Effects of exercise and n-3 fatty acids on postprandial lipemia

Because n-3 fatty acid ingestion and aerobic exercise each has been associa ted with diminished postprandial lipemia (PPL), the purpose of this study w as to evaluate the effect of a combination of these two factors on PPL. Sed entary men underwent a standard dietary preparation, including a 12-h fast before each trial. Six subjects performed a control trial (fat meal, 100 g fat) and an n-3 fatty acid trial (fat meal after 3 wk of n-5 fatty acid sup plementation at 4 g/day). In a parallel experiment, six different subjects underwent a control trial and n-3 fatty acid supplementation + 60 min of ex ercise before ingestion of the fat meal. Supplementation with n-3 fatty aci d significantly decreased baseline triglyceride (TG) concentrations but did not significantly affect PPL. The combination of n-3 fatty acid and exerci se had no effect on the postprandial TG response. The present study suggest s that n-3 fatty acid supplementation lowers resting TG concentrations but inhibits the beneficial effect of aerobic exercise on the postprandial TG r esponse.