Abstract
We examined the short-term effects (16–32 days) of a low-carbohydrate high-fat diet (LC-HFD) with and without daily exercise on body weight development, body composition and endocrine parameters in both young adult and adult male Wistar rats. In the absence of daily exercise (study 1) a lack of body weight gain was observed in younger animals consuming the LC-HFD for 16 days in comparison to those maintained on standard laboratory chow (CH) (12.41±3.27g versus 53.28±3.14g, p<0.05). In older heavier animals LC-HFD led to body weight loss (-15.9±3.24g versus 25.25±3.01g, p<0.05). When the animals were exposed to daily activity (forced running wheel) for 21 days (study 2a, b) and maintained on either CH or the LC-HFD for 31 days, a lack of body weight gain was observed in animals maintained on LC-HFD (young adult rats 71.1±6.3g versus 123.8±6.8g, p<0.05, adults rats 20.7±3.9g versus 43.4±8.7g, p<0.05). NMR scans(study 2a) revealed that the LC-HFD fed rats had significantly more body fat in comparison to the CH group (23.8±1.4% versus 15.2±0.7%, p<0.05), whereas body volume did not differ between the two groups (p>0.05). Fat pad extraction (study 2b) confirmed these findings, total body fat was higher in the LC-HFD rats in comparison to the CH group (9.4±0.5g versus 7.1±0.5g, p<0.05). In LC-HFD fed rats IGF-I concentrations were consistently lower (p<0.05) as were insulin concentrations (p<0.05). In addition increased leptin levels were found in LC-HFD-fed rats (p<0.05). From these investigations it seems that consuming a LC-HFD may not act favorably on lean body mass preservation or accretion. It appears that consuming a LC-HFD diet is effective in terms of body weight loss, yet the results also suggest detrimental effects for the development or maintenance of lean body tissue. The disruptions to the GH-IGF-I axis observed might, in part, be a potential mechanism underlying the impact of such diets on body composition.
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