Exercise, appetite and weight management: understanding the compensatory responses in eating behaviour and how they contribute to variability in exercise-induced weight loss

Abstract

Does exercise promote weight loss? One of the key problems with studies assessing the efficacy of exercise as a method of weight management and obesity is that mean data are presented, and the individual variability in response is overlooked. Recent data have highlighted the need to demonstrate and characterise the individual variability in response to exercise. Do people who exercise compensate for the increase in energy expenditure via compensatory increases in hunger and food intake? We address the physiological, psychological and behavioural factors potentially involved in the relationship between exercise and appetite, and identify the research questions which remain unanswered.A negative consequence of the phenomena of individual variability and compensatory responses has been the focus on those who lose little weight in response to exercise; this has been used unreasonably as evidence to suggest that exercise is a futile method of weight control and managing obesity.Most of the evidence suggests that exercise is useful for improving body composition and health. For example, when exercise-induced mean weight loss is <1.0kg, significant improvements in aerobic capacity (+6.3 ml . kg -1. min -1), systolic (-6.00 mmHg) and diastolic (-3.9 mmHg) blood pressure, waist circumference (-3.7cm) and positive mood still occur. However, people will vary in their responses to exercise; understanding and characterising this variability will help tailor weight loss strategies to suit individuals. I) IntroductionExercise is frequently used as a method of weight control through an increase in energy expenditure with the aim of creating a sustained energy deficit. Of course, compliance to the exercise itself is an important issue, however, of more interest is the issue of compensatory responses which undermine the ability of exercise to promote the theoretical weight loss. [1] There have been a multitude of studies examining the acute effects of exercise on compensatory responses in energy intake. The acute effects of exercise appear to be consistent and relatively well understood. The majority of research demonstrates that acute exercise does not increase hunger, desire to eat or energy intake. [2][3][4][5][6] Even when there is a marked increment of 4.6 MJ/d in acute exercise-induced energy expenditure (EE), and energy intake (EI) is monitored for 2 days, there is no automatic increase in EI. [7] Although the acute effects of exercise on EI are generally consistent, there are a few rare examples of a coupling between EE and EI. [8][9] More recently partial compensation to an exercise-induced energy deficit has been reported. [10][11][12] Exercise has also been demonstrated to improve the sensitivity of appetite control, and that regular exercisers are better at detecting the difference in energy content between low-and high-energy preloads compared with their sedentary counterparts. [13][14] Overall, the evidence suggests that no or only slight partial compensation occurs in response to an acute exercise-induced ...

Appetite-regulatory hormone responses on the day following a prolonged bout of moderate-intensity exercise

“…The relationship between exercise and appetite regulation has important implications 28 regarding the role of exercise in weight management (33). In recent years, 29 advancements in scientific understanding regarding the psycho-biological regulation 30 of appetite and food intake have ignited research interest around the interaction 31 between exercise, appetite regulation and energy balance (47).…”

Body Composition And Physical Activity Maintenance One Year After A 12-week Exercise Intervention In Women

“…EI has been shown by some studies to increase in response to increased ExEE, especially in leaner populations who have lesser fat stores at baseline. Some subjects have reported increases in appetite following an increase in ExEE (King et al, 2012;King et al, 2007a). Multiple investigators have reported that increased EI in response to increased ExEE results in partial compensation, and is likely the largest contributor to less than expected weight loss (King et al, 2007b;J.…”

The Role of Compensatory Adaptations and Individual Variability in Exercise Prescription

“…Appetite control has been shown to be regulated by an interaction of adipose tissue with peripheral signals from intestinal peptides (i.e., insulin, ghrelin, GLP-1, CCK, PYY amylin, oxyntomodulin) [37]. Exercise has also been associated with changes in peptides affecting appetite (i.e., stimulation of energy intake) and satiety (i.e., cessation of meal consumption), as well as gastric emptying [19,31]. Accordingly, ratings of appetite and implicit wanting for foods, particularly for sweet and high-fat foods have been shown to increase in response to exercise interventions [38,39].…”

“…The focus on mean outcomes in response to exercise interventions, therefore, may provide misleading results. In fact, mean results potentially mask important trends at the individual level that could provide crucial information for the role of exercise and PA in health promotion [18,19]. Therefore, a better understanding of key characteristics that affect compensatory adaptations in response to exercise is needed to maximize the health benefits on an individual level.…”