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The effect of meal content on heart rate variability and cardiovascular reactivity at rest and during acute stress
Author(s) -
Sauder Katherine A,
Johnston Elyse R,
SkulasRay Ann C,
Thayer Julian F,
Campbell Tavis S,
West Sheila G
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.25.1_supplement.777.19
Subject(s) - rest (music) , meal , cardiology , medicine , heart rate , blood pressure
Excessive sympathetic nervous system activity is an important contributor to hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a non‐invasive method used to index sympathetic and parasympathetic influence on the heart. We examined whether HRV and cardiovascular reactivity could be influenced by type and amount of fat in a sample of healthy young adults (n=20). In a randomized, repeated measures, crossover study, blood samples, resting HRV, and resting hemodynamics were collected before and two hours after participants consumed each of three test meals. After the resting measurements, two stress tasks (simulated public speech and cold pressor test) were administered. No postprandial changes in resting HRV were observed; however, low frequency HRV power during acute stress was 0.12–0.16 ms 2 higher after the HIGH meal compared to LOW and FLAX (p<0.05). Two hours after the meal, we observed significant decreases in resting diastolic blood pressure, total peripheral resistance, and pre‐ejection period (all p<0.0001), while cardiac output, stroke volume, and heart rate increased (all p<0.0001). Stroke volume during acute stress was significantly greater after the HIGH meal compared to the FLAX meal (p<0.01). Thus, it is important for researchers to control for both time from last meal and meal content when conducting tests of autonomic function. Grant Funding Source : Flax Council of Canada