Beneficial effects of combined olive oil ingestion and acute exercise on postprandial TAG concentrations in healthy young women

Abstract

Foods high in monounsaturated fat, such as olive oil, and endurance exercise are both known to independently reduce postprandial TAG concentrations. We examined the combined effects of exercise and dietary fat composition on postprandial TAG concentrations in nine healthy pre-menopausal females (age 26·8 (sd 3·3) years, BMI 22·3 (sd 2·0) kg/m2). Each participant completed four, 2 d trials in a randomised order: (1) butter–no exercise, (2) olive oil–no exercise, (3) butter–exercise, (4) olive oil–exercise. On day 1 of the exercise trials, participants walked or ran on a treadmill for 60 min. On the no-exercise trials, participants rested on day 1. On day 2 of each trial, participants rested and consumed an olive oil meal (saturated fat 15 % and unsaturated fat 85 %) or a butter meal (saturated fat 71 % and unsaturated fat 29 %) for breakfast. Venous blood samples were obtained in the fasted state and for 6 h postprandially on day 2. A significant main effect on physical activity (exercise or control) was obtained for plasma TAG concentration (three-way ANOVA, P = 0·043), and the total area under the concentration v. time curve for TAG was 26 % lower on the olive oil–exercise trial (4·40 (sd 0·40) mmol × 6 h/l) than the butter–no exercise trial (5·91 (sd 1·01) mmol × 6 h/l) (one-way ANOVA, P = 0·029). These findings suggest that the combination of exercise and a preference for monounsaturated dietary fat intake in the form of olive oil may be most beneficial for reducing postprandial TAG concentrations.