Protein & carbohydrate supplementation during aerobic training increased plasma volume and thermoregulatory capacity in younger and older men

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In 2002, we studied the effects of a bout of exercise on plasma volume and plasma protein content 24 hrs after the exercise in younger and older men. Moreover, we studied the effects of protein and carbohydrate (CHO) supplementation immediately after the exercise on exercise induced plasma volume (PV) expansion. We found that the PV increased in the younger men while not in the older men. However, the supplementation increased PV and plasma protein content in both groups.In 2003, we studied the effects of protein and CHO supplementation during 2-month endurance training on thermoregulatory capacity in older men. The supplementation significantly enhanced cutaneous vasodilation and sweating rate at a given increase in esophageal temperature.In 2004, we examined whether the supplementation enhanced the improvement of thamoregulatory capacity after 10-day endurance training in younger men. As we hypothesized, we found that the improvement of thermoregulatory capacity was enhanced in the supplementation group. However, we failed to find any significant differences in the increases in PV, maximal aerobic power, and cardiac output at a given intensity of exercise between the groups with and without supplementation.These results suggest that the supplementation of protein and CHO during endurance training enhanced thermoregulatory capacity in older and younger men. However, it remains unknown whether it is caused by enhanced PV expansion due to greater ircrease in plasma protein content.