Elsevier

Physiology & Behavior

Volume 62, Issue 6, December 1997, Pages 1345-1354
Physiology & Behavior

Article
Acute Effects of Exercise or Sauna on Appetite in Obese and Nonobese Men

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9384(97)00353-3Get rights and content

Abstract

Westerterp-Plantenga, M. S., C. R. T. Verwegen, M. J. W. IJedema, N. E. G. Wijckmans And W. H. M. Saris.

Acute effects of exercise or sauna on appetite in obese and nonobese men.

PHYSIOL BEHAV 62(6) 1345–1354, 1997.—To study the effect of exercise on appetite in men, hunger, thirst, taste perception, energy intake, and macronutrient choice were assessed in relation to exercise and to sauna; the latter was done to correct for dehydration and rise in body temperature. Since exercise is used to prevent and cure obesity, subjects included obese as well as nonobese men. Thirty subjects (25 ± 7 years, BMI 22.8 ± 1.6 and 28.5 ± 1.9) were given twice, in random order before and after 2 h of cycling at 60% of Wmax, 2 h of sauna, or 2 h of rest, an ample choice from solid and liquid almost single-macronutrient food items and a taste perception test with solutions of sucrose, citric acid, NaCl, quinine, a mixture of these, and a carbohydrate electrolyte solution. After cycling as well as after sauna, in comparison to after rest, subjects lost 3 ± 0.5% of body mass, while thirst, fluid intake, perception of sweet at relatively low concentrations, and percentage of energy coming from carbohydrate increased significantly. Only after cycling compared to after rest did perception of bitterness at a low concentration increase and hunger and energy intake decrease. We conclude that exercise induced a short-term reduction in hunger and energy intake, whereas exercise and sauna induced a short-term increase in taste perception of sweet at the lower concentration, while macronutrient preference of carbohydrate increased.

Section snippets

Subjects

Subjects were recruited from Maastricht University by means of an article in the University weekly newspaper. Because more than the required number of men responded, which allowed selection after screening for health (no high blood pressure, no diabetes mellitus, no use of medicines, no other diseases), for body mass index (for the nonobese, 20–25 kg/m2; for the obese, >25 kg/m2 [12]and for age (19–35 years), and less than the required number of women responded, the study was executed with men.

Results

Body mass index differed significantly between the obese and the nonobese (Mann–Whitney U-test, p < 0.01). Wmax was also significantly different between the obese (240 ± 38 W) and the nonobese subjects (351 ± 49 W) [F(2, 20) = 16.12; p < 0.01]. Vo2max (mL kg−1 min−1) was 58.4 ± 1.6 in the obese and 71.8 ± 1.9 in the nonobese subjects.

There were no significant differences between the results of the obese and the nonobese subjects with respect to how comfortable the subjects felt, body weight

Discussion

In general, comfort ratings representing general physical well-being, in which hunger, thirst, body temperature, and exhaustion could play a role, were sufficiently high to judge the situations as being acceptable to the subjects. In none of the observations was there any difference between the obese and nonobese groups of subjects, so the conclusions with respect to cycling versus rest apply to both groups.

After exercise, i.e., 2 h of cycling at 60% Wmax, a change in appetite was observed,

References (41)

  • E.T Rolls et al.

    Olfactory sensory-specific satiety in humans

    Physiol. Behav.

    (1997)
  • N Rowland

    Regulatory drinkingDo physiological substrates have an ecological niche?

    Biobehav. Rev.

    (1977)
  • W.H.M Saris

    Physiological aspects of exercise in weight cycling

    Am. J. Clin. Nutr.

    (1989)
  • J.S Skinner et al.

    Effects of a program of endurance exercises on physical workCapacity and anthropometric measurements of fifteen middle-aged men

    Am. J. Cardiol.

    (1964)
  • P Verger et al.

    Human intake and choice of foods at intervals after exercise

    Appetite

    (1992)
  • P Verger et al.

    Free food choice after acute exercise in men

    Appetite

    (1994)
  • R Woo et al.

    Effects of exercise on spontaneous calorie intake in obesity

    Am. J. Clin. Nutr.

    (1982)
  • R Woo et al.

    Voluntary food consumption during prolonged exercise in obese women

    Am. J. Clin. Nutr.

    (1982)
  • T Zuberbier et al.

    Food intake in combination with a rise in body temperatureA newly identified cause of angioedema

    J. Allergy Clin. Immunol.

    (1993)
  • B.G Balkan et al.

    Exercise induced sympathetic FFA mobilization in VMH-lesioned rates is normalized by fasting

    Am. J. Physiol.

    (1992)
  • Cited by (0)

    View full text