Exercise Prescription for Postprandial Glycemic Management.

The detrimental impacts of postprandial hyperglycemia on health are a critical concern, and exercise is recognized a pivotal tool in enhancing glycemic control after a meal. However, current exercise recommendations for managing postprandial glucose levels remain fairly broad and require deeper clarification. This review examines the existing literature aiming to offer a comprehensive guide for exercise prescription to optimize postprandial glycemic management. Specifically, it considers various exercise parameters (i.e., exercise timing, type, intensity, volume, pattern) for crafting exercise prescriptions. Findings predominantly indicate that moderate-intensity exercise initiated shortly after meals may substantially improve glucose response to a meal in healthy individuals and those with type 2 diabetes. Moreover, incorporating short activity breaks throughout the exercise session may provide additional benefits for reducing glucose response.

The Effects of Postprandial Walking on the Glucose Response after Meals with Different Characteristics.

We evaluated the effect of postprandial walking on the post-meal glycemic response after meals with different characteristics. Twenty-one healthy young volunteers participated in one of two randomized repeated measures studies. Study 1 (10 participants) assessed the effects of 30 min of brisk walking after meals with different carbohydrate (CHO) content (0.75 or 1.5 g of CHO per kg/body weight). Study 2 (11 participants) evaluated the effects of 30 min of brisk walking after consuming a mixed meal or a CHO drink matched for absolute CHO content (75 g). Postprandial brisk walking substantially reduced (p < 0.009) the glucose peak in both studies, with no significant differences across conditions. When evaluating the glycemic response throughout the two hours post-meal, postprandial walking was more effective after consuming a lower CHO content (Study 1), and similarly effective after a mixed meal or a CHO drink (Study 2), although higher glucose values were observed when consuming the CHO drink. Our findings show that a 30 min postprandial brisk walking session improves the glycemic response after meals with different CHO content and macronutrient composition, with implications for postprandial exercise prescription in daily life scenarios.

Walking Attenuates Postprandial Glycemic Response: What Else Can We Do without Leaving Home or the Office?

We evaluated the effects of different exercise types suitable for a home/work setting on the postprandial glucose response. Twenty-three healthy, active, young individuals performed one of two studies (12 in Study 1 and 11 in Study 2), with four randomized protocols each. After a meal high in carbohydrate content (1 g of carbohydrate per kg of body weight), in Study 1, participants performed 30 min of either walking (WALK), bench stepping exercise (STEP) or isometric wall squat (SQUAT); in Study 2, participants performed 30 min of either walking (WALK), neuromuscular electrical stimulation alone (P_NMES) or superimposed on voluntary muscle contraction (VC_NMES). In both studies, participants performed a prolonged sitting condition (CON) that was compared to the exercise sessions. In Study 1, WALK and STEP significantly reduced the glucose peak compared to CON (p < 0.011). In Study 2, the peak was significantly reduced in WALK compared to CON, P_NMES and VC_NMES (p < 0.011) and in VC_NMES compared to CON and P_NMES (p < 0.011). A significant reduction of 3 h glucose iAUC was found for WALK and VC_NMES compared to CON and P_NMES (p < 0.033). In conclusion, WALK is the most effective strategy for improving the postprandial glycemic response. However, STEP and VC_NMES can also be used for reducing postprandial glycemia.

Calcium oxide, potassium phosphite and a Trichoderma enriched compost water suspension protect Capsicum annuum against Phytophthora capsici by priming the immune system.

BACKGROUND: Proper management of Phytophthora capsici in pepper cultivation is extremely important, since Phytophthora blight is the main disease of this crop worldwide. In the past, the main strategy adopted had been the use of fungicides, causing, in some cases, the development of P. capsici resistant strains. In this work three different treatments selected from previous studies (potassium phosphite, calcium oxide and a water suspension from Trichoderma sp. TW2 enriched compost) were tested to prove their ability to activate the systemic acquired resistance (SAR) in pepper against P. capsici; acibenzolar-s-methyl was used as positive control. Two independent growth chamber pot experiments were performed, spatially dividing the site of treatments application (as radical drench) and the site of inoculation (as agar plug on the third leaf). RESULTS: Leaf lesions were measured, showing a significant reduction on all treated plants compared to the untreated control. To further confirm this hypothesis, the expression levels of three SAR key genes (CaPBR1, CaPO1 and CaDEF1) were evaluated though RT-Real Time PCR at the three end-point times: T0, T6 and T24. A significant increase of target genes expression at least in one end-point time in each treated plant was observed. Eventually, statistical overaccumulation of salicylic acid was observed in the upper leaves at the same end-point times, through HPLC-MS/MS analysis. CONCLUSION: This work confirmed the hypothesis that the three treatments tested have the ability to prime the plant immune system, leading pepper to an alert status able to confer a better defence against P. capsici. © 2021 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

The Effect of Different Postprandial Exercise Types on Glucose Response to Breakfast in Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes.

Postprandial exercise represents an important tool for improving the glycemic response to a meal. This study evaluates the effects of the combination and sequence of different exercise types on the postprandial glycemic response in patients with type 2 diabetes. In this repeated-measures crossover study, eight patients with type 2 diabetes performed five experimental conditions in a randomized order: (i) uninterrupted sitting (CON); (ii) 30 min of moderate intensity aerobic exercise (walking) (A); (iii) 30 min of combined aerobic and resistance exercise (AR); (iv) 30 min of combined resistance and aerobic exercise (RA); and (v) 15 min of resistance exercise (R). All the exercise sessions started 30 min after the beginning of a standardized breakfast. All the exercise conditions showed a significant attenuation of the post-meal glycemic excursion (P < 0.003) and the glucose incremental area under the curve at 0-120 min (P < 0.028) and 0-180 min (P < 0.048) compared with CON. A greater reduction in the glycemic peak was observed in A and AR compared to RA (P < 0.02). All the exercise types improved the post-meal glycemic response in patients with type 2 diabetes, with greater benefits when walking was performed alone or before resistance exercise.

