How exercise can affect hunger.
Exercise can increase or decrease your appetite depending on the type of workout, your physiology, and your current diet. Knowing how exercise affects hunger can help you plan your meals before and after a workout, as well as develop a meal strategy to speed up the fitness progress you're aiming for.Hunger versus appetite
Hunger and appetite are not the same thing. Hunger is a physical sensation caused by hormones and chemical reactions that occur when your body feels it needs more food. This reaction can occur for various reasons.
Appetite is a psychological reaction that can be a learned reaction or arise from influences such as boredom, emotions, the sight or smell of tempting food. They can make you eat even if you are not hungry. Several hormones regulate hunger, appetite and digestion.
The terms "hunger" and "appetite" are often used interchangeably even in the scientific literature, but the use of these words to describe individual functions is useful to explain the differences between the psychological and physiological desire to eat.
An important point to always keep in mind is that foods rich in nutrients that fuel your workouts and help your body recover from exercise are vital. Regardless of your goals, focusing on food quality is essential for optimal performance and wellness.
Hormones that control hunger
There are several hormones and hormonal interactions that affect the feeling of hunger. Understanding how these hormones affect hunger will allow you to understand how different types of exercise interact with these hormones and, consequently, with hunger. Here are the main influencers:
Leptin: Increased leptin levels cause the hypothalamus to reduce hunger. Leptin is secreted by adipose tissue (body fat) into the bloodstream. Higher levels of leptin coincide with higher levels of body fat and increase with food intake.
Ghrelin: ghrelin works with the hypothalamus to increase hunger. It is produced by the stomach and small intestine when your stomach is empty.
Adiponectin: Adiponectin is secreted by fat cells and increases as the level of fat in the body decreases. Conversely, when the level of fat in the body increases, the level of adiponectin decreases.
Cholecystokinin: cholecystokinin is produced in the small intestine during and after meals. It causes the release of bile and digestive enzymes into the small intestine, suppresses hunger and increases the feeling of satiety.
Peptide YY: Peptide YY suppresses hunger for about 12 hours after eating. It is produced in the large and small intestines.
Insulin: Insulin regulates blood sugar levels and suppresses hunger. It is produced in the pancreas.
Glucocorticoids: Glucocorticoids in excessive amounts increase hunger, while cortisol deficiency can reduce hunger. They are produced by your adrenal glands and perform several functions.
Effects of intense exercise
The effect of intense exercise on hunger indicates a blunting effect, which means that after a session of high-intensity training intervals, hunger may decrease. This effect may not reduce the total calorie intake on the day of the workout, but instead dulls the feeling of hunger for a while after the workout.
Compensatory consumption is a critical factor to consider. This term means whether suppressing hunger leads to an overall reduction in calorie intake or not. If the feeling of hunger decreases, but it does not change how much you eat over time, then it practically does not affect your calorie balance (the number of incoming and consumed calories).
Effects of moderate exercise
Moderate physical activity has different effects on hunger, appetite and calorie intake. Most people do not experience compensatory changes in hunger after moderate-intensity exercise.
Moderate prolonged exercise can suppress appetite by increasing the level of peptide YY, which suppresses appetite for about 12 hours. This means that moderate-intensity exercises that burn calories, thereby increasing their output, do not cause hunger, which leads to an increase in food intake. At the same time, eating after a workout is crucial for glycogen recovery and muscle recovery.
Moderate physical activity can delay the feeling of hunger, but does not reduce food intake.
If your goal is to gain or maintain your weight or improve performance, you may need to purposefully increase your calorie intake if you participate in physical exercise. By adding a little more to your regular diet, especially in the form of nutrient-rich proteins and carbohydrates, you can support your workouts and help you gain muscle mass.
Strength training and hunger regulation
Strength training can be done at a light, moderate and intense level, depending on the type of workout you are doing. For example, weight training with more extended approaches using multiple repetitions and a lighter weight may not increase the heart rate too much, while powerlifting performed with heavier weights may increase the heart rate almost to the maximum.
However, strength training differs from traditional cardiovascular training in that it causes more damage to the muscles than other types of exercise. This type of damage is necessary in order for the muscles to become stronger and larger.
Strength training can lead to a significant increase in appetite. If your goal is to build muscle mass and increase lean mass, you will probably have to make a conscious effort to consume more calories, not only to create new tissues, but also to compensate for the calories burned during exercise.
Although it's less likely, you can build muscle and lose fat at the same time, especially if you're new to strength training. In this case, you will need to create a small calorie deficit, while making sure to consume enough protein to support the development of muscle tissue.
How can these effects be used to achieve your goals
Adding exercise to your lifestyle has many benefits for your health and well-being, besides changing your body weight. However, you may also have specific goals related to your weight, including reducing body fat, building muscle, improving performance, or maintaining weight. In this case, there are some things to consider regarding how your workouts may affect your appetite.
Weight gain and muscle building
If your goal is to maintain or gain weight, you will probably need to increase your calorie intake by adding exercise to your lifestyle to compensate for the calories lost. In order to build muscle mass and increase lean mass, you will need to consume more calories with a special emphasis on getting enough protein.
You can try adding a little more food to each meal or adding an extra meal, such as refueling after a workout. Try to focus on foods rich in nutrients that will contribute to achieving the best results, in particular, complex carbohydrates and low-fat protein.
Examples of healthy foods to add include eggs, fish, tofu, chicken, lean cuts of beef, beans and legumes, whole grain bread, starchy vegetables, sweet potatoes, oats and quinoa.
Weight loss and fat loss
Exercise as part of your lifestyle can lead to weight loss and help maintain it, especially when combined with a nutritionally balanced diet.
If your goal is to lose weight, reduce body fat and maintain weight, exercise is a great way to achieve this goal. Resistance exercises, in particular, can reduce the loss of muscle mass and the subsequent slowing down of metabolism that can occur during weight loss.
If you are trying to lose weight, but the scales are not moving as much as you hoped, keep in mind that you can lose body fat by maintaining or even building lean muscle mass. This effect is called body recomposition and most often occurs in beginners in weight lifting, although it may be possible in trained people if the protein intake is large enough.
Result
Exercise is a great addition to any lifestyle, as it protects against diseases and helps you feel better. There are several reasons why you may be concerned about how exercise will affect your appetite. If your goal is to lose weight, you may worry that adding workouts will make you too hungry. The good news is that the facts say otherwise.
If your goal is to maintain or increase body weight, perhaps for the purpose of building lean muscle mass, you may need to intentionally add calories to your diet to see results. Whatever your goal, back up your performance with nutrient-rich foods and focus on getting enough protein. If you are confused, a sports nutritionist can help you make a healthy eating plan that suits you.
