Does Exercise Make You Hungry?
Recently, a reader e-mailed me about an article they saw in New York Magazine.
"This just goes to show what a total ******* moron you are," they wrote. "You recommend exercise to people who want to lose weight, yet this article proves that it's a complete waste of time and DOES NOT WORK."
Not the most diplomatic e-mail I've ever received. But it did prompt me to read the article so I could see for myself what all the fuss was about.
The basic premise of The Scientist and the Stairmaster, written by noted journalist Gary Taubes, is that exercise has no long-term effect on weight loss.
"Despite half a century of efforts to prove otherwise," says Taubes, "scientists still can’t say that exercise will help keep off the pounds."
One of the main problems with exercise, according to Taubes, is that it makes you hungry.
The one thing that might be said about exercise with certainty is that it tends to make us hungry. Maybe not immediately, but eventually.
Burn more calories and the odds are very good that we'll consume more as well. And this simple fact alone might explain both the scientific evidence and a nation's worth of sorely disappointing anecdotal experience.
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After reading Taubes' article, you could be forgiven for thinking that the effect of exercise on hunger is a well established fact. The truth, however, is rather different.
In fact, depending on the type of study you look at, exercise has been shown to increase, decrease or have no effect on food intake and appetite [3, 5, 6, 7].
In one review, published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, only 2 out of 10 interventionist studies showed an increase in energy intake after exercise; 6 showed no change while 2 actually showed a decrease in appetite [1].
The effect of exercise on appetite also varies from person to person. Research has identified both compensators (people who compensate for the calories burned during exercise by eating more) and noncompensators (people who don't) [4].
"There exists a belief that physical activity drives up hunger and increases food intake, thereby rendering it futile as a method of weight control," writes John Blundell, Professor of BioPsychology at the University of Leeds [2]. "There is, however, no evidence for such an immediate or automatic effect."
Taubes makes an important point when he talks about the effect of exercise alone on weight loss. Most typical exercise programs, in the absence of a good diet, will have very little impact on your weight.
But this is nothing new, and long-time readers may recall that I covered much of the same ground almost 10 years ago.
As I explained in How To Reveal Your Abs, the food that you put in your mouth each day is the real key to success when it comes to losing weight.
Even if you're eating the “right” food all day long you can not be losing weight simply because you're eating too much of it. And more exercise isn't always the answer. For most people, lack of time makes it extremely difficult to out-exercise a poor diet.
So, what does all of this mean for you?
Firstly, if you find that exercise leaves you feeling hungrier than normal, then make sure that most of the meals you eat are either a) high in protein or b) have a low energy density. These foods will leave you feeling fuller for longer and make it easier to control your appetite.
And don't let Taubes' article put you off exercise.
Yes, it's true that exercise by itself isn't going to deliver optimal results. But (for most people at least) dieting won't either. Diet and exercise work together to correct body composition. Combine the two, and more of the weight you lose will be fat, not muscle.
About the Author
 Christian Finn holds a master's degree in exercise science, is a certified personal trainer and has been featured on BBC TV and radio, as well as in Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Muscle & Fitness, Fit Pro, Zest and other popular fitness magazines.
If you want better, faster results from the time you spend in the gym, click here now for instant access to his step-by-step muscle-building and fat-burning workout routines.
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References
1. Blundell, J.E., & King, N.A. (1999). Physical activity and regulation of food intake: current evidence. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 31, S573-583
2. Blundell, J.E., Stubbs, R.J., Hughes, D.A., Whybrow, S., & King, N.A. (2003). Cross talk between physical activity and appetite control: does physical activity stimulate appetite? The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 62, 651-661
3. Imbeault, P., Saint-Pierre, S., Alméras, N., & Tremblay, A. (1997). Acute effects of exercise on energy intake and feeding behaviour. British Journal of Nutrition, 77, 511-521
4. King NA, Caudwell P, Hopkins M, Byrne NM, Colley R, Hills AP, Stubbs JR, Blundell JE. (2007). Metabolic and behavioral compensatory responses to exercise interventions: barriers to weight loss. Obesity, 15, 1373–1383
5. King, N.A., Lluch, A., Stubbs, R.J., & Blundell, J.E. (1997). High dose exercise does not increase hunger or energy intake in free living males. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 51, 478-483
6. King, N.A., Tremblay, A., & Blundell, J.E. (1997). Effects of exercise on appetite control: implications for energy balance. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 29, 1076-1089
7. Pomerleau, M., Imbeault, P., Parker, T., & Doucet, E. (2004). Effects of exercise intensity on food intake and appetite in women. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 80, 1230-1236
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