Battle of the Appetite
- Dec 21, 2020
- 2 min read
I was reading a really interesting article from the New York Times about exercise and our hunger hormones, Leptin and Ghrelin. As I was reading I thought it would be cool to turn this research article into a comic… so I did!
Basically what this article reinforces that to lose weight you need to move more and eat less, but what is fascinating is the physiological change that happens!
Okay, a little science first…the two hormones that influence our appetite are Ghrelin, which increases our hunger, and Leptin, which decreases our hunger. These two hormones play a huge roll in our bodies feeding system and are extremely important! They let you know when you are hungry (so you don’t starve) and when you are full (so you don’t eat until you are past the point of being uncomfortable).
Back to the study.
Two groups of overweight men and women were asked to start working out so that they burned either 1500 or 3000 calories a week. The participants could choose whatever activity they wanted as long as they burned the designated calories.
Group A, worked out twice a week for 90minutes per session or until they burned 750 calories (1500 weekly).
Group B, worked out 6 times a week for 60minutes per session or until they burned 500 calories (3000 weekly).
After 3 months the groups were brought back. Both groups ate about 1000 MORE calories each week, exercise length did not matter! And what else is fascinating, is Group B, the group that worked out 6 times a week, became more sensitive to leptin, which is the hormone that tells us that we are full. Group A did not have a physiological change from working out twice a week.
It is natural that our ghrelin (hunger hormone) increase as we increase our activity and rightfully so. It is fascinating that our bodies become more aware of when we are full aka more leptin sensitive. So you may eat 1000 more calories, but if you are consistent with your exercise throughout the week, you can indeed lose weight.
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