Walking better than lifting to lose weight

LEICESTERSHIRE, England, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- For those who want to lose weight, aerobic exercise is better at suppressing appetite than non-aerobic exercise, British researchers have found.

David J. Stensel of Loughborough University in England and colleagues said a vigorous 60-minute workout on a treadmill affects the release of two key appetite hormones, ghrelin and peptide YY, while 90 minutes of weight lifting only affects the level of ghrelin.

The researchers said ghrelin is the only hormone known to stimulate appetite, while peptide YY suppresses appetite.

Eleven male university students participated three eight-hour sessions. During one session they ran for 60 minutes on a treadmill, and then rested for seven hours. During another session they did 90 minutes of weight lifting, and then rested for 6 hours and 30 minutes. During another session, the participants did not exercise at all.

During each of the sessions, the participants rated how hungry they felt at various points. They also received two meals during each session. The researchers measured ghrelin and peptide YY levels at multiple points along the way.

Based on the hunger ratings, aerobic exercise produced a greater suppression of hunger. The changes the researchers observed were short term for both types of exercise, lasting about 2 hours, including the time spent exercising, Stensel reported.

The findings are published in The American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology.