS

We have previously shown that the lipaemic response to a fatty meal wa s reduced when prolonged (2 h) low intensity exercise was taken some h ours before eating. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothes is that the effect is quantitatively greater after exercise of moderat e intensity than after exercise at low intensity. Six men and six wome n, mean age 26.9 (SEM 1.5) years, took part in three trials, each cond ucted over 2 days; on the afternoon of day 1 of each of two exercise t rials the subjects walked on a treadmill for 90 min at either 31 (SEM 1) % or 61 (SEM 1) % of maximal oxygen uptake, i.e. low and moderate i ntensity, respectively; on the control trial the subjects refrained fr om exercise on day 1. On the morning of day 2 of each trial they inges ted a test meal (1.28 g fat, 1.44 g carbohydrate, 76 kJ energy . kg(-1 ) body mass); blood samples were obtained in the fasted state and for 6 h after the meal. Fasting serum triacylglycerol concentration and th e area under the postprandial triacylglycerol-time curve were lower th an in the control trial (P < 0.05) after moderate intensity walking bu t not after low intensity walking. The results suggest that the mitiga tion of the lipaemic response to a meal high in fat and carbohydrate i s related to the intensity and/or the energy expenditure of the preced ing exercise.