Exercise and Weight Loss in Women

TIME magazine in April of 2009 published an article stating that exercise possibly does not have the same effect in men and  women, and that women possibly do not lose weight with exercise because they eat more afterwards. Two researchers in the UK, David Stensel, Ph.D. and Kevin Deighton, Ph.D., conducted two studies to examine this issue. The first study looked at the hormonal response to calorie restriction and to exercise in women. The researchers found that appetite perceptions were higher during food restriction but not after exercise. This was confirmed by the appetite increasing hormone being higher with food restriction than during exercise. An appetite suppressing hormone, the peptide YY, was high during exercise and low during food restriction. In the second study, men and women were compared hormonally and found to have the same response to exercise as far as appetite perception and ghrelin. When presented with a buffet of food post exercise, the women’s response was the same as the men’s. Together these studies demonstrate that exercise can be helpful for weight loss and weight management in both men and women.