The Effects of a High Carbohydrate Diet on Cortisol and Salivary Immunoglobulin A (s-IgA) During a Period of Increase Exercise Workload Amongst Olympic and Ironman Triathletes
Abstract
The present study observed the effects of a 6-day high carbohydrate (H-CHO) diet on salivary cortisol and IgA during a period of increased exercise workload. Thirty-two competitively trained male triathletes were randomly allocated into a self-selected (SS), or an H-CHO (12 g CHO kgbm (-1) . day (-1)) dietary group. In addition to their training regimes, all subjects performed a 1-hour running exercise bout at 70 % V.O (2max) . d (-1), for six days. Saliva samples were taken pre, immediately post, and morning post-exercise bout on days 1, 4, and 6. The concentrations of s-IgA and cortisol were determined by ELISA assays. There was a significant (p < 0.001) interaction between Group x Time for cortisol, with a marked increase in concentrations occurring in the SS dietary group pre to post exercise, and pre to morning post-exercise (p < 0.01). Conversely, a significant (p = 0.009) Group x Time interaction reflected higher post exercise s-IgA concentrations (p < 0.005) than pre exercise in the H-CHO diet group. Blood glucose concentration decreased pre to post exercise in the SS diet group (p < 0.01), whilst remaining stable in the H-CHO group. It is concluded that the consumption of a high CHO diet throughout a 6-day period of overtraining had a favourable effect on markers of immune activity and thereby reduced the susceptibility of these endurance athletes to upper respiratory tract infection URTI.
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Repetitive daily training in the face of a reduction in CHO availability may increase susceptibility to illness.
“Additionally, repetitive daily training in the face of a reduction in CHO availability (so as to reduce pre-exercise muscle glycogen concentration) may increase susceptibility to illness [53].”
From Fuel for the Work Required: A Theoretical Framework for Carbohydrate Periodization and the Glycogen Threshold Hypothesis (2018) · cites this paper as [53]
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- Authors
- Costa, R. J. S., Jones, G. E., Lamb, K. L., Coleman, R., & Williams, J. H. H.
- Affiliations
- University of Chester (GB)
- Venue
- International Journal of Sports Medicine
- Publisher
- Georg Thieme Verlag KG
- Published
- 2005-04
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 880-885
- ISSN
- 0172-4622 (ISSN-L)
- 1439-3964
- OpenAlex
- W1992211659
- Cited by
- 62
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 0.71
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- de
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- International Journal of Sports Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- ChesterRep (University of Chester) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Rehabilitation › Exercise and Physiological Responses
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Orthopedics and Sports Medicine › Sports Performance and Training
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Muscle metabolism and nutrition
- Keywords
- high-carbohydrate diet, salivary cortisol, salivary IgA, triathletes, upper respiratory tract infection, immune function, endurance athletes, blood glucose, running
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Blood Glucose, Energy Intake, Dietary Carbohydrates, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Immunoglobulin A, Male, Physical Endurance, Saliva, Time Factors, Exercise
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