The effect of prior exercise on postprandial lipaemia

Coronary heart disease (CHD) remains the primary cause of death in the United Kingdom today and postprandial lipaemia (exaggerated elevation of the plasma triacylglycerol (TAG) concentration after intake of a fat-containing meal) is gaining recognition as an independent CHD risk factor. This thesis provides an overview of the effect that single bouts of exercise can exert on postprandial lipaemia. The conclusions from the experimental chapters within this thesis are that: prior moderate exercise reduces the lipaemia associated with moderate and high fat meals to a very similar extent in percentage terms; a single session of resistance exercise does not lower postprandial TAG concentrations in overweight, sedentary men, regardless of exercise intensity; ad libitum energy intake is not significantly increased on the morning after a brisk walk, with the exercise-induced lowering of lipaemia akin to percentage reductions from studies where fixed size meals were given; and aerobic exercise which lowers postprandial lipaemia, also increases postprandial hepatic portal vein and femoral artery blood flow. The general message from this thesis is that moderate-intensity aerobic exercise should be advocated as a strategy to lower cardiovascular disease risk, based on experimental evidence that postprandial lipaemia is consistently reduced after single bouts of brisk walking