Calorie Restriction Improves Physical Performance and Modulates the Antioxidant and Inflammatory Responses to Acute Exercise

Abstract

Our aim was to characterize the effects of calorie restriction on the anthropometric characteristics and physical performance of sportsmen and to evaluate the effects of calorie restriction and acute exercise on mitochondria energetics, oxidative stress, and inflammation. Twenty volunteer taekwondo practitioners undertook a calorie restriction of 30–40% on three alternate days a week for one month. Eleven volunteer sportsmen participated as controls. Both groups performed an energy efficiency test to evaluate physical performance, and samples were taken before and after exercise. The total weight of participants significantly decreased (5.9%) after calorie restriction, while the efficiency of work and the contributions of fat to obtain energy were enhanced by calorie restriction. No significant differences induced by acute exercise were observed in individual non-esterified fatty acid percentage or oxidative stress markers. Calorie restriction downregulated the basal gene expression of nitric oxide synthase, antioxidant enzymes, mitochondrial uncoupling proteins, and repairing stress proteins, but it enhanced the expression of sirtuins in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. In conclusion, one month of calorie restriction decreases body weight and increases physical performance, enhancing energy efficiency, moderating the antioxidant and inflammatory basal gene expression, and influencing its response to acute exercise.

Antiaging Effect of 4-N-Furfurylcytosine in Yeast Model Manifests through Enhancement of Mitochondrial Activity and ROS Reduction

“…Since Rim15 is involved, among others, in oxidative stress response, it could be surprising that we did not observe the elevated expression of antioxidant defense genes such as SOD2 and CCS1. However, this finding is consistent with previous reports indicating the unchanged [85] or lowered [86,87] expression of genes associated with ROS scavenging upon CR conditions. A reduction in antioxidant defense and cytosolic ROS level (Figure 5) may be explained by the fact that the TORC pathway suppresses mitochondria activity by favoring fermentation, causing the depletion of SRC.…”

Effect of Dietary Methionine Deficiency Followed by a Re-Feeding Phase on the Hepatic Antioxidant Activities of Lambs

“…In the past few years, a core aspect of anti-aging research has been anti-aging strategies, which include time-restricted feeding, calorie restriction, fasting mimicking diets, and short-/long-term fasting. These strategies are conducive to optimizing the nutritional balance, preventing or alleviating a variety of diseases, such as metabolic disturbance, cardiovascular diseases, and autoimmune diseases [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]. Methionine is an essential amino acid necessary for normal growth and development in mammals and assumes an important role in many physiological processes, such as metabolism, growth, and immunity [ 6 , 7 ].…”

Dietary therapy in abdominal aortic aneurysm — Insights from clinical and experimental studies

“…There is no pathway or molecular basis that could completely account for the health benefits of a given diet. Past studies have unveiled various mechanisms implicated in the aforementioned dietary regimens, such as overall energy expenditure reduction, antioxidant supplementation, increased production of hepatokines (e.g., FGF21) ( 67 – 71 ), etc. Due to the scarcity of relevant literature on AAA, we will focus on two emerging dietary mechanisms that are recently implicated in AAA pathophysiologies while more in-depth investigations are still needed.…”