Vigorous cardiovascular workouts burn calories and fat, but research indicates they may also suppress your appetite. Aerobic exercise, such as jogging, releases hormones into your bloodstream that curb your appetite, more so than anaerobic exercise such as weight lifting. More research needs to be done, but cardio exercise may have much more impact on weight control than just burning calories. Consult with your doctor about which type of cardio workouts are most appropriate for your physical condition.
Appetite Regulation
There are several hormones that participate in appetite regulation, but the main ones are ghrelin and peptide YY, according to the book “Biochemical Pathways.” Ghrelin was discovered by Japanese scientists in the late 1990s and is the only hormone known to directly stimulate appetite. Ghrelin comes in two forms, acylated and nonacylated. Only the acylated form can cross the blood-brain barrier and affect the appetite center in your brain. In contrast, peptide YY was discovered in the mid-1980s and is known to suppress appetite.
Aerobic vs. Anaerobic Exercise
Aerobic and anaerobic exercise refers to the presence and absence of oxygen, respectively. At rest and with most cardiovascular exercise, you're in an aerobic state, which means that your muscle cells derive their energy by using oxygen for metabolism, according to the book “Human Physiology: An Integrated Approach.” During anaerobic conditions, which occurs with high intensity exercise, your muscle cells rely on other compounds to burn. Anaerobic metabolism produces waste products and results in muscle fatigue. An exercise such as jogging may initially involve predominantly aerobic metabolism, but the more intensely you exercise, the greater the need for anaerobic energy production. As such, the proportion between aerobic and anaerobic metabolism changes depending on your intensity.
Research
A British study published in a 2009 edition of the “American Journal of Physiology -- Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology” found that aerobic exercise suppresses appetite in young males by affecting specific hormones such as ghrelin and peptide YY. The study discovered that a vigorous 60-minute treadmill workout reduces ghrelin levels and increases peptide YY levels, while 90 minutes of weight lifting only reduces ghrelin levels. As such, the researchers concluded that aerobic exercise is better at suppressing appetite than anaerobic exercise.
Recommendations
All forms of exercise burn calories and train your muscles, but aerobic exercise has a greater impact on curbing your appetite. All forms of cardiovascular exercise, such as jogging, cycling and dancing, initially rely on aerobic metabolism, but if you really go hard with your cardio, you may force your body into more of an anaerobic mode, which isn't as effective at suppressing appetite.
References
- Biochemical Pathways; Gerhard Michal
- Human Physiology: An Integrated Approach; Dee Silverthorn and William Ober
- American Journal of Physiology - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology: "Influence of Resistance and Aerobic Exercise on Hunger, Circulating Levels of Acylated Ghrelin, and Peptide YY in Healthy Males."
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