Effect of metabolic rate on the oxidation of ingested glucose and fructose during exercise

The purpose of the present study was to describe the relationship between the metabolic rate (W.kg-1 b.m.) and the oxidation rate (mg.kg-1.min-1) of exogenous glucose and fructose during prolonged exercise in 18 healthy active male volunteers (VO2max = 43-71 ml.kg-1.min-1). Each subject performed three 120-min exercises at 60% VO2max (8.5-15.0 W.kg-1.min-1) on cycle ergometer while ingesting water only or 1.33 g.k-1 (97 +/- 9 g; mean +/- SE) of 13C-glucose or 13C-fructose in water (7%). The oxidation rate of exogenous glucose and fructose increased linearly with increasing metabolic rate (r = 0.71 and 0.70, respectively, p < 0.05), the amount of exogenous glucose oxidized being significantly higher than the amount of fructose oxidized (56.1 +/- 14.2 vs 35.7 +/- 9.2 g, respectively). The respective contributions of exogenous glucose and fructose oxidation to the energy yield remain remarkably similar over the range of metabolic rate studied (14.0 +/- 2.1 and 8.9 +/- 1.6%). These observations suggest that the rate of absorption of glucose and fructose and the rate of conversion of fructose into glucose by the liver are not limiting factors for their oxidation, which could simply follow the oxidation rate of circulating glucose. From a practical point of view, these results confirm that fructose is a less efficient energy supplement than exogenous glucose for any metabolic rate sustained.