January is the month in which practically all of us propose challenges and the most common are related to carrying a healthier life. Most set a goal to exercise more and eat better, with the goal of creating good habits to be healthier. But, the relationship between physical exercise and diet is not as simple as it seems.
There is a point of subjectivity in this regard. Some people say that when they start to do sports on a regular basis, their own body demands that they carry a healthier and more nutritious diet. Others say that, following a period of training, they return home hungrier than normal due to all the energy invested and cannot stop eating. And there are also those that, directly, lose their appetite following exercise.
What does our appetite depend on?
Appetite is controlled by a region of the brain called the hypothalamus
But what do the experts say? As the nutritionist Leire Martínez explains, the desire to eat is controlled by a region of the brain called the hypothalamus, which receives signals from other parts of the body that affect our appetite. This system works in the following way: if there is a decrease in some nutrient in our blood, signals are sent to the hypothalamus to indicate that it is necessary to eat to recover it.
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These signals can be nervous, from the digestive tract, hormonal, chemical, and even sensory. They are the ones that stimulate or decrease the appetite and, in addition, are capable of generating new signals that will allow our body to store and metabolize the energy that we may need. This is the reason why the appetite varies according to the moment and the people.
And what does this have to do with sport?
After intense training, glycogen is depleted and the muscles use blood sugar to replace it
When we exercise our body, we consume both the carbohydrates dissolved in the blood, which provide us with immediate energy, and the sugars present in muscle glycogen. So that we understand each other, this is the reason why many people feel more hungry following playing sports. After intense training, glycogen is depleted and the muscles use blood sugar to replenish it. It is at this time when a chemical signal is generated that reaches the hypothalamus, awakening our desire to eat.
However, scientific studies are not always conclusive in this regard. In those that have been carried out with patients who are obese or overweight, since specialists are looking for the specific type of exercise that, when combined with the recommended diet, is more effective for the relevant treatments, contradictory results have been found.
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For example, in this research by experts from the Research Group of the Laboratory of Exercise Physiology (LFE Research Group) of the Faculty of Physical Activity and Sports Sciences of the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM), it is concluded that exercise does not increase the desire to to eat. With a sample of 300 people and analyzing more than 2,500 variables, he concludes that the type of exercise that might induce greater physiological and behavioral changes related to eating behavior remains unclear.
Our desire to eat varies according to our physical activity and other criteria, such as age or our morphology.
It is true that high intensity sports affect the human body on a physiological level. It has been shown that so-called HIIT (High Intensity Interval Trainging) sports can cause a decrease in ghrelin. This is the hormone that regulates eating behavior, since it is the only one capable of stimulating the sensation of hunger.
We can’t just focus on hormones. There are many factors that affect appetite
However, as Leire Martínez recalls, cells must be physiologically stressed during exercise for this to occur, something that is not always achieved. “We cannot just focus on hormones. There are many factors that affect appetite, such as age, sex or the type of diet followed, “adds the specialist.
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In short, our appetite can be physiologically affected by the type of exercise we do, but since many other factors coincide, no conclusive statements can be made. Of course, doing some type of physical activity is an essential complement to a healthy diet.
