Exercise and Blood Pressure: Nutritional Considerations

Abstract

Exercise dramatically alters metabolic fuel balance and thus affects nutrient requirements. Because amino acids only serve a minor fuel role in exercise, the effect of work on protein requirements has received little recent attention. However, current research into the regulatory roles of amino acids (notably leucine) on muscle metabolism has led to renewed investigation of the substrate homeostatic functions of amino acids during exercise. These interests, coupled with reassessment of the limitations of recommendations for dietary amino acid intake obtained by the balance method and introduction of new tracer kinetic approaches for estimating nutrient requirements, have raised the possibility that exercise of high intensity or long duration may alter dietary amino acid needs to an extent not previously appreciated.