Metabolic adaptations to a high-fat diet in endurance cyclists
Abstract
We examined the time course of metabolic adaptations to 15 days of a high-fat diet (HFD). Sixteen endurance-trained cyclists were assigned randomly to a control (CON) group, who consumed their habitual diet (30% +/- 8% mJ fat), or a HFD group, who consumed a high-fat isocaloric diet (69% +/- 1% mJ fat). At 5-day intervals, the subjects underwent an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT); on the next day, they performed a 2.5-hour constant-load ride at 70% peak oxygen consumption (VO2peak), followed by a simulated 40-km cycling time-trial while ingesting a 10% 14C-glucose + 3.44% medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) emulsion at a rate of 600 mL/h. In the OGTT, plasma glucose concentrations at 30 minutes increased significantly after 5 days of the HFD and remained elevated at days 10 and 15 versus the levels measured prior to the HFD (P < .05). The activity of carnitine acyltransferase (CAT) in biopsies of the vastus lateralis muscle also increased from 0.45 to 0.54 micromol/g/min over days 0 to 10 of the HFD (P < .01) without any change in citrate synthase (CS) or 3-hydroxyacyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase (3-HAD) activities. Changes in glucose tolerance and CAT activity were associated with a shift from carbohydrate (CHO) to fat oxidation during exercise (P < .001), which occurred within 5 to 10 days of the HFD. During the constant-load ride, the calculated oxidation of muscle glycogen was reduced from 1.5 to 1.0 g/min (P < .001) after 15 days of the HFD. Ingestion of a HFD for as little as 5 to 10 days significantly altered substrate utilization during submaximal exercise but did not attenuate the 40-km time-trial performance.
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Robust retooling of muscle to increase fat oxidation occurs in 5 d, with no further enhancement after this period.
“The initial study was planned in view of pre-existing data that robust retooling of muscle to increase fat oxidation occurs in 5 d, with no further enhancement after this period [12]”
The protocol exceeded the period shown by several different laboratories to achieve robust cellular retooling to maximise rates of muscle fat oxidation, as well as achieve training-associated performance changes.
“However, as detailed in Table 1, our protocol exceeded the period shown by several different laboratories [12–15] to achieve robust cellular retooling to maximise rates of muscle fat oxidation, as well as achieve training-associated performance changes [30].”
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- Authors
- Goedecke, J. H., Christie, C., Wilson, G., Dennis, S. C., Noakes, T. D., Hopkins, W. G., & Lambert, E. V.
- Affiliations
- University of Cape Town (ZA)
- Corresponding author
- Goedecke, Julia H.
- Venue
- Metabolism
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 1999-12
- Volume
- 48
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 1509-1517
- ISSN
- 0026-0495 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2012577161
- Cited by
- 153
- References
- 41
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 1.06
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Metabolism (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Muscle metabolism and nutrition
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Cardiovascular and exercise physiology
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Orthopedics and Sports Medicine › Sports Performance and Training
- Keywords
- high-fat diet, endurance cyclists, metabolic adaptation, glucose tolerance, carnitine acyltransferase, fat oxidation, carbohydrate oxidation, medium-chain triglycerides, 14C-glucose, time trial performance, substrate utilization, vastus lateralis
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Physiological, Adult, Bicycling, Blood, Dietary Carbohydrates, Dietary Fats, Glucose Tolerance Test, Humans, Male, Osmolar Concentration, Physical Endurance, Muscle, Skeletal
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