The sympathetic nervous system has an important role in the regulation of energy expenditure, and reduced energy expenditure and resting metabolic rate are predictive of weight gain.
Acute fat load intravenously39 and oral glucose ingestion significantly increased BP and activated the sympathetic nervous system in obese, but otherwise healthy, subjects. Considerable evidence derived from experiments documenting reduction in plasma NE,urinary NE, whole-body NE spillover and muscle sympathetic nerve activity indicates that calorie restricted diet-induced weight loss is sympatho-inhibitory. Similarly, exercise interventions alone have been shown to lower whole-body NE spillover by 24% and renal NE spillover by 41% in healthy young men independent of changes in body weight.
Sodium intake is also known to influence sympathetic nervous activity and BP levels, however, in the present study, all
groups were matched in sodium intake and were maintained on a mild sodium restricted diet.