Frontiers in Nutrition, 2021 · DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2021.703652 · Published: July 26, 2021
This study looked at how the body uses fat for energy in men with spinal cord injuries, both at rest and during exercise. It measured fat oxidation at rest, after eating, and during an arm exercise test. The study found that how well the body burns fat at rest or after eating isn't related to how well it burns fat during exercise. However, the ability to burn fat at rest was related to the ability to burn fat after eating. These results suggest that assessing fat oxidation both at rest and during exercise might give a more complete picture of metabolic health in people with spinal cord injuries.
Both postabsorptive fat oxidation at rest and peak fat oxidation should be assessed to gain a complete picture of metabolic flexibility in those with SCI.
Effective interventions can be targeted to those most in need based on a better understanding of their metabolic flexibility.
PFO may not be a reliable marker of metabolic flexibility in those with SCI, unlike in non-injured individuals, highlighting the need for different assessment approaches.