The chronic effect of physical activity on postprandial triglycerides in postmenopausal women: A randomized controlled study

Background/Objective: This study examined the chronic effect of increased physical activity on postprandial triglycerides in older women. Methods: Twenty-six women, aged 72 +/- 5 years (mean +/- SD), participated in this study. Participants in the physical activity group (n = 11) were asked to increase their activities above their usual lifestyle levels for 12 weeks. Participants in the control group (n = 15) maintained their usual lifestyle for 12 weeks. All participants rested and consumed a standardized breakfast after a 24-h period of physical activity avoidance at baseline, 4 weeks, and 12 weeks. Blood samples were collected in the fasted state (0 h) and at 2, 4, and 6 h after breakfast. Results: The average increased time spent in self-selected activities per day was 1.1 +/- 19.3 min over the 12 weeks compared with the baseline in the physical activity group. There was no difference in the postprandial time-averaged triglyceride area under the curve at baseline (1.59 +/- 0.81 vs. 1.39 +/- 0.67 mmol/L, p = 0.515) or over the 12-week intervention (1.78 +/- 1.00 vs. 1.31 +/- 0.67 mmol/L, p = 0.212) between the physical activity and control groups. Conclusion: Postprandial triglyceride concentrations were not reduced after performing self-selected activities under free-living conditions in older women when these responses were determined 24 h after the last physical activity bout. (Trial registration ID: UMIN000037420). (c) 2021 The Society of Chinese Scholars on Exercise Physiology and Fitness. Published by Elsevier (Singapore) Pte Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).