Weights vs. Cardio: The Best Exercise for Suppressing Appetite

We know that physical activity helps suppress appetite, but is all exercise created equal when it comes to curbing hunger? Apparently not.

There are two major hormones that help regulate appetite. One is ghrelin, the only hormone known to stimulate hunger, and the other is peptide YY, which suppresses appetite.

A new study published in The American Physiological Society found that a vigorous 60-minute workout on a treadmill caused ghrelin levels to drop and peptide YY levels to increase, indicating the hormones were suppressing appetite.

The weightlifting session, however, produced a mixed result. Ghrelin levels dropped, indicating appetite suppression, but peptide YY levels did not change significantly.

The research shows aerobic exercise is better at suppressing appetite than anaerobic exercise.

"The finding that hunger is suppressed during and immediately after vigorous treadmill running is consistent with previous studies indicating that strenuous aerobic exercise transiently suppresses appetite," explained researcher David J. Stensel of Loughborough University in the United Kingdom. "The findings suggest a similar, although slightly attenuated response, for weight lifting exercise."

But the appetite suppression in the study was found to be short term for both types of exercises, lasting only about two hours--including the time spent exercising.

Whether you're hungry or not after an exercise session, post-workout is not a time to miss a feeding! Eating a protein and carbohydrate meal within two hours of your exercise session helps your muscles recover and replaces glycogen stores (check out What and Why: Post-Workout Nutrition for more).

Why does this matter to you? Although aerobic exercise produced greater appetite suppression, both cardio and strength training curbed hunger. That's a good reason for over eaters to start exercising! Make sure to include both aerobic and anaerobic exercises in your training regimen.