The Study
Short-term interval exercise suppresses acylated ghrelin and hunger during caloric restriction in women with obesity.
This study found that when women with obesity ate less food and did short bursts of intense exercise, they felt less hungry and had lower hunger hormones than when they only ate less. But it doesn't prove exercise makes everyone lose weight—it just shows a possible link in this small group under special conditions.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
When you eat less to lose weight, your body usually makes you hungrier. But adding short bursts of intense exercise might trick your body into feeling less hungry, even if you're eating the same amount.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 562 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — even though both groups lost the same weight, the exercise group felt less hungry, which could help people stick to diets longer.
- 2After 2 weeks: Both groups lost fat.
- 3The exercise group had 4% lower post-meal hunger hormone (acylated ghrelin) and felt less hungry in the morning than the diet-only group.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Physiology & behavior
Year
2020
Authors
S. Malin, E. Heiston, Nicole M Gilbertson, Natalie Z M Eichner
Related Content
Claims (6)
In women with obesity, two weeks of eating fewer calories or combining that with interval exercise raises levels of the hormone PYY after meals, but does not change PYY or des-acyl ghrelin levels when fasting.
In women with obesity, combining two weeks of daily 60-minute high-intensity interval exercise with a 1200-kcal/day diet lowers post-meal acylated ghrelin levels and reduces hunger compared to the same diet without exercise, even when total calorie intake is identical.
In women with obesity, two weeks of eating fewer calories reduces body fat, and eating fewer calories without exercise leads to slightly more fat loss than eating fewer calories while doing interval exercise.
Among women with obesity, combining calorie restriction with interval exercise for two weeks results in greater feelings of fullness and lower fasting hunger than calorie restriction alone, even when the amount of food eaten and weight lost are the same.
In women with obesity, combining interval exercise with a calorie-restricted diet does not change acylated ghrelin levels after fasting but lowers the increase in acylated ghrelin that normally occurs after eating, compared to dieting without exercise.
When a person consistently eats fewer calories than needed, their metabolic rate decreases, leptin levels drop, hunger hormones rise, and spontaneous physical movement declines.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.