Before I launch into the new blog on intense exercise and appetite, I wanted briefly follow up the blog from yesterday on eating different types of foods together or alone. When I first started, it was a bit of a chore. It took some planning and discipline, and there are situations it’s darn near impossible. I did my best. However, I stuck with it, and the payoff for me has been huge. Not only do I not get the afternoon sleepy’s, eating this way also allows me to maintain my weight without a lot of effort, and as I’ve said, I feel better. I realize I’m spending a lot of time regarding food, but it is so important to health, good or ill. To date, scientists have found over 1000 different genes that foods have an effect on-either turning them on or off. Please bear with me on this food connection to health. As for today’s blog, an article in the New York Times, 9/11/13, reviews a study done in Australia regarding appetite and exercise. As readers of this blog know, I’ve espoused the benefits of short, intense workouts, followed by an equally short recovery. Now a new study, published online in June in The International Journal of Obesity, researchers at the University of Western Australia in Perth found that short intense exercise blunted the subjects appetite, compared to those exercising or resting for 30 minutes. What they found was important for those wanting to lose weight. The short-burst exercise groups appetite was blunted, no surprise. But what was amazing to me, is that appetite was blunted not only after, but into the next day! The moderate exercise and resting group had no such effect; they were hungry shortly after exercise. The short-burst group also had a significantly lower level of ghrelin (compared with the two other groups), a hormone known to stimulate appetite. This study corroborates an earlier study, published last year in the online journal, PLoS One. So far, short-burst exercise seems the logical choice for activity. For a more extensive read about this, read Gretchen Reynolds article in the New York Times Well section, 9/11/13.
Stay well, John R Blilie, M.S.