Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Does Exercise Distort Your Perception of Hunger?


I love to exercise and often notice that after I complete my workout, I don’t feel hungry.  I never thought that made much sense, considering I just burned so many calories.  However, some people feel the exact opposite and are starving after a workout.
 
Two studies published this year reported that contrary to popular belief, exercise doesn't make people hungrier. The first study was conducted at Brigham Young University and the second one was based on a study published in Appetite magazine.  In fact, results showed that brisk exercise can decrease interest in food.  On the other hand, some researchers have found that not only does exercise cause a perceived need to eat more, but that our pleasure response to food is heightened following a workout; even thinking about exercise can whet our appetites.

If you are somebody who is hungry after a workout, results showed that exercise-induced hunger may be psychological, and it may be connected to hedonistic eating tendencies. Then again, it may not be. Scientists say there are many variables at play in the relationship between exercise and hunger, including metabolism, gender, regularity of exercise, intensity and duration of exercise, and whether you ate before your workout.

If you are somebody like me who is not that hungry after a workout, it is suggested that we still should keep an eye on calorie compensation; hunger could strike later. Some research suggests that the suppression of hunger following exercise can be explained by the temporary redistribution of blood flow during exercise, away from the intestines and to the muscles. Sometimes called exercise-induced anorexia, the effect, they say, lasts only a short time after a workout.
 
How Short Bursts of Intense Exercise Help You Eat Less
 
 

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