The Effects of Dietary Oleic Acid and Endurance Exercise On Metabolic Syndrome in Men
Investigators: Stephen Smith, Ph.D., Rosemary Walzem, Ph.D., Stephen Crouse, Ph.D., Thomas Meade, M.D., John Green, Ph.D., Wade Womack, M.S.
Partially Funded by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association
The study investigated the possibility that a single session of endurance exercise combined with the ingestion of beef of varying oleic acid content will act synergistically to alter components of the metabolic syndrome, thereby reducing cardiovascular disease risk. It was hypothesized that this would be accomplished by the oleic acid and exercise synergistically altering lipid profiles, improving blood pressures, and improving pro-inflammatory and pro-thrombotic states.
The project was conducted from 14 January 2006 until 14 August 2006. Presently all data is being analyzed and a final report is being formatted for submission to the International Journal of Sports Nutrition. Investigators involved in this project have also submitted research abstracts to the Texas Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine, the International American College of Sports Medicine Conference, as well as research competitions affiliated with Texas A&M University. Other manuscripts and presentations are pending.
Thirteen apparently healthy men were recruited for the study. The mean group characteristics on entry to study were: Age = 35.4 ± 11.6 yr, Height = 71.3 ± 3.3 in, Weight = 205.6 ± 28.6 lb, % Fat = 29.5 ± 8.7, and VO2PEAK = 3.7 ± 0.1 L·min-1. Each of the 13 subjects completed two-five week diets containing different monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) to saturated fatty acid (SFA) ratios with a four week washout period between diets. During the 5th week of each diet, subjects had venous blood drawn for analysis of lipids and lipoproteins. Immediately following blood draws, all subjects either walked or ran on a treadmill at 70% VO2PEAK to expend 400 kcals. Twenty-four hours after each treadmill session each subject repeated the blood draws. Data were analyzed using an appropriate repeated measures statistical model. Results demonstrated that the HDL-Cholesterol, HDL2-Cholesterol, and HDL3-Cholesterol response to acute endurance exercise is dependent on the dietary MUFA:SFA ratio in apparently healthy men. Specifically, the diet with a higher MUFA:SFA ratio resulted in an acute increase in HDL-Cholesterol, HDL2-Cholesterol, and HDL3-Cholesterol; whereas, the lower MUFA:SFA ratio resulted in a acute decrease in HDL-Cholesterol, HDL2-Cholesterol, and HDL3-Cholesterol.
