Surprisingly, HDL cholesterol was significantly lower following the loading phase, likely driven by the polyphenol group as multiple comparisons revealed a significant reduction only in the polyphenol group and the group × time difference came close to significance ( p = 0.07).
This altered inflammatory response to exercise was evident for IL-10, IFN-γ, and TNF-α, with a strong trend observed for IL-1β and a similar, though non-significant, pattern for IL-18, IL-6, and MCP-1.
Though this remains speculative, peak fat oxidation showed a trend toward improvement after the training intervention, further indicating enhanced fat metabolism.