Almonds are a healthy tree nut food with high nutrient density. Their consumption has been shown to ameliorate oxidative stress, inflammation, etc. The objective of the study was to examine the effect of almonds on elements of endurance exercise performance in trained athletes. A 10-week crossover, placebo controlled study was conducted. Eight trained male cyclists and two triathletes were randomly assigned to consume 75 g/d whole almonds (ALM) or isocaloric cookies (COK) with equal subject number. They consumed the assigned food for 4 wks and then the alternate food for another 4 wks. They underwent 3 performance tests including 125-min steady status exercise (SS) and 20-min time trial (TT) on an indoor stationary trainer at the start of the study (BL) and at the end of each intervention phase. Venous blood was collected in the morning prior to the performance test for biochemical measurements and finger blood during the test for glucose determination. Carbohydrate and fat oxidation, energy expenditure, and oxygen use were calculated using respiratory gas analysis. ALM increased cycling distance during TT by 1.7 km as compared BL (21.9 vs. 20.2 km, P = 0.053) and COK increased 0.6 km (20.8 vs. 20.2 km, P > 0.05). ALM, but not COK, led to higher CHO and lower fat oxidation and less oxygen consumption during TT than BL (P < 0.05), whereas there was no significant difference in heart rate among BL, ALM and COK. ALM maintained higher blood glucose level after TT than COK (P < 0.05). ALM had higher vitamin E and haemoglobin and lower serum free fatty acid (P < 0.05), slightly elevated serum arginine and nitric oxide and plasma insulin (P > 0.05) than BL, and a higher total antioxidant capacity than COK (P < 0.05). Whole almonds improved cycling distance and the elements related to endurance performance more than isocaloric cookies in trained athletes as some nutrients in almonds may contribute to CHO reservation and utilization and effective oxygen utilization. The results suggest that almonds can be incorporated into diets of those who undertake exercise training for performance improvement.

Purpose: To examine the effects of commercially available sports beverages with various components on substrate metabolism and subsequent performance. Methods: Two studies were conducted in a double-blinded, counterbalanced manner. Study I was designed to determine the glycemic index, while study II determined the utilization of substrates and subsequent exercise performance. Ten healthy male participants (age 21.70 ± 2.41 years, height 176.60 ± 5.23 cm, weight 66.58 ± 5.38 kg, V̇O_2max 48.1 ± 8.4 mL/kg/min) participated in both study I and study II. Three types of commercially available sports beverage powders were used. The powders consisted primarily of oligosaccharides (low molecular weight carbohydrates, L-CHO), hydrolyzed starch (high molecular weight CHO, H-CHO), and whey protein powder with carbohydrate (CHO-PRO). They were dissolved in purified water with identical CHO concentration of 8% (w/v). In study I, each participant underwent two oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT) and one glycemic response test for each sports drink. In study II, participants cycled for 60 min at 70% V̇O_2max, one hour after consuming a standardized breakfast. One of four prescribed beverages (L-CHO, H-CHO, CHO-PRO, and Placebo control, PLA) was served at 0, 15, 30, 45 min during the exercise. Six hours after the first exercise session, participants came back for a “time to exhaustion test” (TTE). Blood samples were drawn at 0, 30, and 60 min in the first exercise session, while arterial blood gas analysis was conducted at 0, 30, and 60 min in both sessions. Subjective feelings (rating of perceived exertion and abdominal discomfort) were also evaluated every 30 min during exercise. Results: Compared to the reference standardized glucose solution, the glycemic index of the L-CHO beverage was 117.70 ± 14.25, while H-CHO was 105.50 ± 12.82, and CHO-PRO was 67.23 ± 5.88. During the exercise test, the insulin level at 30 and 60 min was significantly lower than baseline following the treatment of L-CHO, H-CHO, and PLA (p < 0.05). The CHO oxidation rate at 60 min in the first exercise session was significantly higher than that at 60 min in the second exercise session following the L-CHO treatment (p < 0.05). Time to exhaustion was not significantly different (p > 0.05). Conclusion: The CHO sports beverage with additional PRO maintains insulin production during endurance cycling at 70% V̇O_2max in the postprandial state. L-CHO sports beverage suppresses fat utilization during the subsequent exercise performance test. The subsequent exercise performance (as evaluated by TTE) was not influenced by the type of CHO or the addition of PRO in the commercially available sports beverages used in the present study.

