High carbohydrate diets reduce the rate of mitochondrial respiration in adipose tissue

Bikman, BT, Shimmy, KJ, Apovian, CM et al. High carbohydrate diets reduce the rate of mitochondrial respiration in adipose tissue. Eur J Clin Nutr (2022) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-022-01097-3

Commentary

Adipocyte mitochondrial respiration can affect the partitioning of metabolic fuels into oxidation and storage, and is said to influence whole body energy expenditure.

Insulin has also been shown to affect mitochondrial respiration, but the effects of the major nutrient composition of the diet have not been well characterized.

In this exploratory study, we were testing the hypothesis that a high carbohydrate diet reduces adipocyte mitochondrial oxygen flux exvivo.

The study showed that among participants in a randomly controlled weight loss maintenance feeding trial, those fed a high carbohydrate diet (60% carbohydrate as a percentage of total energy, n = 10) had a lower rate of maximal adipose tissue mitochondrial respiration than those who consumed a moderate.

A carbohydrate diet (40%, n = 8, p = 0.039) had these results when compared to a low carbohydrate diet (20%, n = 9, p = 0.005) after 10 to 15 weeks.

With this preliminary finding, the researchers potentially explain the action of insulin on fuel distribution as a mechanism for the putative calorie-independent effects of diet composition on energy expenditure and fat deposition.