Influence of Hot and Cold Environments on the Regulation of Energy Balance Following a Single Exercise Session: A Mini-Review

Abstract

Understanding the regulation of human food intake in response to an acute exercise session is of importance for interventions with athletes and soldiers, as well as overweight individuals. However, the influence of hot and cold environments on this crucial function for the regulation of body mass and motor performance has not been summarized. The purpose of this review was to exhaustively search the literature on the effect of ambient temperature during an exercise session on the subsequent subjective feeling of appetite, energy intake (EI) and its regulation. In the absence of stress due to environmental temperature, exercise-induced energy expenditure is not compensated by EI during an ad libitum meal following the session, probably due to decreased acylated ghrelin and increased peptide tyrosine tyrosine (PYY), glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), and pancreatic polypeptide (PP) levels. No systematic analysis has been yet made for major alterations of relative EI in cold and hot environments. However, observed eating behaviors are altered (proportion of solid/liquid food, carbohydrate/fat) and physiological regulation appears also to be altered. Anorexigenic signals, particularly PYY, appear to further increase in hot environments than in those that are thermoneutral. Ghrelin and leptin may be involved in the observed increase in EI after exercise in the cold, in parallel with increased energy expenditure. The potential influence of ambient thermal environment on eating behaviors after an exercise session should not be neglected.

Anxiety, Depression, and the Microbiome: A Role for Gut Peptides

“…Despite its elevation by food intake, circulating PYY can also be increased by exercise and stress [193,194], conditions that also modify the gut microbiota [195,196]. It is important to note that more studies linking changes in PYY and the gut microbiota are needed.…”

Mechanisms for Temperature Modulation of Feeding in Goldfish and Implications on Seasonal Changes in Feeding Behavior and Food Intake

“…In homeotherms, including birds and mammals, modification of food intake by thermal stress ( 1 , 35 ) is typically associated with corresponding changes in orexigenic/anorexigenic signals in the brain as well as in peripheral tissues (e.g., GI tract and adipose tissue) ( 2 , 3 , 36 ). In mammals (e.g., rat), the central effects of thermal regulation are commonly accepted to be mediated by the temperature-sensitive neurons within the hypothalamus ( 37 ), presumably via activation of thermo-TRP ion channels ( 38 ).…”

“…Temperature change in the environment is a key factor known to affect energy metabolism ( 1 ) and body growth in animals ( 2 ), and these modulatory effects are partly mediated via regulation of food intake ( 3 ). In fish models, circannual rhythm of feeding pattern and food intake has been reported, which is under the influence of environmental cues including seasonal change in water temperature ( 4 ).…”

Post-Exercise Whole Body Cryotherapy (−140 °C) Increases Energy Intake in Athletes

“…Additionally, 11 of 12 participants exhibited higher energy intake following WBC treatment, which suggests that inter-individual variation in the orexigenic impact of post-exercise WBC was substantially minor. We hypothesized that increased energy intake after WBC would be explained by transient changes in appetite-regulating hormones, as these hormones (e.g., ghrelin, leptin) were previously associated with augmented appetite and energy intake in cold environments [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 31 ]. Tomasik et al [ 18 ] demonstrated that cold exposure (2 °C) caused higher total ghrelin concentrations compared with neutral (20 °C) and hot environments (30 °C).…”