Morning Exercise Can Reduce Your Hunger That Day

“Go out and work up an appetite.”

We’ve heard these words a million times before, generally from our mammies when we were younger...

It is commonly assumed that you can “work up an appetite” by going for a vigorous appetite. But it turns out this theory may not be correct, at least immediately following exercise.

Research has shown that a brisk exercise session may actually reduce the appetite rather than increase it.

Researchers at Brigham Young University in Utah claim that 45 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise in the morning actually reduces a person’s motivation for food.

The professors, James LeCheminant and Michael Larson, both measured the neural activity of 35 women while they viewed food images, both following a morning of exercise and a morning without exercise.

The women’s brain responses to pictures of food were analysed and the women who had exercised in the morning experienced a decrease in their attentional response to the photos, proving them to be less hungry than those who hadn’t exercised.

Not only were the women less hungry immediately after the exercise, but they also did more exercise throughout that day.  

“This study provides evidence that exercise not only affects energy output, but it also may affect how people respond to food cues,” Professor LeCheminant said.

“The subject of food motivation and weight loss is so complex,” Larson said. “There are many things that influence eating and exercise is just one element.”

The scientists measured the food motivation of 18 normal-weight women and 17 clinically obese women over two days.

The individuals who exercised completed a brisk walk on the treadmill for 45 minutes.

The study was published online in the Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise Journal.