The Effect of Watermelon Juice Supplementation on Heart Rate Variability and Metabolic Response during an Oral Glucose Challenge: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Crossover Trial
Heart rate variability (HRV) provides a simple method to evaluate autonomic function in health and disease. A reduction in HRV may indicate autonomic dysfunction and is strongly associated with aspects of cardiometabolic disease, including hyperglycemia. Reduced nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability is...
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MDPI AG
2023-02-01
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| Series: | Nutrients |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/15/4/810 |
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| author | Rachel Matthews Kate S. Early Cullen M. Vincellette Jack Losso Guillaume Spielmann Brian A. Irving Timothy D. Allerton |
| author_facet | Rachel Matthews Kate S. Early Cullen M. Vincellette Jack Losso Guillaume Spielmann Brian A. Irving Timothy D. Allerton |
| author_sort | Rachel Matthews |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Heart rate variability (HRV) provides a simple method to evaluate autonomic function in health and disease. A reduction in HRV may indicate autonomic dysfunction and is strongly associated with aspects of cardiometabolic disease, including hyperglycemia. Reduced nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability is also implicated in the development of cardiometabolic disease and autonomic dysfunction. Watermelons are natural sources of L-arginine and L-citrulline, substrates used for NO synthesis. Watermelon consumption can improve NO bioavailability. We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial to test the effects of 2 weeks of daily watermelon juice (WMJ) supplementation on HRV in response to an oral glucose challenge (OGC) in healthy young adults. We also performed indirect calorimetry to assess if our intervention altered the metabolic response to the OGC. WMJ supplementation preserved high-frequency power (HF) (treatment effect, <i>p</i> = 0.03) and the percentage of successive differences that differ by more than 50 ms (pNN50) (treatment effect, <i>p</i> = 0.009) when compared to the placebo treatment. There was no difference in resting energy expenditure or substate oxidation according to treatment. We report that WMJ supplementation attenuates OGC-induced reductions in HRV. Future work should emphasize the importance of NO bioavailability in autonomic dysfunction in cardiometabolic disease. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T08:19:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1e2c0a2a2b494e81ada5c166da06e1c1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-6643 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T08:19:37Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nutrients |
| spelling | doaj.art-1e2c0a2a2b494e81ada5c166da06e1c12023-11-16T22:29:17ZengMDPI AGNutrients2072-66432023-02-0115481010.3390/nu15040810The Effect of Watermelon Juice Supplementation on Heart Rate Variability and Metabolic Response during an Oral Glucose Challenge: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Crossover TrialRachel Matthews0Kate S. Early1Cullen M. Vincellette2Jack Losso3Guillaume Spielmann4Brian A. Irving5Timothy D. Allerton6Department of Kinesiology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USADepartment of Kinesiology and Health Sciences, Columbus State University, Columbus, GA 39207, USADepartment of Kinesiology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USASchool of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USADepartment of Kinesiology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USADepartment of Kinesiology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USAPennington Biomedical Research Center, Vascular Metabolism Laboratory, Baton Rouge, LA 70808, USAHeart rate variability (HRV) provides a simple method to evaluate autonomic function in health and disease. A reduction in HRV may indicate autonomic dysfunction and is strongly associated with aspects of cardiometabolic disease, including hyperglycemia. Reduced nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability is also implicated in the development of cardiometabolic disease and autonomic dysfunction. Watermelons are natural sources of L-arginine and L-citrulline, substrates used for NO synthesis. Watermelon consumption can improve NO bioavailability. We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial to test the effects of 2 weeks of daily watermelon juice (WMJ) supplementation on HRV in response to an oral glucose challenge (OGC) in healthy young adults. We also performed indirect calorimetry to assess if our intervention altered the metabolic response to the OGC. WMJ supplementation preserved high-frequency power (HF) (treatment effect, <i>p</i> = 0.03) and the percentage of successive differences that differ by more than 50 ms (pNN50) (treatment effect, <i>p</i> = 0.009) when compared to the placebo treatment. There was no difference in resting energy expenditure or substate oxidation according to treatment. We report that WMJ supplementation attenuates OGC-induced reductions in HRV. Future work should emphasize the importance of NO bioavailability in autonomic dysfunction in cardiometabolic disease.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/15/4/810heart rate variabilitywatermelonnitric oxideL-citrullineL-argininemetabolism |
| spellingShingle | Rachel Matthews Kate S. Early Cullen M. Vincellette Jack Losso Guillaume Spielmann Brian A. Irving Timothy D. Allerton The Effect of Watermelon Juice Supplementation on Heart Rate Variability and Metabolic Response during an Oral Glucose Challenge: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Crossover Trial Nutrients heart rate variability watermelon nitric oxide L-citrulline L-arginine metabolism |
| title | The Effect of Watermelon Juice Supplementation on Heart Rate Variability and Metabolic Response during an Oral Glucose Challenge: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Crossover Trial |
| title_full | The Effect of Watermelon Juice Supplementation on Heart Rate Variability and Metabolic Response during an Oral Glucose Challenge: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Crossover Trial |
| title_fullStr | The Effect of Watermelon Juice Supplementation on Heart Rate Variability and Metabolic Response during an Oral Glucose Challenge: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Crossover Trial |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Effect of Watermelon Juice Supplementation on Heart Rate Variability and Metabolic Response during an Oral Glucose Challenge: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Crossover Trial |
| title_short | The Effect of Watermelon Juice Supplementation on Heart Rate Variability and Metabolic Response during an Oral Glucose Challenge: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Crossover Trial |
| title_sort | effect of watermelon juice supplementation on heart rate variability and metabolic response during an oral glucose challenge a randomized double blind placebo controlled crossover trial |
| topic | heart rate variability watermelon nitric oxide L-citrulline L-arginine metabolism |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/15/4/810 |
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