Effects of Allium Vegetables on Energy Stores and Utilization in Exercising Rats

This study investigated the effect of allium vegetable intake on the storage and utilization of energy substrates before, during, and after exercise in tissues of rats. Ninety rats were fed either a control diet or a diet with added Allium sativum (AS, garlic), Allium cepa (AC, onion), Allium fistulosum (AF, spring onion), or Allium tuberosum (AT, Chinese chives) for 4 weeks and were then subdivided into 3 groups: before-exercise (BE); during-exercise (DE); after-exercise (AE). The DE group was exercised on treadmill for 1 hour just before being sacrificed at the end of 4th week of the dietary treatment rats in the AE group were allowed to recuperate for 2 hours after being exercised like the DE group. The levels of glycogen (GLY), triglyceride (TG) and protein (PRO) were compared in liver and skeletal muscle. In the AS diet animals, the level of liver GLY was significantly higher than those of control animals in the BE, DE and AE groups. The level of muscle TG also tended to be higher in BE, but lower in AE than in control animals. In AC animals, the level of muscle GLY was significantly lower than those of control animals in BE, DE and AE. The level of muscle TG also tended to be higher than those of control animals in BE and DE but tended to be lower in AE. In AF animals, the level of muscle GLY was significantly lower than those of control animals in BE, DE and AE. The level of muscle TG was also significantly lower than those of control animals in BE, DE and AE groups. In AT animals, the level of muscle GLY was significantly lower than those of control animals in BE, DE and AE. These results suggest that Allium sativum diets enhance the capacity to store fuel before as well as during exercise and increases the potential to utilize the stored fuel during exercise.