One of the presumptions when it comes to exercise is that you're going to get really hungry and eat loads after working out. And then you'll fuss about how it makes no sense that you're putting back what you were trying to burn in the last hour. But the New York Times says otherwise.

It turns out that exercise decreases hunger for a short period. The New York Times looked at studies published in the International Journal of Obesity and PLoS One to find out why:
Their appetites were noticeably blunted by each of the interval workouts, and in particular by the most strenuous 15-second intervals... They also displayed significantly lower levels of the hormone ghrelin, which is known to stimulate appetite, and elevated levels of both blood lactate and blood sugar, which have been shown to lessen the drive to eat, after the most vigorous interval session than after the other workouts... And the appetite-suppressing effect of the highly intense intervals lingered into the next day, according to food diaries that the men completed.
Then again, there's still much research to be done:
That conclusion would seem to be fine news for anyone hoping to deploy exercise to trim a waistline. But Mr. Sim cautions that the studies available to date, including his, are very short-term, covering only one session of the various exercise options. “Whether or not” weeks or months of intense training “would have an impact on long-term weight management remains to be determined,” he said.
[The New York Times]

Image via