The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effect of 60

min of moderately hard running and walking at the same relative intensity (i.e., 70% of maximal oxygen uptake) on gut peptide concentrations, appetite, and food intake at a single
ad libitum meal offered 2

h after exercise in habitually active women. Short-lived increases in circulating concentrations of the anorexogenic peptides and a trend for an increase in ghrelin
acyl following exercise were apparent in the runners but not the walkers. These alterations in circulating gut peptides were associated with lower relative energy intake after exercise compared to rest which created a negative energy deficit in the runners but not walkers. Interestingly, the average rate of change in the anorexogenic peptides PYY and GLP-1 but not the orexogenic peptide ghrelin over time was found to predict hunger in runners but not walkers.
Ghrelin is secreted by specialized cells in the stomach and is currently the only known orexogenic peptide [
35,
36]. Circulating concentrations of ghrelin peak during fasting, drop after a meal and are thought to be involved in hunger and meal initiation [
37]. Peripheral infusion of ghrelin increases food intake in animals [
38] and humans [
39] through interaction with neuropeptide Y (NPY) and agouti-related protein (AgRP)-expressing neurons of the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (ARC) and/or inhibition of vagal-afferent nerves [
40]. Although ghrelin is present in circulation in acylated (ghrelin
acyl) and desacyl forms, only ghrelin
acyl is thought to cross the blood-brain barrier and exert orexigenic effects [
35,
40]. Thus, measurement of ghrelin
acyl, which accounts for ~10% of circulating concentration, is important particularly because ghrelin
acyl responds more rapidly to glucose infusion [
41] and exercise [
42].
Our finding that the total response (i.e., AUC) of both total ghrelin and ghrelin
acyl was elevated above rest following running but not walking at the same relative intensity is intriguing. Previous studies have observed decreases [
17,
22,
26,
43,
44], increases [
24,
45] or no alteration [
18,
23,
27,
46] in both total ghrelin and ghrelin
acyl concentrations following exercise, but these inconsistent findings may be due to the intensity (or energy cost) of the exercise employed and/or the sex of the exerciser. For example, total ghrelin was not altered by 60

min of submaximal cycling [
27] but was increased following 3

h of prolonged cycling [
24] and ~2 to 2.5

h of intense running [
28]. Ghrelin
acyl was also found to increase at a meal following treadmill walking in overweight women but not men [
11] but only when the energy lost through exercise was not replaced. Overall, these results suggest that the energy cost of the exercise (which was ~38% higher during running versus walking) may promote increased ghrelin secretion, perhaps more so in women. Coupled with our finding that neither total ghrelin or ghrelin
acyl correlated with hunger, the results also suggests that ghrelin is not a large contributor to postexercise food intake perhaps because the signal is dampened by increases in the anorexogenic peptides over the same time point [
28].
In contrast to ghrelin, peptide YY and GLP-1 are satiety peptides which are secreted from the endocrine L cells of the distal gastrointestinal tract in response to a mixed meal [
47]. Circulating concentrations of both PYY and GLP-1 are low in fasting and increase following meal ingestion [
48]. Peripheral infusion of both peptides at physiological concentrations markedly decrease food intake in humans [
49,
50] which appears to be additive when infused simultaneously [
51]. The action of PYY is thought to be via inhibition of NPY/AgRP neurons and/or stimulation of vagal-afferent nerves, whereas the action of GLP-1 is thought to be via vagal mediation [
37]. Both forms of PYY (PYY
3-36 and PYY
1-36) and GLP-1 are thought to serve as satiety signals, regulating the termination of individual meals [
40].
Consistent with our findings, previous studies have found elevations in both PYY [
25,
27,
52] and GLP-1 [
27,
52] following different modes and intensities of exercise. A study by Ueda and colleagues [
16] found that postexercise elevation of PYY but not GLP-1 was dependent on exercise intensity and was elevated to a greater extent following 30

min of cycling at 75% compared to 50% VO
2max. In another study, Broom and colleagues [
17] found elevated PYY and suppressed hunger in the 2

h after a 60

min bout of running at 69% VO
2max compared to both rest and a 90

min bout of resistance exercise. It is important to note, however, that the energy cost was 50% higher in the high- compared to the moderate intense cycling and ~260% greater with the running compared to the resistant training in the afore-mentioned studies. Thus, our finding that both PYY and GLP-1 were elevated immediately after running, and that only PYY was elevated after walking may also be explained by the greater energy cost of the run, which was ~37% greater than the walk. Interestingly, the average rate of change in PYY and GLP-1 after the run, and the rate of change in GLP-1 after the walk was significantly greater relative to rest, indicating an average downward trend following exercise, particularly for GLP-1 which dipped below baseline in the later postexercise period. While it is possible this dip in GLP-1, which had a more negative AUC in walkers compared to runners, at least partially accounted for the higher (less negative) relative intake in the walkers compared to the runners, future research is needed to affirm that such a role is causal.
Our results concerning
ad libitum food intake following exercise in women are in agreement with previous studies in both sexes which found either no difference or slightly higher absolute food intake after a bout of exercise compared to a noexercise control, but significantly lower relative energy intake when accounting for the energy cost of exercise [
12,
13,
53–
55]. Interestingly, in these studies, relative energy intake was lowest (i.e., creating a more negative balance) when exercise intensity was high, and when foods offered in the subsequent
ad libitum meal were low in fat [
13,
53,
54]. Imbeault and colleagues [
15], for example, found lower relative energy intake after 34

