Aerobic Exercise May Suppress Appetite
Ghrelin & Peptide YY are Hormones that Affect Hunger
Dec 31, 2008
A research study released by American physiological Society has shown that exercise can affect the release of two key appetite hormones, Ghrelin and Peptide YY. The research shows that aerobic exercise is more effective at suppressing appetite than non-aerobic exercise.
Aerobic exercise not only burns calories, it can suppress the appetite by reducing the release of appetite stimutaling ghrelin and while increasing appetite suppressant Peptide YY. These two hormones affect the desire for food. People who overeat because of feelings of intense hunger may benefit from the reduction of ghrelin and increase in peptide YY.
Further study needs to be done to make definite recommendations; however it appears that the addition of aerobic exercise to the fitness routine may suppress the appetite in addition to conditioning the body and burning calories.
Ghrelin and Peptide YY
Ghrelin may be the enemy of weight control because it functions to increase hunger. Humans injected with ghrelin reported feelings of intense hunger. Ghrelin may also suppress the utilization of fat in adipose tissue. Due to its effects on hunger and energy metabolism, ghrelin is a target for development of anti-obesity treatments.
Peptide YY is also known as Pancreatic Peptide YY. This gastrointestinal hormone appears to work as an appetite suppressant.
Because aerobic exercise reduces ghrelin while it produces peptide YY, it may be one key to control the overeating that can cause overweight and obesity.
Exercise and Appetite Suppressing Hormones
While it seems that an activity that suppresses appetites by release of hormones would be an ideal complement to weight control, research is still being done on how these appetite hormones work in the body.
Researchers found that a vigorous 60 minute workout on a treadmill affects the release of ghrelin and peptide YY. A 90 minute session of weight lifting affects only the level of ghrelin.
This line of research could eventually lead to more effective ways to use exercise to help control weight, according the study’s senior author, David J. Stensel of Loughborough University in the United Kingdom.
There are several hormones that help to regulate the appetite, but the researchers of this study only looked at two of the major ones: ghrelin and peptide YY. Ghrelin stimulates appetite. Peptide YY suppresses appetite.
The experiments analyzed 11 male university students during sessions as they exercised on a treadmill or lifted weights or did not exercise. The subjects had several hours of rest between sessions.
Researchers found the aerobic treadmill session caused ghrelin levels to drop, while peptide YY levels increased, indicating that the appetite was being suppressed. In the weight lifting session the ghrelin levels dropped but peptide YY levels did not change.
"The finding that hunger is suppressed during and immediately after vigorous treadmill running is consistent with previous studies indicating that strenuous aerobic exercise transiently suppresses appetite," Stensel said. "The findings suggest a similar, although slightly attenuated response, for weight lifting exercise."
Study Information
The study, "The influence of resistance and aerobic exercise on hunger, circulating levels of acylated ghrelin and peptide YY in healthy males," appears in the online edition of the American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, published by The American Physiological Society. The authors are David R. Broom, James A. King and David J. Stensel of Loughborough University, and Rachel L. Batterham of University College, London.
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