CompletedNot Applicable

Postprandial Metabolic and Appetite Responses to Different Food Intake Sequences in Athletes

Portugal14 participantsStarted 2024-04-22

Plain-language summary

Emerging evidence suggests that following a 'carbohydrate-last meal pattern', wherein foods rich in protein, fat, fiber, and/or polyphenols are consumed before sources of simple carbohydrate (CHO) in a meal, results in reduced postprandial glycaemic responses than the reverse food order or a co-ingestion pattern. This effect has been observed across the spectrum of glucose tolerance, from patients with diabetes to individuals with normal glucose tolerance (Kuwata et al., 2016; Nishino et al., 2018; Lu et al., 2019; Sun et al., 2020). Furthermore, reduced glucose excursions have been linked to decreased subsequent hunger and energy intake (Lu et al., 2019; Wyatt et al., 2021). However, to date, no studies on food intake sequence have targeted athletes, despite their increased CHO demands (Thomas et al., 2016) which could expose them to repeated episodes of hyperglycaemia and high glycaemic variability, known to increase the risk of adverse cardiovascular outcomes and all-cause mortality (Loader et al., 2015; Cavero-Redondo et al., 2017; Faerch et al., 2018). Additionally, athletes often face pressure to meet body composition standards and may benefit from strategies that enhance satiety and craving control. Finally, there is reason to believe that better glycaemic control could lead to improved performance, given that enhancements in endurance activities have been observed with a low-glycemic-index diet compared to a high-glycemic-index diet (Heung-Sang Wong et al., 2017). Therefore, this randomised crossover trial is part of a wider project which seeks to explore the impact of food intake sequence on metabolic health and performance in athletes. Specifically, this trial aims to investigate the acute, postprandial metabolic and appetite responses to consuming an identical meal in two intake sequences (CHO-last versus CHO-first) in athletes, while in the resting state.

Who can participate

Age range18 Years – 64 Years

SexMALE

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AI-rewrites the medical criteria so a patient or caregiver can understand them. Always confirm with the trial site.

Inclusion Criteria: * Adult (18-64 years old) * Male * Trained (meeting training and performance caliber criteria ≥Tier 2; McKay et al., 2022) * Healthy (meeting the exclusion criteria for medical conditions) * Normal glucose tolerant according to the latest criteria established by the American Diabetes Association (ElSayed et al., 2023): HbA1c \<5.7%, fasting plasma glucose \<5.6 mmol/L (100 mg/dL) and 2-h plasma glucose \<7.8 mmol/L (140 mg/dL) during a 75-g OGTT * Able and willing to provide informed consent and safely comply with study procedures Exclusion Criteria: * Any medical condition or behaviour deemed either to pose undue personal risk to the participant or introduce bias into the experiment (e.g. anaemia and other haematological disorders; alcohol or substance abuse; any condition affecting the glucose and lipid metabolism or appetite, reviewed on a case by case basis) * Any reported medication or supplementation that may interfere with the glucose metabolism (e.g., acarbose, insulin, metformin, semaglutide, thiazolidinediones, sulfonylureas, corticosteroids, thiazide diuretics); lipid metabolism (e.g., statins, nicotinic acid, colestyramine anhydrous, ezetimibe, fibrates, L-carnitine); or appetite (e.g., metoclopramide, carbamazepine, phenobarbital, phenytoin, primidone). Other medication and supplementation will be reviewed on a case by case basis. * Known food allergy, intolerance or hypersensitivity to any of the test-meal ingredients * Recent change in bo…

What they're measuring

Postprandial blood glucose concentrations

Timeframe: Baseline and 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, 180 minutes following the test meal

Trial details

NCT IDNCT06365385

SponsorUniversidade do Porto

Sponsor typeOTHER

Study typeINTERVENTIONAL

Primary completion2024-12-16