min of running at 75% VO
2max than after 72

min of walking at 35% VO
2max, which elicited the same energy cost (~485

kcal). King and colleagues [
12], who were first to introduce the concept of relative energy intake, have argued the greater relevance of relative rather than absolute energy intake because higher energy intake would be an expected compensatory mechanism of increased energy expenditure through increased physical activity. Thus, if energy intake remains the same following exercise, as in the current study, it can be considered equivalent to a suppression of appetite relative to the intake expected to compensate for the exercise. Unfortunately, the majority of studies, including the current study, have not measured energy intake for a long enough period after exercise to evaluate how compensation for negative energy balance occurs following different modes of exercise like running but not necessarily walking. Total or partial compensation through altered energy intake and reduced energy expenditure are possible and likely, otherwise exercise would result in drastic reductions in body mass/body adiposity.
Although we did not find significant differences in perceived hunger at any point following running or walking compared to rest, small changes in hunger due to exercise rather than time (observed in the nonexercise control condition) may be difficult to detect using available methodology. Indeed, only about half of the studies in men using designs similar to ours have observed differences in hunger using VAS [
12,
14,
16,
17,
22,
23,
27,
53,
56], whereas very few studies in women have detected exercise-associated differences [
55,
57]. The lack of a strong exercise influence on appetite in all studies may be because VAS are not sensitive enough to detect small changes following exercise using sample sizes typically employed for exercise studies. It also may be that only a small subset of subjects is in tune with biological hunger cues and respond instead to other signals including time of day or time past since the last meal. Mattes [
58], for example, observed that food intake often occurred when hunger was low or had not changed acutely. In our studies we did find, however, that VAS track well with changes in both PYY and GLP-1 in runners and tended to track with GLP-1 in walkers which suggests a relation between appetite ratings and satiety peptides even if exercise-induced alterations in appetite were not observed.
The current study used a unique complex modeling approach to evaluate whether changes in the gut peptides tracked with or predict changes in hunger and/or
ad libitum food intake. Collectively, our findings suggest that changes in PYY and GLP-1 over time tracked indirectly with changes in hunger and desire to eat, and directly with changes in satiety. Interestingly, the change in either total ghrelin or ghrelin
acyl did not track with subjective ratings of hunger. This provides additional support for the hypothesis that signals from elevated concentrations of circulating ghrelin may be muted by elevated concentrations of satiety peptides. Given that few [
16,
22,
25] previous studies have found clear associations between gut peptide concentrations and appetite following exercise, it is probable that exercise-induced alterations in appetite are driven by complex changes in appetite-regulating hormones rather than a single gut peptide in isolation. A previous study by Martins and colleagues [
27], for example, observed an inverse temporal pattern between hunger and both PYY and GLP-1 concentrations during 1

h of exercise but did not describe such a relation following exercise. In contrast, Broom et al. [
22] and Ueda et al. [
16] observed direct associations between the AUC for plasma ghrelin
acyl and hunger, and indirect association between the AUC for GLP and postexercise energy intake. The discrepancy between the findings and published studies may be explained by the different exercise-induced patterns of gut peptide release.
In the current study, we elected to evaluate the effect of walking and running on appetite and gut hormone responses because both weight-bearing activities are recommended for weight loss and weight loss maintenance. Walking, however, is the most common exercise recommended [
18] and, unlike running, can be undertaken by the majority of the population because it does not require the fitness base or produce the biomechanical stress of running. Our overall observation that walking did not elicit the same negative energy balance or increase in the satiety hormones as did running, yet promoted a slightly higher postexercise fat and protein intake, suggests that walking may create some challenges for long-term weight loss unless dietary restriction is employed. While our results appear to contradict those of King and Colleagues [
18] who observed significantly lower relative energy intakes in men after a 60-min “brisk” walk at a self-selected pace (ranging from 33.8 to 55.5% VO
2max), the apparently discrepant results may help explain why exercise is less effective in promoting weight loss in women compared to men [
7,
8]. The mechanism, however, may not be easily identified because Ghrelin
acyl was not altered by walking in either study, and King and colleagues [
18] unfortunately did not simultaneously measure PYY, GLP or other satiety peptides. In our study, we also observed a curious tendency for Ghrelin
acyl, total ghrelin and subjective hunger to be lower when subjects knew that they were going to exercise, which may have interfered with our ability to detect true changes with exercise compared to rest. The increased consumption of fat may be important given that a reversal of the energy deficit induced by previous exercise is noted when high-fat rather than low-fat foods offered after exercise [
13,
53,
54]. Finally, from our study design, it is impossible to determine whether our observed differences between running and walking are due to exercise mode or the physiological characteristics of the walkers who were on average fatter and had a lower VO
2max (i.e., were less fit) then the runners. Although the current study did not measure any long-acting adiposity hormone such as leptin or insulin, it is possible that these hormones were higher in the walkers. Emerging evidence suggests that long- and short-acting signals interact to alter hypothalamic sensitivity to satiation signals [
37] which could ultimately influence eating behavior following exercise. Future studies should consider different modes of exercise along with sex and adiposity differences of the exerciser and measurement of short- and long-acting satiety signals.