Research
Hormonal
Short-term high-fat diet induces DNA hypermethylation and alters gene expression of PYGM (glycogen phosphorylase, muscle), an adaptive epigenetic response to glycogen depletion, which is preserved by resistance exercise.
When you switch to a low-carb/high-fat diet, your body epigenetically silences the gene responsible for breaking down glycogen (PYGM) because you aren't eating carbs. This is a smart adaptation. Exercise helps maintain this state but doesn't change this specific epigenetic switch.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
The promoter of PYGM was hypermethylated in both groups following HFD, regardless of exercise and the level of methylation was inversely correlated with gene expression... The epigenetic regulation of PYGM may be an adaptive response to the high-fat low-carbohydrate diet, since glycogen stores are expected to progressively decline
Why this rating
Direct measurement of methylation and expression, strong correlation found.
Source
Transcriptomic and epigenetic responses to short-term nutrient-exercise stress in humans
Rhianna C. Laker et al. · Scientific Reports · 2017
DOI 10.1038/s41598-017-15420-7
rct · n=13Cited 63×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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