The benefits of exercise can be greatly affected by the food we eat after it, a new study says. “Differences in what you eat after exercise produce different effects on the body’s metabolism,” said the senior study author, Jeffrey F. Horowitz of the University of Michigan (U-M).

The study follows up on several previous studies that demonstrate that many benefits of exercise are transient: one exercise session produces benefits to the body that taper off, generally within hours or a few days.

“Many of the improvements in metabolic health associated with exercise stem largely from the most recent session of exercise, rather than from an increase in ‘fitness’ per se,” Horowitz said.

“But exercise doesn’t occur in a vacuum, and it is very important to look at both the effects of exercise and what you’re eating after exercise,” he said.

Specifically, the study found that exercise enhanced insulin sensitivity, particularly when meals eaten after the exercise session contained relatively low carbohydrate content.

Enhanced insulin sensitivity means that it is easier for the body to take up sugar from the blood stream into tissues like muscles, where it can be stored or used as fuel. Impaired insulin sensitivity (i.e., “insulin resistance”) is a hallmark of Type II diabetes, as well as being a major risk factor for other chronic diseases, such as heart disease.

But the study also found that one does not have to starve after exercise to reap its benefits. The study is based on healthy sedentary men, aged between 28 and 30 years, said a U-M release. Zeenews

Mild exercise can significantly reduce the risk of early death from heart disease, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Medicine.

Just half an hour of jogging or riding a bike three times a week reduced the risk of early death by 60 percent, the research found.

Heart disease is the largest killer in the United States, and the number of people suffering from the condition is expected to rise as the population ages and obesity rates increase.

The study found that the most significant gains were realized in patients who were also stressed.  Researchers believe this is due to the fact that stress can quadruple the risk of death in those with heart and circulation problems.

In these patients, exercise can offer the double benefit of reducing stress levels while also improving cardiovascular health.

“Exercise reduces mortality in patients with coronary artery disease…in part because of the effects on psycho­social stress,” the researchers said.

Heart patients are typically put on drugs such as statins, which lower cholesterol levels, and blood pressure medication to reduce the risk of death from strokes, heart attacks and heart disease.

Previous studies have demonstrated a variety of life-extending benefits from exercise, including a reduced risk of cancer, heart disease and neurological disorders and slower rates of death and disability.

These benefits are due to the ability of exercise to improve the health of hearts and arteries, strengthen bones, lessen inflammation, boost the immune system and improve thinking, learning and memory.

The latest study, conducted by the Department of Cardiology in New Orleans, describes just how much these simple alterations can increase lifespan.

The researchers followed 522 cardiac patients, including 53 with high stress levels and 27 control patients who also had high stress levels but went without cardiac rehabilitation.

The patients were offered 12 weeks of exercise classes, which included a 10 minute warm-up, 30 to 40 minutes of aerobic exercise such as jogging, walking or rowing, and 10 minutes of stretching.   The classes were conducted three times per week, with participants asked to do an additional one-to-three sessions each week on their own.  The patients were also advised on lifestyle and diet improvements.

Researchers followed the group for up to six years, and found that those who became more fit were 60 percent less likely to die during the follow up period.

The exercise also helped reduce stress levels among the participants, with 10 percent of patients being stressed prior to the fitness regime but less than 5 percent being stressed after the program.  This in turn lowered the death rate for these patients by 20 percent.

Since the patients’ weight remained fairly constant throughout the study, the benefits were most likely derived from exercise alone.

Health advocated embraced the study, saying the research further confirmed the benefits of exercise.

“This study proves once again that exercise has both psychological and physical benefits for patients with heart disease,” said the British Heart Foundation in an interview with Britain’s Daily Express.

“Health authorities must ensure that all suitable heart patients are offered cardiac rehabilitation.”

“Structured, well-resourced programs have been shown to improve physical and psychological wellbeing and reduce mortality.” redOrbit

As little as 80 minutes a week of aerobic or resistance training helps not only to prevent weight gain, but also to inhibit a regain of harmful visceral fat one year after weight loss, according to a new study.

Unlike subcutaneous fat that lies just under the skin and is noticeable, visceral fat lies in the abdominal cavity under the abdominal muscle.

Visceral fat is more dangerous than subcutaneous fat because it often surrounds vital organs. The more visceral fat one has, the greater is the chance of developing Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

In the study, Gary Hunter, from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Human Studies, and his team randomly assigned 45 European-American and 52 African-American women to three groups: aerobic training, resistance training or no exercise.

All of the participants were placed on an 800 calorie-a-day diet and lost an average 24 pounds. Researchers then measured total fat, abdominal subcutaneous fat and visceral fat for each participant. Afterward, participants in the two exercise groups were asked to continue exercising 40 minutes twice a week for one year.

After a year, the study’s participants were divided into five groups: those who maintained aerobic exercise training, those who stopped aerobic training, those who maintained their resistance training, those who stopped resistance training and those who were never placed on an exercise regimen.

“What we found was that those who continued exercising, despite modest weight regains, regained zero percent visceral fat a year after they lost the weight. But those who stopped exercising, and those who weren’t put on any exercise regimen at all, averaged about a 33 percent increase in visceral fat,” Hunter said.

“Because other studies have reported that much longer training durations of 60 minutes a day are necessary to prevent weight regain, it’s not too surprising that weight regain was not totally prevented in this study. It’s encouraging, however, that this relatively small [amount] of exercise was sufficient to prevent visceral fat gain,” Hunter added. DNA India

Effect of a multimodal high intensity exercise intervention in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy: Randomized controlled trial

Supervised exercise programs that include high and low intense cardiovascular and resistance training can help reduce fatigue in patients with cancer who are undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy or treatment for advanced disease. The exercise training also improves patients’ vitality, muscular strength, aerobic capacity and emotional well-being, according to research published on bmj.com today.

However, the research also concludes that the mixed high and low intense exercise program does not improve the overall quality of life for these patients.

An increasing number of cancer patients are being treated with chemotherapy, either given alone or with surgery and/or radiotherapy. While chemotherapy treatments have improved, patients still suffer from side-effects, including nausea, vomiting, pain, insomnia, appetite loss and fatigue. Surveys show that fatigue is one of the most frequent and burdensome side-effects, says the study.

Lead author, Professor Lis Adamsen from Copenhagen University Hospitals, says this is one of the first studies to examine how a mixed intensity exercise program affects individuals undergoing chemotherapy.

Two hundred and sixty nine cancer patients took part in the study across two hospitals in Copenhagen, 196 participants were female and 73 were male. The ages ranged from 20 to 65, with an average age of 47. The study included 21 different diagnoses of cancer.

The exercise training included high and low intensity cardiovascular and resistance training, relaxation and body awareness and massage. Participants in the study group received nine hours of weekly training for six weeks in addition to conventional care.

Established research criteria were used to rate patients’ views at the end of the study. The results show that patients who took part in the study experienced significantly less fatigue than the group who did not undergo exercise training, and even patients with advanced disease could benefit.

Although male patients participated, there was a clear majority of female patients, and exercise training should be developed with greater appeal to male patients, add the authors.

Despite the failure to improve overall health status, they conclude that “there is a considerable rationale for promoting multimodal exercise interventions to improve physical capacity, vitality, physical and mental well-being and relieving fatigue during chemotherapy; thereby supporting cancer patients’ daily living activities.” By redOrbit.