How Exercise Alters Appetite

A new reason to exercise has just surfaced from the scientific community. Burning calories and triggering endorphins can welcome another very useful benefit from exercise, a more attuned appetite.

In a study led by Brazilian researchers at the University of Campinas that will be published next week in the free access journal PLoS Biology, scientists discovered that exercise restores the body’s sensitivity to being full. The part of the brain the registers satiety (being full) regains its ability to regulate the appropriate amount of food needed by the body.

“In obese animals, exercise increased IL-6 and IL-10 protein levels in the hypothalamus, and these molecules were crucial for increasing the sensitivity of the most important hormones, insulin and leptin, which control appetite,” explained Jos Barreto C. Carvalheira who led the research group.

The scientists explained that by restoring the body’s natural ability to regulate appetite, less over eating will occur and all around health will improve as a result.