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Exercise‐ and metabolism‐associated blood variables in Standardbreds fed either a low‐ or a high‐fat diet
Author(s) -
OLDRUITENBORGHOOSTERBAAN M. M. SLOET,
ANNEE M. P.,
VERDEGAAL E. J. M. M.,
LEMMENS A. G.,
BEYNEN A. C.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
equine veterinary journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.82
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 2042-3306
pISSN - 0425-1644
DOI - 10.1111/j.2042-3306.2002.tb05387.x
Subject(s) - medicine , endocrinology , horse , glycogen , chemistry , sodium , metabolism , cholesterol , zoology , treadmill , dry matter , biology , paleontology , organic chemistry
Summary Feeding a high‐fat diet increases fat utilisation and may decrease glycogen utilisation resulting in a lower lactate production during moderate exercise. The effects of fat feeding on exercise‐ and lipid metabolism‐associated blood variables were evaluated in 6 Standardbred horses during submaximal exercise. The horses were fed a high‐ (11.8% fat in total dietary dry matter) or a low‐fat diet (1.5% fat) in a cross‐over experiment with feeding periods of 4 weeks. At the end of each feeding period, the horses were subjected to a submaximal standardised stepwise exercise test on a treadmill. Blood samples were obtained prior to the start, during the last 10 s of each exercise step, and after recovery (40 min walking in hand). Pre‐exercise test values for plasma lactate, pH, pCO 2 , ionised sodium, ionised potassium, ionised calcium, ionised chloride, glucose, nonesterified fatty acids and glycerol did not differ for the 2 diets. The pre‐exercise concentration of triacylglycerols was significantly lower on the high‐ compared to the low‐fat diet (mean ± s.d. 0.17 ± 0.06 and 0.23 ± 0.08 mmol/l, respectively), whereas the concentrations of cholesterol (3.00 ± 0.47 and 2.11 ± 0.49 mmol/l, respectively), HDL cholesterol (1.80 ± 0.18 and 1.35 ± 0.27 mmol/l, respectively) and phospholipids (2.30 ± 0.11 and 1.72 ± 0.20 mmol/l, respectively) were significantly higher. There was significantly less plasma lactate accumulation during exercise when the horses were given the high‐fat diet (P = 0.011). Horses on a low‐fat diet had significantly different plasma lipid values when compared to being on a high‐fat diet. The alterations in these values during and after moderate exercise were comparable for both diets. These results indicate that fat metabolism is significantly adapted on a high‐fat diet; feeding such a diet may enhance potential performance by delaying lactate accumulation and thereby delaying the onset of fatigue.