14 DAY TRIAL // The American Physiological Society has recently published a research study demonstrating that an aerobic session lasting for around 60 minutes can be more efficient in suppressing the appetite than 90 minutes of non-aerobic exercises, such as weigh lifting. The authors of the aforementioned investigation, a group of experts from Loughborough University and the University College, London, called “The influence of resistance and aerobic exercise on hunger, circulating levels of acylated ghrelin and peptide YY in healthy males.”
For their research, the scientists chose to screen two of the hormones responsible with working up the appetite, namely ghrelin and peptide YY. The first is well known as the only hormone that is actually efficient in increasing the appetence, while peptide YY is working on suppressing it.
The subjects of the screenings were 11 students, who were asked to perform three workout sessions, each of which was to last eight hours. One of them consisted of 60 minutes of treadmill exercises, and a seven-hour period of resting. The following one comprehended 90 hours of weight lifting, after which the participants were allowed to relax. For the third workout session, the students were asked to completely rest, and perform no exercise at all.
As the levels of the appetite hormones were monitored along the workout sessions, scientists were able to compare the results. Even if both of the methods led to the suppression of appetite, there were also major differences in what concerned their efficiency. Thus, the aerobic exercises proved to be effective in the dropping of the ghrelin levels, while increasing the amount of peptide YY. On the other hand, non-aerobic workout had mixed results – ghrelin levels did drop, too, but, in the case of the level of peptide YY the changes were not highly significant.
Dr. Stensel, one of the experts carrying out the testing, concluded by saying that “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...The findings suggest a similar, although slightly attenuated response, for weight lifting exercise.”
