The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of extremely unbalanced energy intake and output on glucose, lipid, and protein metabolism in young women. In the first experiment (EX1), four healthy women were given a high caloric diet of 3, 000kcal/day coupled with continuous bed rest, resulting in a +1, 800kcal/day energy balance for six experimental days. In the second experiment (EX2), another group of four women were given a low caloric diet of 1, 500kcal/day coupled with excessive daily exercise on a cycle ergometer for 90min at 450kpm/min, resulting in a -300kcal/day energy balance for six experimental days. Blood, urine and feces samples were collected from the two experimental groups before the experiment, during the experiment and in the recovery period. In EX1, the results showed an increase in serum insulin levels, no increase in glucose levels and a rise in triglycerides during the experimental period. In EX2, body weight, hemoglobin and serum glucose, insulin and alanine concentrations decreased significantly, while serum free fatty acids were significantly increased. In conclusion, high calorie intake coupled with bed rest resulted in hyperinsulinemia and elevation of the serum triglyceride level in EX1. In contrast, low calorie intake with high-energy-consuming exercise resulted in weight loss, anemia, potential glycogen depletion and an enhanced contribution of lipid and amino acid metabolism to an energy production in EX2.

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A study was undertaken to clarify the effect of pretreatment with 60-95% acetone solutions containing 0.3N, 0.5N or 1N HCl on the extractability of true proteins from grasses. After the materials had been soaked in the above solutions at 22°C between 7 and 21 days or at 38°Cbetween 4 and 24h, grass proteins were extracted with 0.05N NaOH solution. By these procedures, the protein extractabilities were much improved. At the same time, the amounts of HCl used were decreased considerably. The highest extractabilities (as percentages) were as follows: spinach 90%, Japanese radish leaf 90%, cabbage 94%, red clover 85%, alfalfa 84%.

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An attempt was made to examine the usefulness of the 24-h heart rate as an index of the physical activity level as an alternative to individual Vo₂-HR regression. For this purpose, we first examined the correlations of several heart rate ratios or indices with physical activity levels using the 24-h energy expenditure (TEE) determined by the heart rate method (HR-method) in 71 middle-aged subjects. We then examined intraand inter-individual variability of the heart rate ratio during recorded activity by diary and classified as the same level of relative metabolic rate in 30 female college students. The selected heart rate indices were as follows; 1) the duration in minutes of heart rate (HR), i. e., those greater than 100 bpm (100HR) and 120 bpm (120 HR), and those above 25% (PAHR25SLP) and 50% (PAHR50SLP) higher than the mean HR during sleep (SLPHR), and 2) the ratios of mean 24-h HR (24h-HR/SLPHR) and mean HR while awake relative to SLPHR (WKHR/SLPHR). By partitioning TEE into energy expenditure during sleep (SLPEE) and that while awake, the ratio of TEE to SLPEE (TEE/SLPEE) and energy expenditure while awake (NETEE [TEESLPEE]) were calculated as indices of the daily physical activity level. Significant positive correlations of TEE/SLPEE and NETEE with PAHR25SLP, PAHR50SLP, WKHR/SLPHR and 24h-HR/SLPHR were observed. These results suggest that the HR standardized by SLPHR is helpful for assessing the physical activity level expressed as TEE/SLPEE and NETEE. The individual mean heart rate ratios (HR/SLPHR) corresponding to the relative metabolic rate showed a wide variation. The inter-individual variabilities of HR/SLPHR were 46% during activity classified as a relative metabolic rate of 0.3 (talking and chatting while standing) and 189% during activity of 1.0 (experimental work while standing), while the intra-individual variabilities were within 10% in most of the activities classified according to relative metabolic rate. The range of individual physical activity level expressed as HR/SLPHR was much greater than that classified as relative metabolic rate using a diary. These observations suggest that the use of relative metabolic rate as a reference value requires greater caution than previously assumed.

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The effect of beer ingestion with high-fat meals on postprandial energy metabolism was studied in three normal healthy males aged 27, 37 and 44 years. Energy expenditure and macronutrient oxidation over a 3-h period were assessed by indirect calorimetry after intake of high-fat meals and beer (B) or alcohol-free beer (F). B provided 47%, 13%, 13% and 27% of energy as fat, carbohydrate, protein and alcohol, respectively, and F provided 64%, 18%, 17% and 0%, respectively. The gross energy was 1, 187 kcal for B and 876 kcal for F. Postprandial oxidation of fat and carbohydrate at rest was significantly lower (ρ<0.05) in B than in F. Total energy expenditure of subjects during the 3-h period did not differ between B and F. Plasma glucose and serum insulin concentrations during 3h were slightly lower in B than in F; however, serum triacylglycerol and free fatty acid concentrations did not differ between the two. These results suggest that beer ingestion with high-fat meals inhibits fat and carbohydrate oxidation without increasing postprandial energy expenditure.

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