Acute effect of exercise and low-fat diet on energy balance in heavy men

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To quantify the acute effect of the exercise-low-fat diet combination on energy balance compared with sedentarity and a high fat diet in overweight individuals. DESIGN AND MEASUREMENTS: We assessed the acute effect of exercise and ad libitum intake of low-fat foods on daily energy balance. Six heavy men participated in two randomly assigned sessions which required a 24 h stay in a whole body indirect calorimeter. Sessions were preceded by either a 60 min aerobic exercise at 50% V^.O₂ max or a 60 min rest. Subjects were fed a low-fat diet (mean FQ=0.89) after exercise and a mixed diet (mean FQ=0.85) after the resting period. RESULTS: The difference in energy balance between the two conditions was 7.3 MJ. About half of the effect was attributable to the energy surplus expended during exercise whereas the remaining fraction was explained by the difference in post-exercise energy balance. CONCLUSION: In heavy men, the combination of a low-fat diet and exercise has a strong acute effect on energy balance compared to a rest-mixed diet condition.