Effects of exercise before and/or after a mixed lunch on postprandial metabolic responses in healthy male individuals.

PURPOSE: Exercise plays an important role in preventing and treating postprandial dysmetabolism. We investigated the postprandial metabolic responses to a standard lunch when a session of aerobic exercise is performed in the early postprandial phase or divided between the pre- and postprandial period. METHODS: Nine healthy volunteers consumed a standardised mixed lunch and rested for the following 3 h (Con) or performed 40 min of cycling at 65% V̇O2max after lunch (CPPEx), or two 20-min sessions, one before (SplitEx1) and the other after lunch (SplitEx2), at the same intensity. RESULTS: At 1-h post-lunch, a significant reduction (P < 0.001) in glycaemia was observed for CPPEx (- 25 ± 10%) and SplitEx (- 34 ± 7%) compared to Con. Yet, a post-exercise rebound lessened the exercise effect on the glycaemic area under the curve (AUC) at 2 and 3 h. At 1 h, a significant reduction (P < 0.009) in plasma insulin (SplitEx - 53 ± 31%; CCPEx - 48 ± 20%) and C-peptide (SplitEx - 57 ± 20%; CCPEx - 47 ± 24%) was observed compared to Con. Glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) increased after the meal, without differences between conditions. Compared with SplitEx1, cortisol response was attenuated during SplitEx2 and CPPEx. At 3 hours, triglyceride AUC was significantly higher (P = 0.039) in SplitEx compared to Con (+ 19 ± 8%). CONCLUSION: Forty minutes of postprandial exercise or 20 min of pre- and postprandial exercise are both effective at attenuating the glycaemic and insulinaemic response to a mixed lunch, while a higher lipaemia was found in the pre- and postprandrial exercise condition.

Effects of Different Exercise Strategies to Improve Postprandial Glycemia in Healthy Individuals.

PURPOSE: We systematically investigated the effects of different exercise strategies on postprandial glycemia. METHODS: Six randomized repeated-measures crossover studies were performed. Study 1 compared the effects of 60 min of brisk walking started at 30, 60, or 90 min after breakfast on postbreakfast and postlunch glycemic responses. Study 2 investigated the effects of 30 min of different exercise types (aerobic vs resistance vs combined). Study 3 compared the effects of 30 min of different aerobic exercise types (walking vs cycling vs elliptical). Study 4 evaluated the effects of 30 min of brisk walking performed 45 min before or 15 and 30 min after breakfast. Study 5 compared 30 with 45 min of postprandial brisk walking. Study 6 compared the effects of a total of 30 min brisk walking exercise fragmented in bouts of 15, 5, or 2.5 min performed every 15 min. RESULTS: Postprandial but not preprandial exercise improved glycemic response (studies 1 and 4). The glycemic peak was attenuated only when exercise started 15 min after the meal (study 4). A similar reduction of the postprandial glycemic response was observed with different exercise types (studies 2 and 3). Thirty and 45 min of brisk walking provided a similar reduction of the postprandial glucose response (study 5). When performing activity breaks, 10 and 20 min of cumulative exercise were sufficient to attenuate postprandial glycemia in the first hour postmeal (study 6). CONCLUSION: Our findings provide insight into how to choose timing, type, duration, and modality for postprandial exercise prescription in healthy individuals.

A Compost Treatment Acts as a Suppressive Agent in Phytophthora capsici - Cucurbita pepo Pathosystem by Modifying the Rhizosphere Microbiota.

Phytophthora capsici Leonian (PHC) is a filamentous pathogen oomycete that causes root, fruit, foliar and crown rot over a wide host range, including the economically and nutritionally important summer squash (Cucurbita pepo var. cylindrica L.) crop. PHC chemical control strategies are difficult to adopt, due to the limited number of registered chemicals that are permitted and the scalar harvest system. For these reasons, other strategies, such as the use of waste-based composts that can act as suppressive agents against several soilborne pathogens, have been studied intensively. It is well known that compost's microbiota plays an important role to confer its suppressive ability. In this study, four different composts were analyzed with both 16S rRNA gene and 18S rRNA gene real-time PCR amplification and with 26S gene amplicon-based sequencing; the total abundance of the bacterial and fungal communities was found to be higher compared to literature, thus confirming that the four composts were a good inoculum source for agricultural applications. The core mycobiota was mainly composed of 31 genera; nevertheless, it was possible to observe a clear predominance of the same few taxa in all the composts. The four composts were then tested, at different concentrations (1-10-20% v/v), to establish their ability to confer suppressiveness to the Phytophthora capsici (PHC) - Cucurbita pepo pathosystem in controlled greenhouse pot trials. A total of 12 compost mixtures were considered, and of these, one (Trichoderma-enriched compost at 10% v/v) was able to statistically reduce the disease incidence caused by PHC (by 50% compared to the untreated control). Hence, the microbiota composition of the most effective compost treatment was investigated and compared with untreated and chemical (metalaxyl) controls. Mycobiota sequencing showed genera differences between the three treatments, with relative abundances of several fungal genera that were significantly different among the samples. Moreover, PCA analyses clustered the compost treatment differently from the chemical and the untreated controls. These findings suggest that suppressive activity of a compost is strictly influenced by its microbiota and the applied dosage, but the ability to induce a shaping in the rhizosphere microbial composition is also required.