March 29, 2024 01:07 (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
PM Modi has mastered art of manipulating democracy, hurting Constitution: Mallikarjun Kharge | Mafia-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari dies of cardiac arrest at 63 | NIA arrests key conspirator in Bengaluru cafe blast case | Actor Govinda returns to politics after 14 years of 'vanvas', joins Eknath Shinde camp | 'To browbeat and bully others is vintage Congress culture': PM posts after 600 lawyers write to CJI
Physical activity can lead to difference in diet preferences between males and females, MU study finds

Physical activity can lead to difference in diet preferences between males and females, MU study finds

India Blooms News Service | | 06 Sep 2017, 07:09 pm
London, Sept 6 (IBNS): Recent studies have shown that approximately 90 percent of adult Americans fail to reach the U.S. Department of Health guidelines for physical activity, which could be contributing to surging obesity rates.

Now, new research by a multidisciplinary team of University of Missouri researchers suggests that physical activity can change diet preferences in males, but not in females—an area that researchers say has not been thoroughly studied.

“Our team wanted to make every effort to study female perspectives on how exercise affects diet, because most other studies neglect females,” said Jenna Lee, a doctoral candidate in the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program at MU. “We wanted to take a look at what drives diet preference and if environmental factors, such as physical activity, play a role in how males and females eat.”

The team, led by Matthew Will, an associate professor of psychological sciences in the MU College of Arts and Science, divided male and female rats into two groups—a sedentary group and one that had access to a running wheel. Both groups ate the same food. After another week, Lee replaced the standard diet with three optional diets: high fat (similar to cookie dough), high sucrose (three times more sucrose than the other two diets), and a high-cornstarch diet. Each of the diets were matched on proteins, and the rats had continuous access to all three diets for four weeks.

Results showed that sedentary male rats preferred the high-fat diet over the other diets. Male runners ate about half as much of the high-fat diet as their sedentary counterparts but increased their intake of the other two options. Female sedentary rats, like their male counterparts, mostly stuck to the high-fat diet. Surprisingly, female runners also preferred the high-fat diet and actually consumed slightly more calories than the sedentary females.

“We also examined brain opioids and gut microbiota, and we discovered key changes that paralleled the patterns observed in diet preferences between male and female runners. A reason for this might be that females have an elevated threshold for rewards. Considering females demonstrate higher levels of reward signaling in the brain, this may possibly explain the higher threshold or capacity for reward. Perhaps something like running may be satiating for males but not for the females, so the females are consuming more of the high-fat diet. We expected to find differences between runners and sedentary rats, but it was the sex differences that surprised us.”

The research draws attention to the importance of studying both men and women in research, Lee said.

The study, “Sex determines effect of physical activity on diet preference: Association of striatal opioids and gut microbiota composition,” was published by Behavioral Brain Research. Funding was provided by the Research Council of the University of Missouri. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funding agencies.

 

Image:wikihow

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.