Exercise: Brisk Walk Can Counter Effect of Fatty Meals [NYT]
By NICHOLAS BAKALAR
Published: September 5, 2006
Eating a high-fat meal has a negative health effect that can be immediately measured: it lowers flow mediated dilation — the ability of blood vessels to expand and contract in response to increased blood flow. But a small study suggests that there is a way to counteract the effect: vigorous aerobic exercise within two hours of the meal.
In previous studies, researchers have found that blood vessel function is impaired for up to six hours after a high-fat meal, with the peak of dysfunction occurring about four hours after eating. This postprandial effect is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
In this study, which appears online in The European Journal of Applied Physiology, researchers tested eight healthy 25-year-olds. First, the subjects ate a no-fat 945-calorie breakfast and did no exercise afterward. A few days later, they ate a 940-calorie meal with 69 grams of fat. Again, they did not exercise. Finally, they ate the same high-fat meal, but two hours later they did a brisk 45-minute walk on a treadmill. Flow mediated dilation was measured before and four hours after each regimen.
Unsurprisingly, flow mediated dilation was significantly lower after the high-fat meal. But when subjects exercised after the high-fat meal, the dilation was even higher than after the low-fat meal.
Janet P. Wallace, a professor of kinesiology at Indiana University, was the study’s lead author. She and her fellow authors acknowledge that the study sample was limited to eight healthy young adults. But the effect was statistically highly significant, suggesting a meaningful treatment effect.
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