Vigorous workouts may reduce appetite by a greater amount than less intense exercise, a new study suggests. High-intensity exercise suppresses levels of the hormone ghrelin — which is responsible for stimulating appetite — more than moderate exercise, according to a study published last week in the Journal of the Endocrine Society. The effect may be more pronounced in women, the study authors found.
MORE: Standing for long periods can be bad for your health – just like sitting, study finds "Ghrelin is a hormone released from the stomach, and has been shown to cross the blood-brain barrier and interact with (the) hypothalamus, which is the area of your brain that controls the perception of hunger," Kara Anderson, lead study author and postdoctoral fellow at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, told MedicalNewsToday . "Our results confirmed what our meta-analysis suggested: That higher intensity exercise would suppress hunger more than a lower intensity exercise bout. Based on what we know about how ghrelin can interact with the 'hunger center' of the brain — the hypothalamus — these results were not surprising.
" Ghrelin, commonly referred to as " the hunger hormone ," increases activity in a specific area of the brain, causing people to feel hungry. People with higher levels of the hormone generally have more difficulty losing weight, and higher levels are also associated with conditions like Hashimoto's thyroiditis, Prader-Willi syndrome, anorexia and buli.