We recently showed that a short-term high-fat diet blunted exercise performance in rats, accompanied by increased uncoupling protein levels and greater respiratory uncoupling. In this study, we investigated the effects of a similar diet on physical and cognitive performance in humans. Twenty sedentary men were assessed when consuming a standardized, nutritionally balanced diet (control) and after 7 d of consuming a diet comprising 74% kcal from fat. Efficiency was measured during a standardized exercise task, and cognition was assessed using a computerized assessment battery. Skeletal muscle mitochondrial function was measured using ³¹ P magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The diet increased mean ± SE plasma free fatty acids by 44% (0.32±0.03 vs. 0.46±0.05 mM; P < 0.05) and decreased whole-body efficiency by 3% (21±1 vs. 18±1%; P < 0.05), although muscle uncoupling protein (UCP3) content and maximal mitochondrial function were unchanged. High-fat diet consumption also increased subjects' simple reaction times (P < 0.01) and decreased power of attention (P < 0.01). Thus, we have shown that a high-fat diet blunts wholebody efficiency and cognition in sedentary men. We suggest that this effect may be due to increased respiratory uncoupling.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	exercise, magnetic resonance, mitochondria, nutrition
Research Division:	Biomedical and Clinical Sciences
Research Group:	Medical physiology
Research Field:	Systems physiology
Objective Division:	Expanding Knowledge
Objective Group:	Expanding knowledge
Objective Field:	Expanding knowledge in the health sciences
UTAS Author:	Edwards, LM (Dr Lindsay Edwards)
ID Code:	119304
Year Published:	2011
Web of Science® Times Cited:	86
Deposited By:	Medicine
Deposited On:	2017-07-31
Last Modified:	2017-07-31
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