Worried about eating too much over the holidays? Exercise may protect against the inflammation that can come with overindulging for a week, a very small new study suggests. In the study, researchers looked at four lean, active adults in their early 20s who consumed 30 percent more calories than usual for one week. The participants were instructed to eat normally, with the extra calories coming from Boost shakes. All participants exercised aerobically for at least 150 minutes over the course of the week.

After the week was up, the researchers measured the participants’ “glucose tolerance,” which is a test of how well the body can use and break down the sugar glucose. Previous studies have shown that even one week of overeating can impair people’s glucose tolerance. However, none of the adults in the study developed impaired glucose tolerance. The researchers also collected fat samples from the participants’ bellies, in what Alison C. Ludzki, a Ph.D. student at the University of Michigan and the first author on the paper, likened to a “mini liposuction.” The samples showed that the study participants did not have increases in important markers of fat tissue inflammation, which otherwise would have been expected in people who consumed 30 percent extra calories for a week, the researchers said. This finding also indicates that exercise may protect against the inflammatory effects of short-term overeating, the researchers wrote in a preliminary write-up of their results.

The results are still preliminary; so far, the lab has been able to test only four active adults, though the scientists have plans to perform additional testing on more participants, Ludzki said. She also noted that the study relied on self-reporting; the researchers provided the calorie supplement drink Boost to the participants, and they used a popular diet-tracking app to monitor their caloric intake.