The Impact of Acute Exercise on Appetite Control: Current Insights and Future Perspectives

The interaction of exercise with appetite control and energy intake has been widely studied due to the ability of exercise-related energy expenditure to influence energy and substrate balance. Many empirical studies have explored appetite and energy intake responses to acute (single) exercise bouts involving a variety of protocols in diverse populations revealing several consistent trends. The balance of evidence suggests that acute moderate-to-vigorous intensity land-based exercise suppresses subjective appetite feelings and the orexigenic hormone acylated ghrelin and elevates the anorexigenic hormones peptide YY and glucagon-like peptide-1. These perturbations are transient and hormone concentrations usually return to resting values in the hours after exercise without evoking compensatory increases in appetite or energy intake on the same day. This evidence counters the popular assertion that exercise transiently increases appetite and may prompt greater energy intake at subsequent meals. The indifference of the appetite control system to acute exercise-induced energy deficits contrasts with the immediate increases in appetite and energy intake provoked by equivalent diet-induced energy deficits. There is, however, considerable inter-individual variability in subjective appetite and hormonal responses to acute exercise with some individuals experiencing greater exercise-induced appetite suppression than others. Current evidence supports the promotion of exercise as a strategy for inducing a short-term energy deficit but the relevance of this for long-term appetite regulation and the control of body mass remains uncertain.