Exercise is an important aspect of a healthy lifestyle, and one reason people work out is to lose weight. Exercise can help you get into a negative calorie balance, as long as you don’t compensate for a workout by overeating. So, the question is what effect does exercise have on appetite? Do workouts subdue appetite or are you likely to be hungrier after a sweat session?
The Link Between Workouts and Appetite
There are some reasons exercise should suppress your desire to eat. A study showed rodents and humans release a molecule called GDF-15 when they engage in prolonged exercise of two hours or more. When researchers gave rodents GDF-15 as a drug, it suppresses appetite in mice. However, it doesn’t seem to have the same appetite-suppressing effect when it’s produced physiologically. However, it’s an area that needs more study.
There’s other evidence that exercise reduces appetite. One study published in Heath Psychology involving adults who wore fitness trackers found that when subjects didn’t exercise at a moderate-to-high intensity, they were more likely to overeat, whereas when they exercised at least a moderate pace for an hour, it cut their rate of overeating by half.
One reason exercise curbs appetite is it reduces the appetite hormone ghrelin, a powerful hunger hormone released by cells that line your stomach. A study published by the American Physiological Society found that when participants ran vigorously on a treadmill for an hour, ghrelin levels dropped, but so did another appetite-suppressing hormone called peptide YY. However, when the subjects lifted weights for 90 minutes, ghrelin dropped but peptide YY did not. Based on these findings, aerobic exercise may be a better appetite suppressant than weight training.
How Exercise May Reduce Appetite
There’s a group of nerves in the brain called the proopiomelanocortin, or POMC, neurons. These nerve cells play a role in controlling appetite. Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine believe this group of appetite-regulating neurons can sense heat and a rise in body temperature. When they do, they react in a way that suppresses appetite.
It’s clear that you work up a sweat during a vigorous workout and your body temperature rises. Based on their findings, this is enough to cause a short-term decrease in appetite. The researchers were able to get the same appetite-suppressing results using the hot spice capsaicin in mice. When they exposed the POMC neurons to capsaicin, the mice consumed less food over a 12-hour period. So, heat, whether it comes from exercise or a hot spice, may temporarily suppress your appetite.
Results May Vary
If you find a workout makes you hungrier, you’re not alone. Exercise affects each individual differently. Factors like workout intensity, type of exercise, how much sleep you had the night before, what you ate before your workout, fitness level, medications, stress level, and even your body weight may affect how hungry you feel afterward, For example, there’s some evidence that people who are obese don’t get the same appetite-suppressing benefits when they work out. However, it appears that aerobic exercise that’s more vigorous in nature is the most effective for reducing appetite.
According to David Stensel Ph.D. from Loughborough University, it’s vigorous exercise that suppresses appetite and the longer the workout, the more it will reign in your desire to eat. That doesn’t mean you should overtrain just to keep your appetite in check though. The appetite-suppressing effects are short-lived and usually last only an hour after a workout. After that point, your body senses an energy deficit and you feel hungry.
There’s also some evidence that women are more likely to overcompensate for a workout by eating more, after exercise, whereas men do not. That’s why it’s best to have a set snack to eat after a workout rather than eating on the basis of how hungry you are. People tend to overestimate how many calories they burned and eat accordingly.
Can Exercise Help with Long-Term Appetite Control?
Even if you sometimes feel hungrier short-term after a workout, regular workouts may help curb your appetite longer-term. Some research shows that regular exercise makes your brain more sensitive to satiety signals. In other words, you become more aware of signals that tell you not to eat because your brain can better “hear” them. Also, if you do mind-body workouts, like yoga, you become more mindful about what and how you eat and are less likely to eat because of stress or boredom. People who practice yoga are more likely to make smart food choices, too.
Take-Home Points:
- Exercise, particularly vigorous aerobic exercise may reduce your desire to eat for an hour or so afterward. Weightlifting has less of an effect on appetite.
- Women may be more likely to overcompensate after a workout by eating more.
- Mind-body workouts, like yoga, may help with overeating by enhancing body awareness and by increasing how sensitive your brain is to satiety signals.
- Results may vary, depending on the individual, and people who are obese may get less appetite-suppressing benefits from exercise than people of normal weight.
- Exercise is a healthy habits, regardless of whether it suppresses your appetite, so keep doing it.
- When you exercise, your body needs refueling. Don’t skip eating entirely after a workout. Choose a snack with a ratio of 3 parts carbohydrates to 1 part protein to help your body replenish its energy stores and rebuild.
References:
- Dorling J, Broom DR, Burns SF, et al. Acute and Chronic Effects of Exercise on Appetite, Energy Intake, and Appetite-Related Hormones: The Modulating Effect of Adiposity, Sex, and Habitual Physical Activity. Nutrients. 2018;10(9):1140. Published 2018 Aug 22. doi:10.3390/nu10091140.
- Framson et al. Development and Validation of the Mindful Eating Questionnaire. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 2009; 109 (8): 1439 DOI: 10.1016/j.jada.2009.05.006
- com. “The Truth About Exercise and Appetite”
- University of Copenhagen – The Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences. “The body produces new satiety factor during prolonged exercise.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 16 February 2021. sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210216133439.htm
- com. “New Research Helps Answer the Question: ‘Why Am I Not Hungry After a Workout?’”
- American Physiological Society. “Exercise Suppresses Appetite By Affecting Appetite Hormones.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 19 December 2008. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081211081446.htm>.
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