If you usually exercise after work, it may be time to get up that little bit earlier and work out in the morning instead, as new research says it can help control your hunger.
The study carried out at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, claim that 45 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise in the morning can cut down a person’s appetite for the rest of the day.
The scientists know how to show a girl a good time as they measured the neural activity of 35 women while looking at pictures of food, both following a morning workout and on a morning without.
Professor James LeCheminant explained, “This study provides evidence that exercise not only affects energy output, but it also may affect how people respond to food cues.”
Studying a mix of both normal weight and obese women, when the subjects had undertaken a 45 minute workout in the morning, they produced lower brain responses to food.
The women involved had to also keep a food log, and it showed that they didn’t binge to reward themselves for the exercise they’d done.
“The subject of food motivation and weight loss is so complex. There are many things that influence eating and exercise is just one element.’' added Michael Larson, another professor working on the research.
This is one of the first studies to look at neurologically-determined food motivation in relation to exercise, and the researchers need to investigate further how long these effects potentially last.
