Volume 90, Issue 6, December (2003), pp. 1049-1056 © The Author 2003
doi:10.1079/BJN20031006

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The influence of high-carbohydrate meals with different glycaemic indices on substrate utilisation during subsequent exercise

Ching-Lin Wu¹, Ceri Nicholas¹, Clyde Williams¹, Alison Took¹, Lucy Hardy^1
1Sports and Exercise Nutrition Research Group, School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Loughborough University, Leicester, UK

 (Received 28 October 2002–Revised 9 July 2003–Accepted 18 August 2003)

The present study was designed to examine the effects of mixed high-carbohydrate meals with different glycaemic indices (GI) on substrate utilization during subsequent exercise. Nine healthy male recreational runners (age 26·8 (sem 1·1) years, body mass 74·7 (sem 2·4) kg, VO₂max 58·1 (sem 1·7) ml/kg per min) completed three trials: high-glycaemic-index meal (HGI), low-glycaemic-index meal (LGI) and fasting (FAST), separated by 7 d. The test meals contained 2 g carbohydrate/kg body mass, they were isoenergetic and the GI values were 77·4, 36·9 and 0·0 respectively. In each trial, subjects consumed the test meal 3 h before performing a 60 min run at 65 % VO₂max on a motorized treadmill. Ingestion of the HGI and LGI resulted in hyperglycaemia and hyperinsulinaemia during the postprandial period compared with the FAST (P<0·05). The incremental area under the curve for plasma glucose was 2-fold higher for HGI compared with LGI (108·7 v. 48·9 mmol/l per min). In contrast, plasma non-esterified fatty acid concentrations were significantly lower following HGI and LGI compared with FAST (P<0·05). During the subsequent submaximal exercise, plasma glucose declined to below the fasting value in HGI compared with LGI and FAST (P<0·05). The estimated total fat oxidation was significantly higher for the LGI than the HGI during exercise (P<0·05). In summary, both pre-exercise carbohydrate meals resulted in lower rates of fat oxidation during subsequent exercise than when subjects performed exercise in the fasting state. However, the LGI resulted in a higher rate of fat oxidation during exercise than following the consumption of the HGI.

Keywords:
Glucose, Insulin, Fat oxidation, Carbohydrate oxidation

Abbreviations:
CHO, carbohydrate, FAST, water only meal, GI, glycaemic index, HGI, high-glycaemic-index meal, LGI, low-glycaemic-index meal, NEFA, non-esterified fatty acid, VO₂max, maximal oxygen uptake