Studies have revealed that short-term increments of exercise could
help lower fats in the blood after eating a fatty meal. These findings
could be just the motivation for the people who claim they don't
have enough time to exercise need to get moving.
One expert stated that merely performing 10-minute exercise bouts
for at least 30 minutes a day would work on lowering fats in the
blood as opposed to no exercise at all. Not enough hours in the
day to exercise no longer holds as a valid excuse as these short
10-minute bursts of exercise have proven to help prevent cardiovascular
disease.
Experts also noted that taking a leisurely stroll around the block
wouldn't qualify as meeting this cardiovascular benefit. Instead,
they suggested walking at a moderate pace or taking a light jog.
The negative cardiovascular consequences of eating a high-fat meal
happens when there is an abnormally high increase in fat, a condition
known as postprandial lipemia, which has been linked to increasing
the risk of heart disease.
Researchers tested the effects of short-term exercise in a study
on 18 men and women who didn't follow a daily exercise routine.
The participants were given a high-fat meal consisting of a milk
shake with heavy whipping cream on three separate occasions for
the next few weeks.
The duration of exercise before meals were divided into three categories:
- The participants exercised continuously for 30 minutes
- The participants exercised for 30 minutes in three 10-minute
increments
- The participants didn't exercise at all
Before and several times after each meal measurements of triglycerides
and other blood fats were taken.
Overall, total cholesterol levels remained the same, however it
did appear that triglyceride levels were less pronounced after a
bout of exercise as opposed to no exercise at all. This led researchers
to believe that exercise did have a positive influence on keeping
triglyceride levels from rising after a high-fat meal.
Yahoo
News August 16, 2004
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