Intense Workouts Reduce Hunger, Especially for Women
Research Shows Exercise Doesn't Increase Appetite, but Reduces It
If you’re always hungry, you know just how hard it is to lose weight. Hunger makes healthy eating feel like a constant battle. And sometimes, even working out feels counterproductive. After all, won’t exercise just make you hungrier?
It turns out that’s not always the case. In fact, a growing body of research shows that exercise can actually suppress appetite.
And a new study says the more intense the workout, the stronger the effect—especially in women.
Ghrelin, the Hunger Hormone
Before exploring the study, let’s first talk about ghrelin, aka the hunger hormone. It’s produced by the stomach and passes through the blood-brain barrier to tell your brain you’re hungry.
But ghrelin isn’t just about appetite. It also plays a role in energy balance, glucose control, immune response, sleep, and even memory.
Ghrelin has two main forms: acylated ghrelin (AG), which triggers hunger and affects insulin and blood sugar, and deacylated ghrelin (DAG), once thought inactive. DAG makes up about 80% of circulating ghrelin and may actually help suppress appetite—though researchers are still uncovering its full role.
Most past studies have focused mainly on AG and mostly studied men. This new study fills an important gap by examining how different exercise intensities affect both AG and DAG—and how these effects vary between men and women.
Higher Intensity, Less Hunger
A recent study published in October 2024 in the Journal of the Endocrine Society looked at how exercises at different intensities affect ghrelin, the hunger hormone.
To do this, researchers at the University of Virginia recruited eight healthy men (average age 43) and six healthy women (average age 32) for this small but impactful study.
Participants fasted overnight and were assigned three different workout sessions on separate days: no exercise (control), moderate-intensity, and high-intensity exercise. Blood samples were taken before, during, and after to measure ghrelin levels, lactate levels, and self-reported hunger.
The results? High-intensity exercise was far more effective at suppressing ghrelin than moderate or low-intensity workouts.
Moderate exercise made some people feel hungrier, especially men, while high-intensity workouts didn’t increase hunger as much.
Both men and women showed reduced levels of DAG after intense exercise—but women experienced a particularly dramatic drop.
Interestingly, hunger levels didn’t always line up with ghrelin levels—meaning even if the hormone dropped, people didn’t always feel less hungry.
At the same time, ghrelin levels dropped in all groups after breakfast, even if they hadn’t eaten, which may be due to the body’s internal clock.
This is pretty interesting because it suggests that hunger can be more about timing than true need. So if you get hungry around the same time every day, like before breakfast, it might just be your body expecting food—and that feeling could pass if you wait it out.
Why Does Intensity Matter?
Knowing the exercise intensity that can help curb appetite can greatly help weight loss goals.
The study points to a key takeaway: high-intensity exercise might be a powerful weight loss ally—not just because it burns calories, but because it’s also a powerful appetite suppressant.
But why does intensity make such a difference? One theory involves lactate.
The researchers believe that working out above the lactate threshold (where you start to feel that muscle burn and feel fatigued from the buildup) might be the key.
They think lactate—a substance your body produces during intense workouts—might help block ghrelin production. This could happen through special receptors in the stomach that respond to lactate and block the release of ghrelin.
But while this connection is promising, they note that lactate probably isn’t the main reason ghrelin drops since the link wasn’t super strong in the numbers.
As lead author Kara Anderson, Ph.D., explained: “Exercise should be thought of as a ‘drug,’ where the ‘dose’ should be customized based on an individual’s personal goals.”
But it’s important to note that intensity is relative. For one person, a brisk walk might feel challenging; for another, it’s a warm-up.
Size, fitness level, and health conditions all affect how hard a workout feels.
The talk test is a simple way to gauge your workout intensity: if you can talk but not sing, you’re probably exercising at a moderate level. You’ve hit vigorous intensity if you can only utter a few words before needing to catch your breath.
Exercise Is Still Key
Regardless of intensity, exercise remains one of the most effective tools for weight loss—especially when paired with a healthy diet. But if you can safely ramp up the intensity of your workouts, why not give it a try?
Whether you’re trying to shed a few pounds or just get a handle on your hunger, this study offers a fascinating look at how tweaking your workout intensity could make a real difference.
What about you? Have you noticed a change in your appetite after exercising? Does it feel different after a high-intensity session than a more relaxed one? Share your experience below!
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