Here a recipe for weight loss: exercise more, eat less. Now comes research from Johns Hopkins that suggests that the eating less part comes naturally to those who exercise more. Medical News Today reports that Johns Hopkins scientists studied levels of gut hormones released in rats after they ate a tasty meal, taking readings both before and after the rats exercised in running wheels. The researchers found that after eating, rats with a lot of running experience had higher levels of amylin, a hormone is known to inhibit food intake, slow digestion, and reduce the rate at which glucose enters the bloodstream. The same rats also showed a faster rate of reduction of the hormone ghrelin, an appetite stimulator that usually rises before a meal and falls afterwards. Wait, there's more: when the rats with a lot of running experience were given the hormone cholecystokinin (CCK), a hunger suppressant, the researchers found they decreased their food intake more than their sedentary counterparts. The research suggests that exercise helps control body weight by modifying how meals release gut hormones that regulate food intake. The researchers think it may also change people's sensitivity to these gut hormone signals.
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Thursday, October 16, 2025