Accumulation of body fat and dyslipidemia are associated with the development of obesity and cardiometabolic diseases. Moreover, the degree to which lipids can be metabolized has been cited as a determinant of cardiometabolic health and prolonged endurance capacity. In the backdrop of increasing obesity and cardiometabolic diseases, lipid metabolism and its modulation by physical activity, dietary adjustments, and supplementation play a significant role in maintaining health and endurance. Food-derived oligopeptides, such as rice and soybean peptides, have been shown to directly regulate abnormal lipid metabolism or promote hypolipidemia and fat oxidation in cell culture models, animal models, and human studies. However, whether supplementation with oligopeptides derived from multiple food sources can promote lipid degradation and fat oxidation in athletes remains unclear. Therefore, in a randomized controlled crossover trial, we investigated the impact of food-derived oligopeptide supplementation before and during exercise on lipid metabolism in young male cyclists. Sixteen young male cyclists (age: 17.0 ± 1.0 years; height: 178.4 ± 6.9 cm; body mass: 68.7 ± 12.7 kg, body mass index: 21.5 ± 3.4 kg/m²; maximum oxygen uptake: 56.3 ± 5.8 mL/min/kg) participated in this randomized controlled crossover trial. Each participant drank two beverages, one containing a blend of three food-derived oligopeptides (treatment, 0.5 g/kg body weight in total) and the other without (control), with a 2-week washout period between two experiments. The cyclists completed a one-day pattern protocol that consisted of intraday fasting, 30 min of sitting still, 85 min of prolonged exercise plus a 5-min sprint (PE), a short recovery period of 60 min, a 20-min time trial (TT), and recovery till next morning. Blood samples were collected for biochemical analyses of serum lipids and other biomarkers. We analyzed plasma triglyceride species (TGs), free amino acids (FAAs), and tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediates using omics methods. In addition, exhaled gas was collected to assess the fat oxidation rate. Five of 20 plasma FAAs were elevated pre-exercise (pre-Ex) only 20 min after oligopeptide ingestion, and most FAAs were markedly increased post PE and TT. Serum levels of TG and non-esterified fatty acids were lower in the experimental condition than in the control condition at the post PE and TT assessments, respectively. Further, the omics analysis of plasma TGs for the experimental condition demonstrated that most TGs were lower post PE and at the next fasting when compared with control levels. Simultaneously, the fat oxidation rate began to increase only 20 min after ingestion and during the preceding 85 min of PE. Levels of TCA cycle intermediates did not differ between the conditions. The study noted that continuous ingestion of food-derived oligopeptides accelerated total body triglyceride breakdown, non-esterified fatty acid uptake, and fat oxidation during both sedentary and exercise states. Elevated circulating and intracellular FAA flux may modulate the selection of substrates for metabolic pathways in conjunction with the release of neuroendocrinological factors that slow down carbohydrate metabolism via acetyl coenzyme A feedback inhibition. This may increase the availability of fatty acids for energy production, with FAAs supplying more substrates for the TCA cycle. The findings of this study provide novel insight into strategies for promoting lipid metabolism in populations with dyslipidemia-related metabolic disorders such as obesity and for improving physiological functioning during endurance training. However, the absence of a non-exercising control group and verification of long-term supplementation effects was a limitation. Future studies will emphasize the impacts of whole protein supplementation as a control and of combined food-derived peptides or oligopeptides with probiotics and healthy food components on lipid metabolism in individuals who exercise.

Cancer treatment still encounters challenges, such as side effects and drug resistance. The tripartite-motif (TRIM) protein family is widely involved in regulation of the occurrence, development, and drug resistance of tumors. MG53, a member of the TRIM protein family, shows strong potential in cancer therapy, primarily due to its E3 ubiquitin ligase properties. The classic membrane repair function and anti-inflammatory capacity of MG53 may also be beneficial for cancer prevention and treatment. However, MG53 appears to be a key regulatory factor in impaired glucose metabolism and a negative regulatory mechanism in muscle regeneration that may have a negative effect on cancer treatment. Developing MG53 mutants that balance the pros and cons may be the key to solving the problem. This article aims to summarize the role and mechanism of MG53 in the occurrence, progression, and invasion of cancer, focusing on the potential impact of the biological function of MG53 on cancer therapy.