Studies on the sparing effect of exercise on insulin requirements in human subjects

The reduced insulin response of trained subjects in the presence of normal glucose tolerance has been confirmed. It was also found that this beneficial effect of exercise is greatly reduced if trained subjects are inactive for 3 days while eating ad libidum. During that period excessive food intake (3291 cal/day) was noted. However, when the subjects were on a restricted diet (2076 cal/day) the reduced insulin response to a glucose load was retained. The ratio of food intake with regard to caloric utilization is possibly the important modulator of the action of exercise on insulin requirements. The effect of exercise on insulin secretion was also found to be acquired rapidly since it was observed 18 hr after 1 hr of physical activity at 70% of V02 max in non-trained subjects. For all these studies a correlation (p less than 0.01) was found between the secretion of insulin in response to glucose challenge and both basal plasma glucose and insulin.