Regular activity breaks combined with physical activity improves postprandial plasma triglyceride, non-esterified fatty acid and insulin responses in healthy, normal weight adults: a randomized crossover trial

Abstract Background Compared to prolonged sitting, regular activity breaks immediately lower postprandial glucose and insulin, but not triglyceride responses. Postprandial triglycerides can be lowered by physical activity but the effect is often delayed by ∼12-24 h Objective To determine whether regular activity breaks affect postprandial triglyceride response in a delayed manner similar to physical activity. Methods In a randomized crossover trial, 36 adults (BMI 23.9 kg·m2 (SD 3.9)) completed four two-day interventions: 1. Prolonged Sitting (SIT); 2. Prolonged Sitting with 30 min of continuous walking (60% VO2max ), at the end of Day 1 (SIT+PAD1 ); 3. Sitting with 2 min of walking (60% VO2max ) every 30 min (RAB); 4. A combination of the continuous walking and regular activity breaks in 2 and 3 above (RAB+PAD1 ). Postprandial plasma triglyceride, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), glucose, and insulin responses were measured in venous blood over 5 h on Day 2. Results Compared to SIT, both RAB (difference: -43.61 mg·dL-1 ·5h; 95% CI –83.66 to -2.67; p=0.035) and RAB+PAD1 (-65.86 mg·dL-1 ·5h; 95% CI -112.14 to -19.58; p=0.005) attenuated triglyceride tAUC. RAB+PAD1 produced the greatest reductions in insulin tAUC (-23%; 95% CI -12 to -31%; p