Hormones might explain why women produce and consume less glucose during exercise, researchers in Colorado suggest.
10 women and 12 men lived under control diets for three days, infused with isotope-labeled glucose and put on a bike to work out according to their physical conditions.
Men have higher turnover of glucose during and after exercise than women. It could be explained the higher level of hormones, glucagon and epinephrine, in men due to exercise.
“[This knowledge] will enable realistic goals to be set regarding the nature and extent of anticipated benefits,” said the scientists in the Journal of Applied Physiology.
Tailor-made exercise
Epinephrine speeds up the conversion of common energy source in the cell, glycogen, into glucose. Glucagon increases the release and production of glucose to supply glucose for the muscle work. As a result, men flood their blood with glucose because muscles are in thirst of it.
This finding enables exercise program for normal people as well as diabetic and obesity patients to be tailor-made according to the sex or hormonal levels.
The researchers said: “Understanding the physiological impact of sex on these factors will ultimately assist with the development of the most effective and appropriate exercise programs in me and women.”
